This paper examines teachers' sense of vocation and their values at the outset and in the middle of their careers, through reference to three small research projects and to the continuing tradition of research into teachers' narrative accounts and interpretations of their values in relation to their work. Each of the projects worked with teachers who had an interest in values and spirituality. By enquiring into their reasons for starting and remaining in the teaching profession, the projects explore teachers' changing values in tension with some of the dominant values of the education system. It is suggested that some teachers deal with the tension by moving from relatively private vocation-based values, to values that embrace more public concepts of professionalism, and that their narratives are highly valuable for the profession and for policy-makers.