The Five-Year Itch: What Motivates Teachers to Stay?

A recent paper published in the British Educational Research Journal co-authored by TSP Founder Professor Robert Klassen, Thomas Proctor-Legg & Rebecca Snell explores why so many teachers leave the profession within their first five years – and, crucially, what keeps others motivated to stay.

The study identifies four core psychological needs that strongly influence teacher motivation:

• Competence – feeling effective in the classroom and able to meet professional challenges.
• Confidence – believing in one’s ability to manage complex situations and sustain progress.
• Identity – developing a sense of belonging and alignment with the profession.
• Connectedness – building supportive relationships with peers, mentors, and the wider school community.

Meeting these needs plays a vital role in strengthening teachers’ commitment and wellbeing. When these areas are neglected, the risk of attrition increases significantly.

Why this matters for teacher development

For teacher educators, policymakers, and school leaders, the research provides clear guidance: retention strategies must go beyond recruitment pipelines to focus on the conditions that build teacher competence, confidence, identity, and connectedness over time.

This aligns directly with the approach we take at Teacher Success Platform (TSP). Our tools – from immersive classroom simulations to reflective feedback frameworks – are designed to strengthen not just technical teaching skills, but also the professional behaviours and psychological resilience that underpin success and satisfaction in the classroom.

The role of AI in scaling support

The research findings also highlight an opportunity: how can we meet these motivational needs consistently at scale, when human mentoring is often stretched thin?

Here, the responsible application of AI-powered coaching and analytics offers promise. With solutions like MentorEd (TSP’s AI Teacher Coach), AI can provide teachers with personalised, context-aware feedback and reflective prompts that nurture competence and confidence. At the same time, AI can surface insights for mentors and school leaders, highlighting where identity and connectedness may be weaker – allowing for targeted human support.

Rather than replacing the human mentor, AI extends their reach, ensuring teachers get the right feedback at the right time. In this way, research insights like those of Klassen and colleagues directly inform how professional learning and mentoring solutions can be designed for the future: evidence-based, scalable, and focused on the psychological foundations of teacher retention.