Newly qualified teachers’ work engagement and teacher efficacy influences on job satisfaction, burnout, and the intention to quit

Teacher policy is high on national agendas and countries are seeking to improve schools. Demands on schools and teachers are more complex and it is expected that a larger number of teachers will enter the profession. Studies indicate that the period when teachers are newly qualified is a peak time for leaving the profession. The purpose of this study was to investigate work engagement and teacher efficacy and their relationship to job satisfaction, burnout and the intention to quit among newly qualified teachers. 750 questionnaires were distributed to teachers who had less than six years experience as a teacher after they had completed their teacher education from one university in southern Norway. 192 completed surveys were returned, a response rate of 25.6%. In line with the hypothesis, proposed work engagement and teacher efficacy are positively related to job satisfaction but negatively related to job burnout and the intention to quit. Practical implications of these findings are discussed.