Study of the Relationship of Organizational Protective Processes and Teacher Resilience

School systems in the United States have found it difficult to retain teachers in the teaching profession. The need for programs and interventions that lead to teacher resilience and retention determined the following research question for this study: Is there a relationship between the organizational protective processes and teachers personal resilience? High school teachers in 7 out of 17 schools in the Northeast Georgia Regional Education Service Agency District participated in the study. Responses were received from 307 high school teachers. Partial correlations were used to analyze the results. Teachers indicated that they believed all of the five organizational protective processes were important to retaining teachers in the teaching profession. Significant relationships were found between resilience and four of the five organizational protective processes: empowerment; collaboration; administrative support; staff development; and mentoring. The most significant relationships were found between empowerment and resilience, administrative support and resilience, and mentoring and resilience. Collaboration and resilience also showed high significance. The results indicated that teachers believed these organizational protective processes were crucial to retaining teachers in the profession. The least prevalent relationship was found between staff development and resilience. The results indicated that teachers did not believe staff development was important in retaining teachers in the profession. The results indicated that school systems should utilize programs and interventions that act as protective factors and retain teachers in the teaching profession. These programs and interventions can be utilized and carried out by building level administrators. Principals should allow faculty a voice in building level decisions concerning curriculum and instruction. Teachers should also be allowed to work in collaborative teams and interact with colleagues when designing curriculum and lesson planning. Schools should also have strong induction programs for new teachers that allow for veteran teachers to mentor them through the induction phase of their career. Finally, administrators should support teachers by being visible and readily available to help with discipline and instructional needs. Principals should be the instructional leaders in their building and support teachers whenever possible