Beginning teachers' perceptions of school human resource practices

Abstract

Human resource (HR) management is defined as the sum of activities employed by an organization to attract, develop, and retain people with the appropriate knowledge and skills for effectively and efficiently achieving organizational goals. An understanding of the HR practices in schools is important, as the assembly of a team of qualified and committed teachers, directly or indirectly, affects the quality of instruction in general and in particular in Hong Kong, where a high wastage rate of new teachers has been recorded. The literature has emphasized the importance of each HR element in school and yet not much work has been done that attempts to link the various HR elements together, even though the complementarities and interdependencies among these practices have been acknowledged. The present study aims to provide a general picture of the HR practices in schools from the perspective of beginning teachers, using a quantitative methodology. In addition, the link between these practices and the beginning teachers' commitment was also examined. The findings confirm the complexity and diversity of HR practices in Hong Kong schools and suggest that the practices in the areas of Training and Development and Working Conditions warrant special attention as they are linked to the affective commitment of new teachers to schools.

Keywords:

• beginning teachers
• human resource practices
• affective commitment

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by a grant from the Educational Panel of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Notes

1. The wastage rate of teachers, as defined by the Education Bureau (2008a), refers to the percentage of teachers at the beginning of the previous school year who left the teaching profession in the 12-month period prior to the beginning of the given school year. In Hong Kong, the wastage rates of trained teachers in the school year of 2007/2008 in secondary and primary schools were 5.8% and 7.8% respectively, whereas those of untrained teachers were 20.1% and 29.0% respectively (Education Bureau, 2008a, 2008b). Trained teachers are those who have successfully completed the 1-year, full-time (or 2-year, part-time) post-graduate teacher training programme. Those who have yet to complete the programme are classified as untrained teachers.

2. The respondents are in their first 2 years of teaching. They are enrolled in a part-time post-graduate teacher training programme and, upon completion, they will become qualified (or trained) teachers.

3. Hong Kong has four main types of schools: government, aided, direct subsidy scheme (DSS), and a limited number of private/independent schools. All, except the last of these, are supported by government money. The aided schools enjoy a relatively higher degree of autonomy than government schools, even though they are fully funded from the public purse. DSS schools are funded by the government but are permitted to charge fees and have greater freedom in selecting students, deciding the language of instruction (Cantonese, English, etc.), hiring and remunerating staff, and in choosing their curriculum.