Teacher Attrition in Post-Conflict Communities: Structural and Psychological Determinants in North East Nigeria

This study examines the structural and psychological determinants of teacher attrition in post-conflict school communities in North East Nigeria, with fieldwork sites in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states. Teacher attrition in conflict-affected regions represents a critical systemic threat to educational reconstruction, yet the complex interplay of structural, psychological, and community factors driving teacher exit in the North East has received limited empirical investigation at the doctoral level. The study employs a multi-site sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. Phase one uses survival analysis on teacher employment records from 180 post-conflict schools over five years. Phase two embeds in-depth phenomenological interviews with 48 current and former teachers and 12 school administrators to explain phase one findings. The study draws on Maslach's Burnout Theory, the Job Demands-Resources Model, Trauma-Sensitive Schooling frameworks, and Institutional Theory. Structural determinants including salary arrears, infrastructure destruction, teacher posting policy, and security guarantees, and psychological determinants including trauma exposure, emotional exhaustion, and professional efficacy, are modelled as predictors of attrition risk. Findings are expected to generate a substantive theory of teacher attrition in post-conflict contexts that extends existing frameworks through original North East Nigerian empirical evidence. Recommendations address the North East Development Commission, Federal Ministry of Education, and UNICEF on trauma-informed teacher retention strategies, hardship allowances, and community reintegration support. Keywords: teacher attrition, post-conflict, North East Nigeria, burnout, educational reconstruction