Turning 'leavers' into 'stayers': a narrative inquiry of why teachers leave and re-join the profession

Abstract

This paper adopts a narrative inquiry approach to discuss an under-researched aspect of beginning teacher attrition, namely what makes beginning teachers return to teaching after leaving the profession just one year after graduation. The focus will be on the professional and personal lives of two Hong Kong graduates who embarked on a teaching career in 2009, resigned their posts one year later but then made the decision to re-join the teaching profession in 2012. While the issue of early career attrition has been well documented (Ingersoll, 2001; Schaefer & Clandinin, 2011), there is a paucity of research globally on why teachers subsequently return to the profession. In this presentation I will examine the factors behind the teachers' decision to return and what implications this has for understanding and responding to the issue of teacher attrition among beginning teachers. This study extends our understanding of beginning teacher attrition by completing the circle in the professional lives of young teachers who were ‘leavers' and then became ‘stayers'. Using a narrative inquiry methodology to explore the experiences and stories of early career educators, this study throws light on the powerful, yet intertwined personal and professional landscapes, which form the backdrop to those teachers' lives and the shaping of their personal and professional identities. When using narrative inquiry as a methodology we are '...adopting a particular view of experience as phenomenon under study' (Connelly & Clandinin, 2006, p.479). Through narrative inquiry experience is studied through the exploration of personal/social, temporality, and place. The paper draws on interview data, field texts and reflective journal extracts collated over one year. The teachers' narratives provide an opportunity for theorization through storytelling. This focus on continuum through a narrative inquiry methodology has uncovered motives, values, and experiences, which constitute part of the teachers' shifting identities as they navigated their personal and professional landscapes. Findings reveal that teacher attrition is not always related to remuneration issues (Chapman, 1994), or issues surrounding student behaviour in the classroom (Smith & Ingersoll, 2004). Furthermore, while there was considerable evidence of personal and contextual stories ‘bumping' as these beginning teachers commenced their careers, the main reasons given for leaving the profession were entirely contextual and arguably preventable. Insights gleaned may have significant implications for teacher education institutions (TEIs), policy makers and school leaders and contribute to our knowledge of related fields including teacher retention and teacher resilience.