Abstract
The word ‘commitment’ is often used by educational writers and teachers without conscious precision as to its meaning. An attempt is made to clarify this term by utilising data from a three‐year case study of teacher initiated innovation to focus upon the manner in which a group of teachers defined and redefined their commitment within this process over time. It is suggested that teachers’ commitment to schooling, the subject, and to innovation is not a unitary phenomenon but is multidirectional and multifaceted, with different aspects gaining prominence depending upon the life circumstances of the individual.