Education for all and attrition/retention of new teachers: A trajectory study in Chile

This article centres on teacher retention and its importance for achieving quality education for all. It analyses the state of early career teaching attrition and turnover in Chile over a ten-year period, and goes on more closely to the study of new teacher trajectories over their first two years of teaching. In line with literature on issues of retention/attrition it considers the impact of school conditions and changes in professional satisfaction and self-efficacy perceptions in the early years of teaching. Data sources include econometric analysis of existing databases as well as surveys, interviews and narratives. Quantitative results indicate high attrition rates of early career teachers in Chile, and teacher narratives show “critical” as well as “protective” conditions that foreshadow decisions to leave or the stay in the profession.