Do you think the numbers leaving quite early on in their profession might be due to the fact that they haven't a true vocation for the job? They start teaching and cannot 'connect' with their students, or engage their interest. Or they're unable to dream up ways of presenting lessons that are innovative and entertaining. This always led to discipline problems for 'my' young protege student teachers. They always arrived with lots of photocopied bits of paper and the textbooks, but their delivery of the lesson and performance was, well, boring.

A teacher is on stage in a sense, and has to 'act'. And a huge sense of humour is important. It's all about one's character, and pupils will suss that out in five minutes.