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This study aimed to deepen the understanding of the role of work motivation in teachers at career start. Participants were 589 beginning French-Canadian teachers working in public elementary and high schools. In addition to situating the forms of motivation (autonomous versus controlled) that drive teachers in the three first years of their career, the results provide support for a model explaining the motivational pathways by which school environment factors (work overload, control, recognition, and sense of community) relate to teachers’ psychological health (emotional exhaustion), attitude toward the job (occupational commitment), and behaviors in the classroom (climate that fosters student attentiveness).