The Teachers of Promise study (2005-2011) is a longitudinal study of 57 promising new primary and secondary teachers from their third to seventh years of teaching. The research aimed to uncover the factors that sustained and developed the commitment of a group of highly “promising” teachers over time — from their initial teacher education programmes, throughout their induction period and the following six years of teaching. Teachers shared their perspectives on the factors that helped them make a good start (or otherwise) in their careers and assisted them to build their teaching expertise and that of their colleagues. We chose to focus on this period because:
•provisionally registered teachers have been, and are currently the focus of other studies
•this is the period when teachers typically make critical decisions about their careers such as whether to stay in teaching, to advance up the career ladder, or to continue with professional learning; and
•research demonstrates that teachers play a critical role in students' enjoyment and engagement in school, and their success as learners, so it matters how well teachers are prepared, mentored and supported as early career teachers.

Participants were interviewed in 2005, 2006 and 2011, and surveys were undertaken in the same years. The surveys from 2006 onwards included versions for those who had left teaching or who were teaching overseas. We asked them to reflect on:
• the reasons they decided to become teachers
• their expectations and experiences in their programmes of initial teacher education
•the support and challenges they experienced in their provisional registration period
• the opportunities they had to develop greater expertise as teachers
• the types of workplace cultures that supported their on-going learning
• the opportunities they had to contribute to the development of their colleagues