This paper reports the findings of a survey of 686 secondary school teachers in England on their involvement in their work and the factors to which it is related. Three facet-free and 13 facet-specific measures were derived from a questionnaire sent to teachers who proportionately represented the characteristics of teachers in all secondary schools in six large Local Education Authority areas. An analysis of the results indicated that: (1) work centrality was, in general, "value-driven" so that the more a job dimension was regarded as a source of job satisfaction the greater was the teacher's involvement in work; (2) the greatest single net effect on work centrality was workload support, followed by involvement in the pastoral role, in professional development activities and in pupil-centered pedagogy; and (3) when seven demographic variables were added, these specific roles and activities appeared to be a function of seniority achieved early in the teaching career. A discussion of the findings elaborates the notion of a "spoiled" career and focuses on the special position of the mature entrant into teaching. Findings are displayed in eight tables and three figures. (JD)