Organizational Culture Evaluation by Teachers from Schools with Different Levels of Staff Turnover

Teacher turnover is leading to a significant decline in the proportion of young teachers in the Moscow education system. To explore the possible reasons for young teachers leaving schools, a comparative study was conducted of assessments of the organizational culture of Moscow educational institutions, obtained from teachers in schools with high turnover rates among young professionals and from teachers in schools with low turnover rates among young professionals. The theoretical basis of the study was D. Denison's organizational culture model, which includes four components: employee engagement, teamwork, organizational adaptability, and mission. To assess a school's organizational culture, a proprietary questionnaire was used, consisting of 24 questions formulated based on the specification of 12 indicators from D. Denison's model. A total of 1,465 teachers from 52 Moscow schools participated in the study. It was found that Moscow school teachers generally rate the organizational culture of their educational institutions highly, regardless of the level of young teacher turnover. The most prominent components of organizational culture in teachers' perceptions are adaptability and the school's mission, reflecting the educational organizations' focus on external requirements, strategic development, and institutional sustainability. Based on the study's results, the authors suggest that school organizational culture in the capital region serves more of a function of ensuring the overall stability and manageability of the educational organization than of retaining young professionals. A number of conclusions for education management are drawn.