“I knew I had to leave”: a Bourdieusian analysis of why Teach For America teachers quit early

Lefebvre, E. E. and Thomas, M. A.M. (2024) “I knew I had to leave”: a Bourdieusian analysis of why Teach For America teachers quit early. Teaching and Teacher Education, 142, 104520. (doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2024.104520)

Abstract

Educational stakeholders have long been concerned about teacher attrition's negative effects. Teach For America (TFA), in particular, has garnered attention for this reason, yet many of its teachers quit even before the program's two-year commitment ends. Drawing on Bourdieu, this longitudinal qualitative study explores heretofore neglected insights from TFA teachers (n = 5) who leave early. We find that while quitters are motivated to teach, their forms of cultural and social capital within the educational field lead many to quit. The paper argues that some of these limitations are attributable to TFA's programmatic design, raising critical questions about its continued approach.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding: This work was supported by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney; and by a Bethel University Professional Development Grant.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Thomas, Dr Matthew

Creator Roles

Thomas, M. A.M.: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Lefebvre, E. E., and Thomas, M. A.M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Journal Name: Teaching and Teacher Education
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0742-051X
• ISSN (Online): 1879-2480
• Published Online: 12 March 2024
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2024 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Teaching and Teacher Education 142: 104520
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License