Predicting teacher commitment

An empirical investigation was made of a model for predicting commitment to teaching, as measured by the extent to which teachers expressed an unwillingness to change careers. Predictor variables included personal variables as well as job-related factors. Data are reported from 175 teachers who had completed their preservice training at an Israeli teachers college over a ten-year period. Results indicated that only job satisfaction could directly predict commitment. Other factors, such as professional self-image, abilities, gender, job advancement, and pupil grade level were indirectly related, generally through their relationship with satisfaction. Teaching experience was unrelated to other variables in the model. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.