This article examines a dynamic and contingent research process using the construct analysis approach based on the collective actions of a research group and the teachers involved in a project on perseverance in teaching.We felt it was important to explore the origins of perseverance by meeting persevering teachers to find out why they stayed in the profession, to better identify the characteristics they share with resilient people and, incidentally, to be able to reinvest these findings into professional insertion mechanisms. Two questions were raised – What perseverance factors are likely to play a major role at the beginning of a career? – Are there invariable perseverance factors throughout the different professional phases of a career? Through negotiations and confrontations between individuals, the construct analysis approach emphasized both cognitive and emotional dimensions to bring out elements related to the phenomenon of perseverance among teachers. The results show that themost important element is self confidence and that all of the other elements that emerged are related to “savoir être” (knowing how to be), rather than “savoir faire” (knowing how to do).