Using life history inquiry, this study seeks to understand why three ordinary teachers like Nora, Norris, and Bob remained in the teaching profession. This qualitative study was conducted using life history interviews and artifacts to gather data. Through qualitative inquiry and thematic analysis, data were interpreted to gain insight into teachers' lives and their teaching practice. Three factors emerged as recurring themes over the course of this study.

The purpose of this article is to describe the origins of qualitative inquiry, research and writing in the Caribbean. The period under review goes back more than 200 years. The paper begins with a discussion of the criteria for determining what counts as qualitative research, the conditions under which research was conducted and made public in the 19th century, and the differences in standards between then and now. It will then briefly describe the categories of work that meet most or all of these criteria for qualitative research.

Our core mission as a faculty and university is to generate ideas that provide answers to our society's challenging problems through our research work. Qualitative inquiry encompasses the investigation into human experience. This is a dynamic experience as it is lived, felt, made sense of and undergoes metamorphism. The qualitative inquirer seeks to understand and report on experiences with the use of authentic methods to observe and probe, thereby revealing the interactions, intentions and meanings of human experiences.