Understanding Teachers who Transfer from Private to Public Schools

Abstract

There are many circumstances in which teachers transfer from one school to another due to various personal or environmental grounds. Thus, the researchers want to further elaborate on the possible reasons as to why teachers transfer from private to public, resulting in the understanding of a teacher's experience, current situation, and explain the huge gap in numbers for employment between the two institutions. For this study, qualitative research is done through Phenomenology, as research questions can be answered regarding the teacher's past experiences and courses of actions resulting in the transfer for their place of work. The study's sample included 10 teachers purposively selected because he /she is a teacher who lives in Metro Manila, is currently working in a public school with at least 1 year of teaching experience and transferred from private to public school. Common reasons of teachers as to why they transferred from private to public schools are Financial Problems, wherein public schools provide greater salaries and benefits than the government; and Job Satisfaction, wherein public school teachers feel less burdened with their workload as compared to their former private schools. Some of the teachers teach in Private Schools to gain experience in their profession before deciding to transfer to Public Schools. Form of Gratitude is also deemed as a factor since some of the informants want to teach in public schools since they were graduates of the said institutions. Facilities and Supplies is not a reason since facilities are better in private schools. Based on the findings, school administrators should consider taking a closer look at the workload, salary, and benefits being given to the private school teachers and monitor if such affects the decision of teachers to transfer to public schools. This research can be expanded by doing more detailed quantitative research among teachers.