Affective Turnover: Discussion about Educational Theory Building

• In Event: Innovative ideas and perspectives in teacher education and the teaching profession

Proposal

This refereed round table submission is a proposal for a critical group discussion about affective turnover, a finding that emerged from my dissertation research study titled (Dis)Covered Routes of Teacher Turnover: Black American Expatriate Educational Professionals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This qualitative examination utilizes a narrative life history approach to understand Black American EDPats’ decision to leave the United States (U.S.) Prekindergarten-12 (PK-12) system for teaching opportunities in the UAE. EDPat is a term that I conceptualized to describe expatriate educational professionals working in schools outside of their home countries. To understand Black American EDPats’ transnational migration decisions, this study utilizes intersectionality (Collins & Bilge, 2016) and emotional transnationalism (Williams, 2018; Wolf, 1997) as theoretical frameworks to illustrate the intersectional dimensions of teachers’ identities and affective lived experiences.

As a Black American teacher who migrated from the PK-12 profession in the U.S. for teaching opportunities in Morocco and the UAE, this study departs from domestic interpretations about Black American teachers’ turnover. Scholars suggest that their turnover can be summed up to a lack of involvement in school district policy-making, lack of support in the classroom, and a lack of classroom autonomy (Ingersoll & May, 2011). However, this present study reveals that teachers’ perceptions about their personal and professional lives are also components of their transnational migration decision and convey emotions and affective dimensions that help to understand teacher turnover.

Based on current definitions of teacher turnover (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017; Ingersoll, 2001; Ingersoll & May, 2011) and data from this research, attention to affect is consistently missing in the education literature. Several social science disciplines such as business, economics, and psychology have explored the connection between affect and voluntary turnover intention (Demirtas & Akdogan, 2015; Gardner, Wright, & Moynihan, 2011; Joarder, Sharif, & Ahmmed, 2011; Lapointe & Vandenberghe, 2016). Yet these types of studies, though paying attention to the impact of affect, still fall short in providing a thorough depiction of affective turnover as a single concept rather than two separate constructs. As such, the current research contributes to the breadth of social science research by providing a unified theory of affective turnover. Taken together, and borrowing from emotional transnationalism and intersectionality, I propose a new theory of affective turnover.

In alignment with the CIES conference theme— Illuminating the Power of Idea/lism—affective turnover brings forth a new educational theory to understand the work we do as educational researchers and to better understand teachers’ conceptualizations about their roles as educators (CIES Theme, 2021). In this round table discussion, I will begin the session by sharing research findings which were discussed in three moments in this research: (1) On the Brink of Burnout; (2) Decision to Migrate; and (3) Decision to Remain in the UAE. After that, I will provide a collective understanding of life historians’ conceptualizations about their transnational migration decision. Next, I will provide my conceptualization of affective turnover, which will be followed by an open discussion about how to propose affective turnover as a theoretical contribution to educational studies.

Author

• Tiffany Lachelle Smith, University of Minnesota