Preschool teacher attrition : A phenomenological analysis of five interviews with former preschool teachers

Abstract: The Swedish early childhood education system is world renown for having one of the best child-centered educational curriculums, but retaining preschool teachers continues to be an issue. There are simply not enough preschool teachers to meet demands and as a result, Sweden cannot afford to lose any of the professionals that are currently working in the field. This study intends to investigate the question: What leads preschool employees to seek new employment opportunities? Five taped, semi-structured interviews with former preschool teachers and a phenomenological analysis of the gathered empirical data intend to provide insight to this question. Hopefully with this data it might be possible, with a few changes to the existing system, to entice some of these qualified, experienced preschool teachers back into the field. The results of the interviews seem to suggest that the preschool teachers are frustrated with the organizational factors of the preschool, whether it be lack of opportunities for professional development or unmanageable job duties stemming from perceived large child groups. This frustration seems to be in spite of general feelings of pride for the profession as a whole. These former preschool teachers tend to reason that guaranteed small child groups and opportunities for continued professional development could be the key to retaining qualified, experienced preschool professionals.