Dr Gavin R. Slemp’s research project explores whether novel, employee-led proactive work-design strategies help early-career teachers optimise job demands and resources, aiming to enhance their wellbeing and retention.
The problem
Teachers are an essential workforce experiencing significant stress, burnout, and high turnover rates. Retaining new teachers who enter the profession is crucial for preventing looming teacher shortages and ensuring a stable, effective educational system that supports future generations' development and success.
The proposed research
While policy-level solutions to assist teacher wellbeing and retention are important and often discussed, this project explores employee-led, proactive strategies such as job crafting as novel, complementary ways to potentially address these issues. The research team will conduct three independent studies that draw insights from different methods: longitudinal modelling, daily-diary, and AI-enabled intervention-based approaches. Collectively, the aim of these studies is to examine whether such strategies can help early-career teachers optimise job demands and resources, potentially enhancing their wellbeing and retention.
The intended impact
It is anticipated that the project will benefit Australia and the teaching workforce by determining if employee-led approaches can improve teachers' wellbeing and working lives, ultimately reducing the $4.25 billion annual cost of teacher turnover.
The research team
A/Prof Rebecca J. Collie
UNSW
Prof Arnold B. Bakker
Erasmus University Rotterdam