Public Entitlement, Deficit Orientation, and Teacher Attrition

• In Event: Uprooting Excessive Entitlement: A New Direction in Understanding and Dismantling Racial Injustice

Abstract

Background
Almost every country in the world is concerned with teacher attrition.

Purpose
The purpose of this study is an examination of media narrative during and after the pandemic to determine whether and how the discourse shifted around teacher virtue.

Perspectives
Before the pandemic teacher attrition was an important topic, since that time the concern over teacher attrition has only increased. Not only are teachers leaving within the first five years in greater numbers than before, but teachers are also retiring early. There are many theories about their reasons for leaving: burn out (Chang, 2009; Pressley, 2021), teacher attrition (Nguyen, 2021), deficit orientation to teachers (Craig, 2014). The pandemic shifted the public rhetoric about teachers, as parents recognized the role teachers played in the lives of their children and the good work they did as teachers. Now in the post-COVID era, the discourse is again more negative and the attrition rates have increased.

Method
This study takes a narrative analysis approach. The data collection included media accounts of teachers drawn from media (newspaper, YouTube, and online resources) both before and after the pandemic. Using positioning theory (Harre & van Langenhove, 1999), the stories were analyzed (separated by during (25) and after (25) COVID stories) for plotline, duties, responsibilities, and obligation.
The three researchers worked separately analyzing each of the 50 stories. They then met and reviewed the results, working until they reached consensus.

Findings
The stories during COVID revealed plotlines of strong and productive teachers who provided a vital service to the community. Their meeting of obligations was represented as heroic. They were reported as attending to duties faithfully and despite challenges, and accounts usually lauded the way they took up and honored responsibilities. The stories about teachers after COVID represented teachers as unknowing, falling short and shirking duties. All of the impact of reduced learning by students was attributed to teachers.

Significance
This study is important because it links media accounts of teachers to the increase in teacher attrition.

Authors

• Eliza A. Pinnegar, Anchorage School District

• Celina Marie Lay, Brigham Young University

• Stefinee E. Pinnegar, Brigham Young University