Abstract
This project explains between-school variation in teacher retention and attrition in Flanders by examining how school policy configurations - with a focus on induction/early-career support, strategic personnel policy (SPP), and supportive instructional/educational policy (SIP) - relate to behavioural retention, transfer, and exit outcomes under contextual constraints. Retention is conceptualised as a school-level organisational outcome shaped by demand–resource dynamics and by the coherence with which schools align HR and instructional support routines (Demerouti et al., 2001; Bakker & Demerouti, 2017; Bowen & Ostroff, 2004). Analytically, the project distinguishes transfer from exit as different turnover forms with potentially different policy implications (Ingersoll, 2001; Simon & Johnson, 2015; Nguyen et al., 2020). The project addresses five research questions: (RQ1) which behavioural school profiles of retention, transfer, and exit can be identified; (RQ2) which configurations of induction/early-career support, SPP and SIP distinguish high- from low-retention schools net of context; (RQ3) how do SPP and SIP operate as (complementary) systems in supporting retention; (RQ4) which contextual boundary conditions strengthen or attenuate policy–outcome links; and (RQ5) how do these patterns vary by school type and career stage, with attention to beginning teachers.
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