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University of Denver

Breaking Point: An Examination of the Factors and Motivators That Determine Whether a Teacher Will Stay in the Classroom or Choose to Leave the Profession

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>Teachers are quitting the profession in droves, leaving classrooms empty or overcrowded. As a result, students are receiving a sub-par education from unexperienced or underqualified teachers (Watling et al, 2010). Retaining teachers for more than five years is no small feat. Teachers face unrealistic expectations, chronic high stress, and mental and physical health problems that lead to widespread burnout. However, some teachers are able to overcome these obstacles and stay in the profession for long periods of time (Buric & Penzic, 2019). This study identifies the internal motivations and external factors that influence teacher job satisfaction and describes how those motivations and factors work together to influence a teacher’s behavior.</p> <p>The theoretical framework for this narrative study is Social Cognitive Theory. The study reveals how the internal motivators and external factors a teacher faces influence job satisfaction in a post COVID 19 landscape.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Ph.D.
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation
Year
2024

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Treloar, Katherine
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Paul Michalec
  • Norma Hafenstein
  • Brette Garner

Subjects

dc:subject × 11

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>
Language dc:language
English (eng)

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2373
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-3368

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Denver
Base URL
digitalcommons.du.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Treloar, Katherine. Breaking Point: An Examination of the Factors and Motivators That Determine Whether a Teacher Will Stay in the Classroom or Choose to Leave the Profession. Dissertation thesis, 2024. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2373