Motivational Leadership and Recognition, and Reward as Predictors of Teacher Turnover Intention among Teachers in Cateel 2 District: A Quantitative Study

Abstract

Teacher turnover is a crucial issue in schools worldwide. It has been a continuing concern for teachers and school administrators in recent years. High teacher turnover negatively affects not only schools but also the communities they serve (Flowers, 2019). Teacher turnover and retention have long been topics of discussion among school leaders, educational advocates, and researchers (Farinola, 2021).
The problem of teacher turnover extends across multiple countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Nepal, and African nations like Kenya and Tanzania. Studies by Garcia and Weiss (2019) and Shrestha (2022) indicate that teachers frequently leave their institutions due to factors such as low pay, limited career advancement, and inadequate support. The Federation of Associations of Private Schools and Administrators (FAPSA) has also noted that many private schools struggle to maintain their workforce, as teachers are drawn to state-funded schools offering better compensation packages.
In the Philippines, teacher turnover has been a growing concern among school administrators, particularly in the private and basic education sectors. The country continues to experience a high rate of teacher turnover due to poor retention, especially at the basic education level (Sumipo, 2020). Private school teachers frequently leave and transfer to public schools because of higher salaries and additional benefits (Hernando-Malipot, 2018). National education policymakers and local school leaders in the Philippines have long faced the challenge of designing sustainable strategies to address the persistent problem of teacher turnover (Zarate, 2023).
A high teacher turnover rate can have a tremendous impact on the culture and climate of a school, student achievement, and institutional stability, as it strains school budgets to recruit, train, and replace teachers (Flowers, 2019). Teacher turnover is a significant concern in education because of its adverse impact on student learning outcomes and overall educational quality (Grant et al., 2019). In the case of private schools, a high rate of academic staff turnover can diminish school performance and continuity in instruction. The problem of turnover has long been associated with negative consequences on instructional quality and student achievement (Sorensen & Ladd, 2020). Dela Cruz (2016) similarly emphasized that the effectiveness of education depends on the stability and continuity of its teaching force. Excessive teacher turnover leads to the loss of experienced educators, disrupts classroom learning, and hampers daily operations if not properly managed (Shrestha, 2022).
Existing research reveals a critical gap in understanding the dynamics of teacher turnover, particularly in private and public basic education schools. Most studies generalize findings without exploring the unique contextual factors that influence teachers’ decisions to leave or remain in their institutions. Recent literature emphasizes that turnover intention—teachers’ conscious and deliberate willingness to leave an organization—is strongly linked to leadership behavior, recognition systems, and organizational support (Nguyen, 2021; Yin et al., 2022). However, few local studies have empirically examined how motivational leadership and recognition and reward practices affect teacher turnover in Philippine public schools. Scholars such as Khasawneh (2020), Asghar and Oino (2018), and Owusu (2022) highlighted that leadership styles fostering motivation and meaningful recognition significantly reduce turnover intention, yet contextual validation within the Philippine educational setting remains limited. This study aims to address this limitation by investigating how motivational leadership and recognition and reward systems may influence teachers’ intentions to leave their schools.