From attrition to retention: a narrative inquiry of why beginning teachers leave and then rejoin the profession

Abstract

The issue of beginning teachers leaving the profession in the first few years of their career represents a global problem, and while discrepancies exist over precise numbers, there is consensus that the attrition rate of new teachers is high. This paper reports on a narrative inquiry into two beginning teachers who left the profession after just 1 year of practice, only to return 2 years later. By examining this continuum from attrition to retention through the lens of the two teachers’ narrative accounts it is possible to gain some insights into how new teachers’ personal and professional landscapes intertwine. Findings reveal that these beginning teachers’ experiences of their school contexts combined with their personal stories in the first year of practice shaped their professional identity culminating in them leaving and then rejoining the teaching fold. Insights gleaned may have significant implications for beginning teachers, school leaders, teacher education institutions, and policy makers.

Keywords:

• beginning teachers
• identity
• narrative inquiry
• teacher attrition
• teacher retention

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gary James Harfitt

Dr Gary Harfitt is an Assistant Professor in Education at the University of Hong Kong. His current research interests are centred around beginning teachers’ lives and small class teaching.