Human Perspectives on the Resignation of Teachers from the New South Wales Public School System: Towards a Model of Teacher Persistence

Abstract

The phenomenon of teacher resignation has not been well understood to date, has negative connotations and appears to be linked to the equally contentious issues of teacher morale, stress, burnout and teacher satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Where research has been carried out into teacher resignation, invariably this has consisted of the forecasting of teacher supply and demand and the statistical analysis of questionnaires administered to teacher trainees, practising teachers and administrators, and resigned teachers. Often, quite simplistic reasons have been given for teacher resignation because of a tendency to equate the destinations of resigned teachers with the reasons for their resignation, a situation where cause and effect have been confused. The major contention of this study was that the phenomenon of teacher resignation could be better understood through the use of more qualitative methods, specifically those associated with the interview and grounded theory techniques. To this end, fifty seven teachers formerly employed with the New South Wales Department of School Education were interviewed.