Selected organizational factors and teacher turnover intention in private secondary schools in northern Tanzania

The study investigated the impact of selected organizational factors on teacher turnover intentions among teachers employed in private secondary schools in Northern Tanzania. Following the positivism paradigm, a quantitative research design was applied. This study employed Social Cognitive Theory. The targeted population was classroom teachers who work in private secondary schools in Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Tanga, and Manyara regions. Teachers were selected via stratified random sampling. Explanatory cross-sectional survey method was used where data were gathered from 384 classroom teachers working in the four regions (Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Tanga, and Manyara) through structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analyses were performed. Organizational factors had a high mean value (M=3.8978, SD = 0.3176). There was a very strong positive correlation between organizational factors and teacher turnover intentions (r = 0.838, p < 0.01). Though the regression model was statistically significant (R² = 0.884, p < 0.001), organizational factors did not have a statistically significant impact on teacher turnover intentions after individual and external factors were controlled (β = 0.017, p = 0.729). However, external factors showed to be the best predictors of teacher turnover intentions. In conclusion, this study revealed that organizational factors impacted teacher turnover intentions. The problem with the research was that it failed to show whether organizational factors have a distinct effect on teachers’ turnover intentions due to the connection between organizational factors and other individual and environmental factors. The recommendations from the research were that private schools should ensure that they have strong organizational systems while at the same time improving their environment.