“Teachers of Promise”: Is Teaching Their First Career Choice?

Abstract

This study, as part of a larger longitudinal study, “Teachers of Promise”, seeks to explore the perceptions and experiences of a group of teachers judged to have the potential to become strong teachers. It is these promising teachers who are needed for a strong and vibrant teaching profession, and it is these teachers who are most likely to leave teaching. Entrants to teaching have been differentiated according to the pathways of first career and career/job-changers. This study shows no appreciable differences between the two groups of teachers in their reasons for entering teaching, a finding that accords with international experience. Given international concerns about recruitment and retention in the teaching profession, there is an increasing need for messages about teaching as a career choice to be positive rather than negative.