Factors influencing teaching choice: Why do future teachers choose the career?

Teachers constitute a large, heterogeneous workforce which has been the subject of policy measures designed to raise the quality of the pool of those seeking to enter, and remain, in the profession. The essence of these recruitment and retention interventions has been the desire to attract academically able and committed people who will be inspirational, effective teachers of children and adolescents (Schleicher A, Building a high-quality teaching profession: lessons from around the world. International Summit on the Teaching Profession. OECD Publishing, Paris. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264113046-en, 2011). Across several decades, educators and public policy-makers have been faced with the recurring issue of how to attract and retain the highest quality teachers as a vital resource in the advancement of student learning and achievement (Greenwald R, Hedges LV, Laine RD, Rev Educ Res 66(3):361–396, 1996). Yet, identification of this need has not meant the problem has been easily addressed.