From the Pulpits to the Boards: A Study on Prospective Second Career Teachers in Turkey

Abstract

Teaching career is the widest state employment type in Turkey. The career is resourced by many higher education institutions besides the ones deploying regular teacher training programs. Teacher candidates other than the graduates from education faculties have to attend a program specially designed to instruct on foundations of education such as theories, principles, strategies, planning, teaching methods and assessment. That alternative teacher certification program paves the way to transition to teaching career as well. This study was carried out with 11 religious officials who intend to shift into teaching career. The data was collected through 5 essays written by each participant while they were attending the program. The study was conducted as content analyses of total 55 essays. The analyses revealed that the participants, 1 preacher-woman, 4 mosque leaders-preachers and 6 Quran instructors, did not display any role confliction, intended to use their skills and experiences developed through their current careers selectively. The results were discussed with relevant available literature.

Explicating Women’s Career Transitions: Propositions and a Conceptual Model

“…However, women’s marketable job skills can depreciate and become outdated, especially because women are more likely to take career breaks and other frequent job leaves due to personal and familial responsibilities (Greer, 2013). She may, therefore, need to initiate her career preparation by engaging in formal or informal learning opportunities to grow transferable skills and remain relevant in the labor market (Unisen & Polat, 2016). As she prepares for her career move, she can also develop her narrative that will explain to her future employer how her existing skills fit within the new job role (Byrne & Theakston, 2016).…”

“…While a planned career transition creates opportunities to assess skills and prepare for the transition, the impetus for a career transition can also be unplanned due to circumstances like corporate downsizing (Unisen & Polat, 2016), creating a need for the actor to unexpectedly craft her next career move. For a career transition that is unplanned or unexpected, her mental, physical, and emotional health can be strained as she learns to embrace and cope with the change (Greer, 2017) and deal with feelings of negativity, uncertainty, anxiety, helplessness, and even low self-esteem (Kenttä et al, 2016; Unisen & Polat, 2016; Vilanova & Puig, 2016). Therefore, during the career preparation phase, she requires self-efficacy, resilience, and motivation to seek the knowledge and skills needed to prepare herself for the career transition and hunt for new job opportunities.…”

“…In this case, women must deal with the reduced wages and perceived loss of power from their pre-leave full-time position (Arntz et al, 2017; Fehring & Herring, 2012). Furthermore, some women may forego additional training or schooling needed to support the career transition because they simply do not have the finances or flexibility (Motulsky, 2010; Unisen & Polat, 2016), which arguably increases their need for additional contextual supports, as described next.…”