Education Commons^™

Valuing Early Career Teachers: Putting The Brakes On The Exodus, Marion Shields, Peter W. Kilgour

Peter Kilgour

The attrition of early career teachers has been

identified as an international issue. This paper

reports on an Australian study that sought to

identify the lived experiences of beginning

teachers in one independent school system

in their first three years. Areas such as the

teacher’s job satisfaction and impacting factors

were addressed. Data revealed that the main

drivers for teachers terminating their teaching

career in the first few years are connected to

work/life balance, the level of support from

administration, the teacher’s mentor, and the

level and appropriateness of the professional

development they are permitted to attend.