ABSTRACT
Since the early 1990s a number of research projects have been carried out, examining matters such as teacher induction, teacher resignation, the impact of teaching on teachers' partners, teacher and school executive satisfaction, teacher motivation and stress, successful teaching, teacher self-concept, middle management in schools and other related areas. This chapter examines some of the causes and manifestations of teachers' changing commitment to their professional development in the context of social and educational change. Hargreaves has written on the phenomenon of 'balkanisation', a form of 'negative collaboration', whereby teachers and schools under pressure fragment and withdraw into sub-groups. In addition to the withdrawal of teachers into groups, a concept related to balkanisation and group-think called 'retreating', a phenomenon affecting individual teachers rather than groups, is identified. However, teachers from all the countries surveyed saw the nature and pace of educational change threatening teacher professionalism and its associated commitment to professional growth and development.
