I'm not a psychologist, I'm not a school nurse, I am a teacher: A qualitative study about how former teachers view their reasons for leaving the occupation

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore how former teachers view their reasons for leaving the teaching occupation in the context of the Swedish compulsory school. The study took a qualitative form where nine semi-structured interviews were conducted. The participants were all former teachers, including a number of first teachers. The theory of the psychological contract and the job embeddedness model were used as tools for explaining the teachers' decisions and the process that led them to leave the occupation. The findings indicate that there are several on- and off-the-job factors contributing to teachers' quitting decisions, and that embedding factors can have a buffering effect on shocks stemming from contract breaches. The study provides insights about voluntary turnover within the Swedish school sector. Further, it has important implications for policymakers as it highlights how various on- and off-the-job factors can impact on the decision to leave the teaching occupation. It also provides a simplified model explaining the roles of both expectations and embedding factors in the decision - and how these intersect.