| Summary: | Teacher retention in England continues to be in a state of decline with early career
teachers (ECTs) most at risk of leaving the profession. High attrition rates create an unstable
and unsustainable workforce which negatively affects the educational development of young
people. The purpose of this paper was to explore the career-related push and pull factors for
ECTs in England. The paper also explores the way in which ECTs’ experiences shape career
decision-making, and the extent to which their motivational needs are being met. Previous
studies have considered workplace retention; however, little is known about the motivational
needs and perspectives of ECTs. This paper explores the experiences of 20 ECTs in statefunded primary, secondary and special schools in England. All participants had less than five
years teaching experience and were selected through purposive sampling. Participants took
part in semi-structured online interviews with data analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Five themes were constructed from the data: Complexity, Belonging, Emotional Impact,
Professional Identity and Relentlessness. Findings show that these themes are interrelated and
combine to create a clear ‘tipping point’ where ECTs begin to find the job unmanageable.
From a motivation perspective, we found that autonomous motivation reduces quitting
intentions and that the need for relatedness and positive professional identities are particularly
important for retaining teachers in the first five years of their careers.
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