VOICES FROM THE TRENCHES: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHERS’ GRIT, RESILIENCE AND THE INTENTION TO LEAVE THEIR CURRENT JOB AMONG TEACHERS AND MILITARY VETERAN TEACHERS

Background: Teacher turnover is a significant concern for many school districts, costing school districts millions in training costs and induction processes. Turnover also causes severe disruptions in schools. The recruitment of military veterans in the U.S. as teachers has emerged as one strategy to address teacher turnover since careers in education require teachers to build resilience and grit to counter the stresses involved with long term careers. In addition, teachers in underachieving schools must work harder to bridge the achievement gap between white students and non-white students, which further increases the workload. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between teachers’ grit, resilience, and the intention to leave their current job among military veteran teachers serving low-income districts and non-military teachers teaching in the same schools. The study examined the differences in levels of grit and resilience between teachers with a military background and those without such a background. Also, the study examined the relationship between grit, resilience, and the intention to leave the teaching position among military veteran and non-veteran teachers. Methods: Quantitative research was used to examine the formulated research objective where survey questionnaires were used to collect data from military veteran teachers and non-veteran teachers without a military background currently working in the two school districts. The survey instrument consisted of three scales: the turnover intention scale, the teacher resilience scale, and the grit scale. Regression analysis was performed to examine whether there is a relationship between intention to leave (dependent variable) and resilience, grit, and teacher type (independent variables), using age, gender, race/ethnicity, and experience as control variables with 440 participants. Findings: The results reveal that the level of resilience among teachers with the non-military background was significantly lower compared to higher resilience levels recorded among teachers without a military background. Thus, teachers with military background had better resilience than teachers without a military background. Further, the level of grit among teachers with the military background was higher compared to that of teachers without a military background. The results of the linear regression further showed that even after controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and experience, there was a higher intention among teachers without military background to leave the teaching profession compared to teachers who have a military background. Conclusion: The results emphasize that high levels of grit and resilience are associated with lower intent to leave the teaching profession in Texas elementary, middle, and high schools. Based on the current finding, it can be emphasized that school administrators may achieve better recruitment and retention by hiring teachers who are military veterans because of their higher levels of grit and resilience, and lower intentions to leave the teaching profession. Further, school administrators should consider providing regular guidance and mentorship to their teachers to motivate them on how to be resilient and committed to their teaching profession. Offering regular training and mentorship would help non-veteran teachers develop higher levels of commitment and grit towards the teaching profession similar to their veteran counterparts.