Career intentions of Australian physical education teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate Australian physical education (PE) teachers’ career intentions and factors influencing their intentions. A sample (N = 234) of Western Australian PE teachers responded to a questionnaire determining PE teachers’ work and the primary motivators for intention to leave the profession. Half (51.3%) of the respondents wanted a change from their current PE teacher job and 39.8% were intending to leave PE teaching. The most frequent reasons for wanting to leave PE related to: non-use of expertise, workload, school administration, and lack of opportunities for personal and professional development. Consideration should be given to mediation strategies that serve to elevate physical educators’ needs satisfaction for teaching autonomy, competence and relatedness. Personal and professional advancement in schools to help maintain all teachers, particularly experienced teachers, appears warranted. PE teachers’ workload is considerable and worthy of review with the intention to extend their use-by-date and retain their experience-enriched expertise.