RATIONALE

Teaching is one of the most enduring and respected professions in Jamaica. The profession has been
a source of pride in the nation, yet tension between the union and government has created a very
complicated situation. This study seeks to determine what other factors affect teacher migration in
Jamaica. The investigation considers various socio-political issues that have been traditionally fought
by unions such as housing, salary, working arrangements, etc.

The main reason for my concentration is because of the changes in education and technology, that
caused many teachers to leave their assigned schools and districts. The reasons I will investigate are:
1) the economic issues with teachers who are forced to leave their jobs 2) the political issues with
politicians who want foreign trained specialists in teaching 3) the social effects of losing teacher jobs
that can be filled by local teachers 4) the educational effects resulting from this migration 5) how
much will it affect Jamaica's future education system by losing these qualified educators?

The gap in the literature is that, though migration has been studied extensively, there are no studies
focusing on teacher migration. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the factors that affect
teacher migration in Jamaica.

The literature has not yet addressed the factors that affect teacher migration in Jamaica. However,
this gap is important because there are systemic and structural issues at play which require us to
address. These include: a lack of professional development for teachers; poor salaries and working
conditions for teachers; dysfunctional schools; and poor access to education or difficulties in
studying within the country when they migrate

The research to date indicates that there are no formal data on the specific factors that affect
teacher migration in Jamaica. Attempting to fill this gap, our research aimed to identify co-factors
and contextual variables within Jamaica that may be contributing to the phenomenon of teacher
migration. Focusing on three primary variables: economic development, socio-cultural factors, and
educational infrastructure as well as policy issues related to teachers' mobility who have completed
their initial training in Jamaica and have found jobs outside of the Caribbean.

HYPOTHESIS

This study seeks to examine the factors that govern teacher migration. The study draws on data
from an online survey of teachers and graduate students, as well as the results of a small-scale
qualitative field study; all are part of a large-scale investigation into the causes of teacher mobility in
Jamaica.

There are a number of factors that deterrte teachers from migrating. These include, but are not
limited to: 1. Very low salary - This factor is primarily attributed to the fact that teachers are required
to have a Bachelor's degree and be in possession of a teaching license before they can be employed.
2. Lack of opportunities - Teachers also face many challenges in finding suitable employment
because there is a great demand for teachers who can teach at primary and secondary level,
mathematics and science subjects as well as language. 3. Many challenges - Many teachers face
serious challenges when it comes to securing jobs because of their qualifications and lack of
experience.

In this case, teacher migration is a factor that affects teacher economies and workforce in Jamaica.
The relationship between teacher migration and the factors affecting teachers' decision to migrate
are discussed here. Some of these factors can be found in Section 2, which includes the economic
outlook of the country, government spending priorities and education policies.
 METHOFOLOGY

Research Design

Action research is suitable for this topic because it is an intensive form of research whose purpose is
to make people aware of the problem and its importance, which in turn leads to the identification of
specific action steps that can be taken. This study was conducted in two phases; implementation and
evaluation. The implementation phase involved discussions with participants regarding their
experiences and problems encountered while teaching English in different countries around the
world; while during the evaluation phase, we analyse findings from our interviews and carried out a
second round of interviews with five participants who were at the same college but who had not
taught English outside Jamaica. The findings will be presented through relevant metaphors and
stories to show how challenges faced by those who teach English abroad differ from those faced by
Jamaicans teaching here(transportation, separation) and what they can do to face these challenges
before they initiate their overseas studies.

Action research is the most suitable way to conduct this study because it is an inquiry-oriented
research. Action research is defined as an approach that encourages people to take part in their own
lives and share their ideas and experiences, in order to make them more knowledgeable, capable,
and efficient. Action learning program can be used as a type of collaborative learning that facilitates
groups of learners, who have a common interest but are not divided into different groups by school
or job roles. In this study, there are no previous studies related to teacher migration in Jamaica,
which called for action research on top of knowledge acquisition and conduct the second phase of
this study using action methods.

Population and sampling

If a research study is conducted on the subject of teacher migration in Jamaica, the target population
will be the teachers who are in their career at the moment. Since it is known that there are many
factors that affect teacher migration so this is one of the ways through which I intend to explore
those factors. I am hoping to identify and select a sample of people from this research population
from whom to obtain data. The only way I can do this is by using a questionnaire for each teacher as
well as conducting interviews with key stakeholders/students/colleagues etc.

This sample needs to be broad enough for the study, but specific enough to allow for data analysis.
The most appropriate approach to selecting a sample involves selecting a small number of
respondents from the research population and asking them questions about their migration
experience.

A sample will be collected from participants in the research population. Participants will be randomly
selected from the study population, using a simple random sampling method.

The target population of this research is secondary school teachers who are currently teaching in
their first, second or third school. A generalized random sampling method was used for selecting the
sample to obtain data on the factors that affect teacher migration.

Main Variables
The two variables of interest are the teaching positions available in Jamaica and the level of
qualification required. The dependent variable is the number of Jamaican teachers who are working
in other countries. The independent variable is the factors that influence teacher migration, which
include getting international experience, gaining an international credential and bettering their
professional skills.

The variables of interest are age, gender, and ethnicity. These are the four main research questions.
The dependent variable is teacher migration, the independent variable is age, gender, ethnicity. The
four independent variables are being aged between 25-34 years old female and male identification
with black ethnicity categories

The variables of interest are the teaching experience, whether the teachers come from abroad, and
the salary of teachers. The independent variables will be independent and dependent variable1
(teacher’s experience) and independent variable2 (teacher’s overseas location).

Plan of Action

The primary goal of this investigation was to identify the factors that affect teacher migration in
Jamaica. The secondary goal was to investigate ways by which these problems can be mitigated. This
began with a literature review, followed by interviews, which provided me with the data needed to
conduct cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment analysis in order to explore the potential impact of
proposed solutions on three themes: (1) perceptions on teacher migration in Jamaica; (2) opinions
about recruitment strategies; and (3) opinions about alternative teaching environments. Finally, I
concluded with recommendations for approaches by stakeholders who do not have time or
resources to confront these challenges.

We will develop measures to encourage teacher migration and retention in schools, such as
a mentoring programme that facilitates interaction between newly-appointed teachers, experienced
teachers and mentoring experts, who will act as coaches to the new teachers. Additionally, we plan
to involve stakeholders from education, training and industrialisation sectors in order to improve
their understanding of issues related to teacher retention.

The activities and strategies that are involved in the stopping teacher migration in Jamaica is
to increase the level of the training of teachers in the area where they are teaching, this is so that
they can be better at their job. We also need to ensure that there is sufficient funding for teachers,
we should also have a better pay scale for teachers who teach at remote schools because many
teachers dont have enough money to live on. We should also have a better working environment for
teachers as well as parents.

In order to stop teacher migration in Jamaica, the Government has to do everything possible
in order to provide schools with the best possible infrastructure and location. This can be done by
implementing strategies like offering primary school teachers attractive salaries, having more open
communication with teachers in the private sector on their working conditions and providing tax
incentives to those who continue teaching or have chosen to start a family.

This study was to investigate the factors that affect teacher migration in Jamaica.
Specifically, it examined the relationships between teachers’ perceptions and intentions regarding
their safety at school and perceptions of safety at home; sources of information; travel preference;
and reasons for leaving Jamaica.

The intervention aims to improve teaching practices by attracting a higher quality of teacher
and encouraging teachers who are ready to move on to new jobs. The intervention also strives to
improve the retention of teachers, especially in rural areas. To assess whether or not the
intervention is successful, I will gather data on the number of teachers leaving and the number of
new teachers recruited by analyzing recruitment lists from across all public sector schools in Jamaica.

I will assess the effects of the intervention to determine if improvement has occurred. The
intervention is a multi-faceted approach that includes assessment, intervention strategies and
measurement of outcome. A systems approach would be used to evaluate the effectiveness of each
component. The research design would consist of an exploratory phase followed by an experimental
and control phase. This study is based on a mixed method design and therefore both quantitative
and qualitative data are required. Participants are predominantly teachers at primary level schools
but also to some extent secondary school teachers (either heads or teachers). In addition, there are
some principals/supervisors who may have been working with schools but have left as well as
principal administrators who have remained in post.

Data Collection

In this project I will need to collect data that is relevant and accurate in order to answer my research
question and assess my project. The information I will need to have is from primary sources that I
can get from Jamaica Teachers’ Council, data on the factors affecting teacher migration; information
on attrition of teachers at the primary school level; some key features of the Teachers’ Registration
System (TRS) set up in 2003, an integration of teacher support services within a framework of the
TRS are all important aspects which will be collected in this project.

I will select the data collection method is going to be using survey. The choice of this method is
mainly because it’s something that I can do without any previous experience, and I also want to
collect some data that would help me answer my research question. As for when and how I will
collect it, it should be done between two weeks and a month after initiating the project. And the
reason why is that that may allow enough time to know how much information people are willing to
share.

My research question is what factors affect teacher migration in Jamaica. As a researcher and
educator, one important factor that could affect teacher migration is the pay. Based on my reading
of literature, I know that many people are attracted to other opportunities such as pursuing higher
learning or moving to another country so they can obtain a better wage. The second piece we need
in this project is data that we have collected in the past related to teacher migration and its
motivation factors. The other reason why i selected it is because this method has been used before
by other researchers doing similar projects.

This research will be conducted based on the following: data collection method, who will do the data
collection, what data collection tools and methodologies are to be used, why any particular tool or
methodology is to be used rather than another one, how this tool and/or methodology will be
applied, review of existing literature.

I am interested in the factors that affect teacher migration in Jamaica. For this, I'll be collecting data
from schools to obtain information on the policies and practices being followed by schools in order
to attract and retain teachers. I also want to study teachers who have migrated within the education
system and compare them with those who have migrated outside of it, ie: international students
subects. Simple descriptive statistics will be used for this study such as frequencies, percentages and
charts to analyze data more effectively.
The study which is to be carried out this year is envisaged to be a unique investigation into the
factors that affect teacher migration in Jamaica. The research will take place at different schools in
different parts of Jamaica using questionnaires to establish the perceptions and experiences of
teachers who have recently migrated from Jamaica or are currently living and working in another
country. Data on this project will contribute towards our understanding of how teachers perceive
their remuneration and benefits package in other countries, how they compare with their colleagues
in those same countries, and how they could be better supported in their efforts to secure
continuous employment after leaving Jamaica.