This paper reports on findings of the first stage of a longitudinal collaborative project undertaken with teachers in England and Australia.  The project we report on aims to understand what factors are important when teachers make career decisions about staying in the teaching profession.  Much of the previous research in this area has concentrated on the induction phase, on becoming and being a teacher, mentoring teachers through their first years of teaching, and then documenting their exit from the profession.  Consequently, we know a great deal about why teachers leave the profession in the early stage of their careers as well as about what strategies and programmes may assist in retaining teachers.  The motivation for this approach has been at a practical and political level as governments attempt to retain enough teachers to staff their schools.

While recognising that this is important, our research considers the quality of the teachers who stay and what factors influence them to remain in the profession.  In common with research findings in the USA, a recent survey of new teachers in Australia found that 24% signalled their intention to leave teaching within the first five years and yet after their first year in the profession 93% report “loving” or “liking” teaching (Joint Principals Association, 2006).   Teachers in the UK (NUT, 2003), Australia (Gore, Williams and Ladwig, 2006; Manuel, 2003; McCormack, Gore and Thomas, 2004; Williams, 2002) and the USA (Ingersoll, 2001; Strong and St John, 2005) cite low salaries, lack of professional development opportunities, excessive administration, government initiatives and unacceptable student behaviour as reasons for leaving the profession. 

We are particularly interested in whether teachers have a ‘passion’ for their chosen profession, how, if at all, their idealism is influenced by the culture of the school in which they work; whether professional development activities undertaken have any impact on either teaching or career decisions; and the development and maintenance of relationships with their colleagues.   An analytical framework, drawn from a review of literature in the areas of induction, teacher persistence and retention, has been developed for use in the first stage of this project. 

Ingersoll, R.M. (2001) A different approach to solving the teacher shortage problem (Teaching Quality Policy Brief No. 3). Seattle: University of Washington. Centre for the Study of Teaching and Policy. Retrieved October, 2001, from http://depts.washington.edu/ctpmail Joint Principals’ Association (2006) Report on Beginning Teachers, Commissioned by Australian Secondary and Primary Principals’ Associations, Unpublished paper. Manuel, J. (2003). ‘Such are the ambitions of youth’: exploring issues of retention and attrition of early career teachers in NSW. Asia-Pacific Journal of Education, 31(2), 139-151. McCormack, A., Gore, J.M., and Thomas, K. (2004) ‘Learning to teach: Narratives from early career teachers’, Paper presented at AARE Conference, Melbourne. National Union of Teachers (NUT) (2003) The response of the National Union of Teachers to the House of Commons’ Education and Skills Committee Inquiry into secondary education teacher retention. Strong, M. and St. John, L. (2005) ‘A study of teacher retention. The effects of mentoring on beginning teachers’, New Teacher Center, Santa Cruz. Unpublished paper. Williams, C. (2002) ‘Telling Tales: Stories from New Teachers in NSW Country Schools’ Paper presented at AARE Annual Conference. Brisbane.