This paper is based on a five-year research project looking at the work of music teachers in Northern Ireland. It considers the original inspirations for their choice of career and investigates which aspects of their work continue to motivate them. It discusses the tensions that can arise between their aspirations and the realities of the classroom, and suggests that the reasons for these may often be found in their own élitist background, in the importance they attach to the musical as opposed to the educational aspects of their work and in their general lack of vision for future career development.