Moving school can be a “low point” for teachers and lead them to consider leaving the profession, a new study shows.
The research claims that the “impact of school-school transitions accounted for a significant number of the low points” for teachers who participated in its survey, with some describing the period as a “near miss” when they almost left teaching.
The findings come as the latest government data reveals that the number of state school teachers leaving the profession hit the highest rate in four years in 2022.
In the new research, which is being carried out by the University of Exeter and is yet to be published, many teachers reported that the challenges they faced after moving school were made worse by a lack of support, a loss of professional social networks and collegial relationships, and changes to their feelings about their competence and accomplishment.
Teacher retention problems
Teachers described changes to physical, emotional and cognitive workload, with some “needing to completely reconsider their professional identity as a teacher due to differences in the school’s culture or the demographics and attitudes of the students”.
Some teachers also reported experiencing behaviour management issues for the first time in their careers.
The research by Alison Pearson, from the University of Exeter, is being presented at the British Educational Research Association (BERA) this week.
Dr Pearson interviewed long-serving secondary school teachers - those who had worked for 14 to 25 years - and used both visual timelines and in-depth narrative interviews.
She said: “The impact of school-school transitions accounted for a significant number of the low points for teachers who participated. Some described this time as a ‘near miss’ when they almost left the profession.”
And Dr Pearson said that given the issues with staff retention and wellbeing within the teaching profession, “an understanding of critical career low points may lead to a better understanding of how teachers can be supported to successfully continue in their careers”.
The research also claims that experienced teachers may need support when they move to a new school and suggests that teacher training providers should help new teachers to understand the potential impact of a move to a new setting in their future careers.
A Department for Education spokesperson said that schools “have a duty to support the health and wellbeing of their staff” and the department was “committed to promoting a whole-school approach to health and wellbeing.”
The full journal article will be published later this year.
