Actions speak louder than words : investigating teacher attrition in Malta

Abstract

A phenomenon in the Maltese educational scene is the rise in the number of educators who voluntarily resign from the profession. This phenomenon is under-researched as most studies focus on in-service teachers rather than on those who resign to seek alternative employment in non-educational sectors. This fact prompted the researcher to conduct a study aimed at revealing the underlying motives for teacher resignations in Malta. The methodology followed an interpretivist research philosophy that utilises an inductive, qualitative research instrument based on a narrative inquiry strategy. The data set comprised fifteen narratives gathered through independent semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with teacher graduates and were segregated into four groups based on their years of teaching experience. A thematic analysis yielded sixteen individual determinants for local teacher attrition.