A report is given of a study comparing the classroom, school, and community phenomena that secondary school teachers in the United States, England, and West Germany experience as sources of enthusiasm and discouragement in their professional work. The teachers were interviewed in groups of five to ten in their own schools. The open-end structured interviews were focused on two areas: sources of enthusiasm and discouragement in their work, and increasing the power of sources for enthusiasm and decreasing the power of sources for discouragement. The discussions centered on ways in which sources for enthusiasm and discouragement for teachers in their work were similar and different in the three countries, and the teachers' recommendations for increasing their job satisfaction. Good relationships with students were a source of satisfaction for most of the teachers, though to varying degrees, while poor relationships with administrators and lack of status emerged as common themes when discussion focused on discouragement. Recommendations for improvement included better relations with parents and the community. Several points of possible cross-cultural learning are identified which educators in each of the three countries might wish to consider. (JD)