Demystifying the Mystery of Second Career Teachers’ Motivation to Teach

Hunter-Johnson, Yvonne

doi:10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2267

Cited by 13 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Second-career teachers are consistently acknowledged in the literature for their unique characteristics, such as their work experience, age, and motivation to give back to the community (Hunter- Johnson, 2015;Nielsen, 2016;Snyder, 2011;Tigchelaar, Brouwer, & Korthagen, 2008;Watters & Diezmann, 2015). SCTs frequently experience a discontinuity in their finances and employment (Tigchelaar et al, 2008) as well as destabilised confidence and disorientation (Snyder, 2011;Snyder et al, 2013).…”

Section: Characterisation Of the Sct Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Novak and Knowles coined the term 'second-career teacher', defining these teachers as "individuals leaving occupations unrelated to education, entering teacher preparation institutions, and becoming public and private school teachers" (1992, p. 3). Since then, authors (Anthony & Ord, 2008;Hunter-Johnson, 2015) have continued to use the term second-career teacher. It is assumed that subsequent researchers (Bar-Tal et al, 2020) continued to use the term to build on this research, conveniently making research accessible for future researchers.…”

Section: Characterisation Of the Sct Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proponents of the narrative of the SCT phenomenon as a vocational choice (Anthony & Ord, 2008;Castro & Bauml, 2009;Hunter-Johnson, 2015) examined motivational factors and perceptions of the SCT career trajectory.…”

Section: Main Findings Of Research Traditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers on the motivation of SCTs (Anthony & Ord, 2008;Hunter-Johnson, 2015) used the psychological concepts of motivation and utility interchangeably to describe the occupational decision. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can be considered when examining the psychological drivers at work in the process of deciding to become an SCT.…”

Section: Main Findings Of Research Traditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, social and personal utility should be considered when researching the perceived benefits of choosing teaching as a second career. It could be assumed that SCTs who become teachers do so because it is personally rewarding and because they are drawn to it and are acting from intrinsic motivation and social utility (Hunter-Johnson, 2015). In contrast, SCTs who become teachers because they want to earn rewards or avoid punishments (such as unemployment) are assumed to be acting from extrinsic motivation and personal utility (Ryan & Deci, 2000).…”

Section: Main Findings Of Research Traditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigation of Sense-making of New Teachers With Prior Professional Experience (SCT) in Switzerland: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Weinmann¹

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This research sought to investigate the lived experiences of new teachers with prior professional occupational experience (also referred to as second-career teachers – SCT). This was within the context of a growing phenomenon – the prolonged and projected teacher shortage in Switzerland (SRF news, 2021). The objective was to increase psychological and sociological understanding of the meaning-making of SCTs, to add to interdisciplinary knowledge to conceptualise the phenomenon, and give voice to the experienced impact of the SCT phenomenon. Through the findings, I present an in-depth, idiographic analysis of the lived experiences of SCTs. Four superordinate themes were identified: ‘Directing career transformation’, ‘Making amendments to the self’, ‘Accentuating social professional support’, and ‘Implications of career transformation’. The findings suggest that participants adapted to becoming SCTs by learning in four primary ways: about their new roles; from their teaching experiences at the new workplace; from others (pupils, practitioners); and contextualising their previous professional experience. Due to those learning experiences, participants were able to reflect on how they directed their careers, highlighting what it meant to them and further constructing their career narrative. Therefore, the four superordinate themes are connected by the notion of an epic – of transforming the self by adapting to the role as teacher and teaching in a school and by narrating the meaning thereof. This research makes three original contributions to understanding the SCT phenomenon: • contributing empirical evidence on the growing SCT phenomenon in Switzerland; • applying an interdisciplinary perspective and conceptualising the phenomenon as transformation underpinned by a constructivist philosophy; and • methodological contributions including a meta-narrative analysis and employing IPA as a research philosophy and methodology. I discuss various implications for practice and research. I conclude that those who are involved in SCT career pathways (including SCTs themselves) ought to be aware of the need for SCTs to personalise their career further. Therefore, these needs can be considered in designing relevant career pathways to ensure long-term, sustainable careers in teaching to effectively respond to the aforementioned teacher shortages.

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