HOW DOES PLACE ATTACHMENT MATTER GOVERNMENT SCHOOL TEACHERS’ DECISIONS ON THEIR PLACE OF RESIDENCE? A CASE STUDY OF RATHNAPURA EDUCATION DIVISION

Abstract

Theory of ‘place attachment’ can be considered a cardinal aspect of human geography and its epistemological evolution. People have a long revolutionary history that has been developing emotional connections with their parents, relatives, neighbors, friends, and the surrounding environment. Regarding the Sri Lankan context, these attachments have further been interwoven with cultural traditions and native ethos. However, this intertwined nature of emotional and cultural attachment has not been examined detailed in particular, within the Sri Lankan context. Based upon this backdrop, the current study sheds some lights on investigating how emotional attachment influences government school teachers’ residential decisions, in the Ratnapura Education Division-1, Sri Lanka. Specifically, the study examines the roles of family ties, community connections, and cultural bonds in shaping residential preferences. Based upon a mixed methods approach, empirical data were collected from 80 teachers across eight schools through structured questionnaires and unstructured interviews. The findings revealed that emotional attachment significantly influences teachers’ residential choices, with 57.5% of participants demonstrating high or very high emotional ties, particularly toward family. More importantly, place related metaphors are the key sources for emotional needs, according to the findings. Overall, the future policy establishment on government school teachers’ residential decisions and housing strategies, should integrate with the key aspects of place attachment in advance. This will affect not only the well-being of teachers, but also towards the improvement of the efficacy of teaching and education productivity of Sri Lanka, and also, can be considered for the educational development in rest of Asian countries.