Introduction

People are attracted to teaching for a variety of reasons, but chief among these are wanting to ‘make a difference’, wanting to ‘inspire’ and wanting to ‘capture pupils’ imaginations’. New teachers are hopeful that they have the ability to turn interest into passion, to turn ability into talent and to turn good ideas into achievement. This is the excitement and enthusiasm that the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) implied with its ‘Can you start a fire?’ campaign for the next generation of entrants into the teaching profession.