This article reports findings from a study of 14 beginning teachers in their first year of teaching in primary schools. By the end of the first year, half were reconsidering their long-term commitment to teaching. The study found they were considering leaving because they were struggling to be the teachers they had envisaged being. One reason for…

Each year thousands of graduates in Australia take up their first position in schools, eager to teach students and determined to make a difference in their lives. They are overwhelmingly motivated by a desire to "do good" and "be good". Often they have been imagining "their" class and "their" teaching for…