Early career teacher (ECT) attrition data are often challenged by those outside of the profession. Attrition rates can only be interpolated from existing data, but fall somewhere between 8 and 53%. The Australian workforce data on ECT attrition are problematized at the outset, before presenting a collective case study examining early career male…

The Teachers of Promise study has followed the work histories of 57 primary and secondary teachers who had been identified at the beginning of their third year of teaching as having the potential to make a significant contribution to the profession. Using data from surveys and interviews, this paper reports on what sustained or inhibited their…

If teaching is a complex act, it is additionally complex for first-year teachers', who enter with the same responsibilities as veteran teachers yet encounter specific difficulties as beginning teachers. This paper uses existing research on beginning English teachers major concerns to frame the exploration of concerns faced by four beginning…

Within the UK there are grave concerns about retention and attrition rates within the teaching profession, particularly in challenging schools. These are compounded by worries about the gap that will be left as long-serving teachers reach retirement age. This article is about the working lives of long-serving teachers in three high-poverty urban…

Individuals moving from job to job are argued as a feature of reflexive modernity. This trend is reflected in the increasing number and diversity of "career changers" or "second career teachers" recruited to teaching. Having recruited teachers, retaining them in the profession is recognised as a considerable challenge. In terms…

Whilst much research on teachers' lives has focussed on their early years in the profession, much less attention has been paid to those in their later years, so called "veteran" teachers. Yet, many of these are likely to hold positions of responsibility in the school, receive greater remuneration and have experienced the impact of more…

This study, drawing on the voice of beginning teachers, seeks to illuminate their experiences of building professional relationships as they become part of the teaching profession. A networking perspective was taken to expose and explore the use of others during the first three years of a teacher's workplace experience. Three case studies, set…

This study considers the lives of two veteran, urban high school teachers who have persisted in the profession over several decades, and who demonstrate an investment and enthusiasm for the work that is unusual among teachers in "difficult" schools. Through ethnographic, open-ended interviews and observations, the study seeks to identify those…

Teachers' learning and occupational well-being is crucial in attaining educational goals both in the classroom and at the school community level. In this article teachers' occupational well-being that is constructed in teaching-learning processes within the school community is referred to as pedagogical well-being. The article focuses on exploring…

This paper is the result of an explorative study, based on the in-depth meta-analysis of a corpus of contemporary pieces of research in which there was found clear references to veteran theatre teachers talking about their work. Following that, extracts from interviews of experienced theatre teachers were analyzed. The major aim of this study is…

Voices of veteran junior high and high school biology teachers are seldom heard. Yet, the unique characteristics of this subject-matter may shed some light on veteran teachers' lives in school and their possible contribution to educational systems anywhere. Eight teachers were interviewed, aiming to arrive at their self-perceptions as veteran…

The purpose of the study reported upon in this paper was to determine what graduates of a teacher education program designed to prepare teachers who will work toward goals of equity and social justice were encountering in their schools and how they felt they were doing with regard to these aims and why. Eleven graduates in their second, fourth or…

The VITAE project is a four-year (2001-2005) research study, commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills, conducted with 300 teachers in 100 schools in seven local education authorities in England. The project aimed to identify factors that may affect their work and lives over time and how these factors may, in turn, impact on their…