Why do some beginning teachers leave the school, and others stay? Understanding teacher resilience through psychological lenses

Abstract

With the increasing concern about the high attrition rate among beginning teachers, it is essential that we come to a better understanding of why teachers leave the profession. This study explored differences between leavers and stayers in terms of the process of their resilience responses. Major psychological factors such as value, self-efficacy, beliefs and emotions were foregrounded to understand how leavers and stayers are similar or different in negotiating and interpreting external environments. This study employed semi-structured interviews for seven leavers and seven stayers who had teaching experiences of less than five years. The findings of this study showed that both leavers and stayers had intrinsic interests in working as a teacher. Also, both groups identified similar challenges of working as a teacher, such as classroom management and effective delivery of lessons. However, leavers showed weaker self-efficacy beliefs than stayers, who tended to get more support and help from school administrators. In addition, leavers held beliefs that imposed heavy burdens on themselves, which may have created stress and emotional burnout. Unlike leavers, stayers often reported their strategies to prevent them from being burned out by setting boundaries establishing relationship with students. Given the high attrition rate of beginning teachers, the current study provides meaningful insight about challenges beginning teachers’ face, their needs and better ways to prepare and train them.