ABSTRACT
Despite the loss of a proportion of teachers early in their careers, the majority of those who enter the profession have traditionally remained in it for most, if not all, of their working lives. Whether this will change is open to debate. There are those who believe that career paths will become more flexible, that teachers will quit for other careers, and new entrants will join the profession in mid-career. With the wide range of options open to teachers there has been the possibility of a new direction away from the classroom. However, some teachers find a new interest that will take them away from the classroom. Others will leave for family reasons either to act as carers or to work in a family business. But, for most teachers, leaving will be when retirement comes along.
