Chapter 4 82 valued not only because of the desire to raise children in a certain way, but also because of the teachers’ concern for their own well-being. At this point, our study provides more detailed knowledge about teachers’ preference to teach in schools were they feel at home and where they have shared experiences with pupils and staff (see Introduction). These outcomes of our study need attention in further investigations because often the pupils’ well-being is central to the research and debates on school choice, while the factor of teachers’ own well-being is hardly examined. Our study is an explorative start, but it is important to get more in-depth insights into the weight of the different interests of teachers, extensive understanding of the considerations behind the interests in which the well-being of the teacher plays a role, and knowledge about how teachers’ personal positions play a part in the existence and identity of religious schools. That teachers choose to work at certain denominational schools because of their own well-being may count for other (denominational) schools in other countries as well. We expect that it relates to the strong link between the personal and professional identities in the teaching profession, which makes personal safety important (Day et al., 2006). Furthermore, sociocultural influences might be involved, which, in our study, were reflected in what we called “the unconscious choice.” In the case of religious schools, the sociocultural influences could be even more important because social identity theory suggests that religion is a strong force of psychological and social processes. In this context, it would be worthwhile to examine whether, in general, teachers seek, more so than people in other professions, a comfortable feeling in their professional environment, or whether this need to feel comfortable is higher among teachers in OPPSs or in other schools with specific religious denominations. In addition to a further in-depth examination of how teachers’ personal well-being plays a role in school choice, it would be worth investigating how personal well-being plays a role in parents’ choices. Furthermore, it would be worth examining the motives of teachers with an orthodox Protestant background who have decided not to work at an OPPS. Lastly, it strikes us that some teachers feel incapable of working at a nonorthodox Protestant school because they lackexperience indealingwithreligiousothers themselves. It should be questioned as to what this could mean for the next generation: Will they experience the same shortcomings? On the other hand, it seems significant that teachers consciously mention the disadvantages they had experienced, but still chose OPPSs. Does this mean that teachers consider the benefits for pupils outweighing the disadvantages? Or do they take into account the limitations they experienced themselves and try to improve their practices to compensate for that? Our study presents new perspectives on
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