From Attrition to Retention: A Narrative Inquiry of Why Beginning Teachers Leave and Then Rejoin the Profession

Source: Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 43, Issue 1, 2015, pages 22-35

This article 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.