Early career teachers' quit intentions: implications for teacher education

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify what job‐related, individual, and profession‐related variables cause the intention to quit teaching among the early career teachers, especially teachers of Ethiopia.Design/methodology/approachQuit intentions were measured adapting the scale developed by Mueller and Lawler, and 11 profession‐related and person‐related job variables were measured by author‐developed and literature‐derived scale items on a five‐point Likert scale, along with five status variables. Data were analyzed from a sample of 308 early career teachers belonging to secondary and preparatory schools of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.FindingsAn alarming 53 per cent sample expressed high quit intention whereas only 13 per cent teachers showed low quit intentions. Choice satisfaction (accounting 44 per cent variance), availability of other job opportunities (23 per cent variance), perceived status (15 per cent variance), and self‐accountability (13 per cent variance) emerged as predictor variables. None of the five status variables emerged as significant predictors. Commitment to teaching profession was not a significant predictor, suggesting the two concepts independent of each other.Research limitations/implicationsProviding freedom of choice at entry level to teaching profession coupled with enhancing rigour in pre‐service education was suggested as major steps required for decreasing high‐level quit intentions.Practical implicationsEducation policy needs to be such that for preparation of teachers of secondary and preparatory level, pre‐service teacher education students should have attained maturity of adulthood with a minimum academic attainment of a post‐undergraduate level or a post‐graduate level. This is to enable early career teachers to handle adolescence‐level school students by being equipped with better skills learned during pre‐service teacher education.Originality/valueThe results are pertinent not only to Ethiopia but also to any less developed or a developing country, where “catch them early” policy is followed for pre‐service education and where less rigorous pre‐service education exists.