This book is part of a new international series on teacher development and its relationship to teaching quality and school improvement - an area of increasing importance in educational policy and practice. Teacher development has become a focal point for motivation and commitment amongst both new and experienced teachers. The books in the series look at innovative research and try to relate it meaningfully to practice. In this study of 160 secondary school teachers there are interviews with individuals as well as findings that apply to hundreds of practitioners. The book moves from particulars to universals, in an attempt to depict the nature of the teaching career and its effects on teachers.