Abstract
This article describes a survey which investigated why teachers resigned from government secondary schools in Western Australia before they reached retirement age. All teachers who had resigned within a specific one-year period were invited to complete a survey which obtained information on demographic factors, work conditions, professional and career development, the effect of teaching on social and family lives, and relationships with parents, students, fellow teachers and administrative personnel. The findings suggested that male teachers who had resigned were more concerned with perceived discriminatory practices in the general management of the school than were the female teachers. On the other hand, female teachers were more concerned with the encroachment of teaching duties on their family and social lives, problems of classroom discipline and lack of administrative support. Both lack of administrative support with discipline problems and lack of effective school policies were cited by members of both sexes as contributing to their resignation, but to a greater extent with female teachers. The major causes of discipline problems were found to be the failure of students to do their homework and their general lack of motivation. One of the most significant findings was the perceived lack of competence of the principal in administrative skills such as decision making, staff support and general school management. For career-oriented teachers, the lack of promotional opportunities was given as the major reason for their resignation, while dissatisfaction with assessment procedures compounded this problem. Male teachers were concerned about perceived discriminatory practices by the subject superintendents. Constructive suggestions are put forward which point to ways of surmounting the perceived shortcomings within the government secondary school system.