Hunt, Bethany2025-07-302025-07-302025https://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/73261Teacher attrition is a critical issue worldwide, with many primary school teachers struggling to manage the balance between their professional and personal lives due to conflicting priorities. While work-life balance research is extensive, the work-life balance of primary school teachers and the effect of this on their career intentions is significantly underexplored, particularly within the New Zealand context. Research that has been conducted has often investigated the balance between teachers’ work and personal life from a work-family balance perspective, neglecting other aspects of personal life such as leisure. The aim of this research was to explore New Zealand primary school teachers’ experiences of balancing work and leisure and the potential effect of this on their career intentions. A qualitative study was conducted in the form of semi-structured interviews on a sample of 16 New Zealand primary school teachers. The findings were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis approach. The study identified a variety of factors hindering participants ability to balance work and leisure. These included workload, teaching experience, dual roles, personal priorities, job intensity and workplace support. While many participants indicated struggling to engage in regular leisure activity, their responses highlighted that engagement in leisure was not a primary factor affecting their career intentions. A significant factor influencing participants' career intentions was a desire to make a difference to their students. However, the study found that this came at a cost to their personal well-being and time, chosen priorities, role responsibilities and leisure engagement. Participants identified areas which may assist them to achieve their ideal work-life balance, such as meaningful workplace support and a simplification of work-related tasks. Further research is recommended on ways to support teachers in these areas in order to address the work-life balance of New Zealand primary school teachers and the critical issue of teacher attrition.enThe authorThesis520104 Industrial and organisational psychology (incl. human factors)