Using theories of human, social, structural, and positive psychological capital to explore the attrition of former public school practitioners

Abstract

Decades of research have reinforced teacher attrition as a complex phenomenon. To capture the intricate nature of teacher attrition, Mason and Poyatos Matas (2015) proposed a theoretical framework comprised of four interacting theories: human capital, social capital, structural capital, and positive psychological capital. Using Mason and Poyatos Matas’ (2015) model, this qualitative phenomenological inquiry illuminates the essential meanings of attrition and retention phenomena as they are lived in the everyday lives of five former public school practitioners. Specifically, practitioners who worked in primary and secondary schools across urban, rural, and suburban contexts in the United States for five years or less. Together, findings from 20 interviews—four in-depth interviews with each participant—suggest that issues surrounding preservice education, practitioner autonomy, administrative accountability, shifting demographics, and unsustainable lifestyles were among salient factors of teacher exodus. In addition, an expansion to positive psychological capital theory is proposed to better understand how internal variables influence practitioners’ career trajectories.