Navigating and negotiating: Career changers in teacher education programmes

Varadharajan, Meera; Buchanan, John; Schuck, Sandy

doi:10.1080/1359866x.2019.1669136

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Alternatively certified teachers tend to cite altruism and the lowered barriers to entry facilitated by alternative certification policies (Chin & Young, 2007;Morettini, 2014). Perhaps feeling financially secure, career changers similarly seem to prioritize altruistic and intrinsic reasons over extrinsic reasons for entry (Varadharajan et al, 2020;Wilkins, 2017).…”

Section: Teacher Entrants and Reasons For Entrymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Entering, Staying, Shifting, Leaving, and Sometimes Returning: A Descriptive Analysis of the Career Trajectories of Two Cohorts of Alternatively Certified Mathematics Teachers

Brantlinger

2021

Teachers College Record

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Background: By attracting high-achieving college graduates and professional career changers, selective alternative certification programs, such as the New York City Teaching Fellows (NYCTF), promise to address pressing teacher shortages while also improving outcomes in hard-to-staff schools. Purpose: Looking at the main patterns in their careers before, during, and after completing NYCTF, the study provides insights into the short- and long-term impacts of mathematics teachers who entered as first- and second-career teachers on NYC public schools and the people in them. Participants: The study tracked the career trajectories and decision-making of more than 600 NYCTF mathematics teachers over a 9-year period. Research design: The longitudinal analysis of the teachers’ career trajectories is illuminated by descriptive statistics and qualitative analyses of their responses to open-ended survey items. Results: The article provides a portrait of urban mathematics teachers’ career decision-making as it unfolds over time. It challenges conventional understandings by demonstrating the stochastic nature of teachers’ career decision-making and, as part of this, consequential amounts of involuntary and midyear turnover. It further shows that, although in many ways similar, the career trajectories of the career changers and recent college graduates differed in key regards. Recommendations: On their own, strategies designed to attract high-achieving recent graduates and professional career changers to teach core subjects like mathematics will not solve long-standing teacher turnover and shortage issues in in high-needs urban schools. Districts also should focus on retention strategies, including training and induction tailored to meet the different needs and career goals of first- and second-career teachers.

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Section: Teacher Entrants and Reasons For Entrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Teachers' career decisions and opportunities for advancement are shaped by the accumulation of experience, professional ties, and credentials. Relatedly, how teachers make sense of their work depends on their career stage (Huberman, 1989;Varadharajan et al, 2020;Wilkins, 2017).…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Entering, Staying, Shifting, Leaving, and Sometimes Returning: A Descriptive Analysis of the Career Trajectories of Two Cohorts of Alternatively Certified Mathematics Teachers

Brantlinger

2021

Teachers College Record

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“…Moreover, SCTs are older and have more previous professional experience than FCTs (Etherington, 2011;Tigchelaar et al, 2008;Unruh & Holt, 2010;Varadharajan et al, 2019). In comparison, first-career teachers typically continue to operate in a school/study context (school-to-university), meaning they experience greater levels of continuity in terms of income situation, status, and identity (Tigchelaar et al, 2010).…”

Section: Characterisation Of the Sct Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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). Specifically, intrinsic motivation and social utility are often used interchangeably with the term altruistic motivation, suggesting that these SCTs enter teaching with a desire to make a difference in students' lives, contribute to society, work with children, contribute to social equity, and fulfil their passion for teaching (Anthony & Ord, 2008;Chong & Goh, 2007;Hunter-Johnson, 2015;Laming & Horne, 2013;Varadharajan et al, 2019;Wilkins, 2015). The desire to contribute to humanity may be seen as SCTs' purpose; that is, "to give, willingly and joyfully, only expecting in return the chance to seek purpose and meaning in their lives" .…”

Section: Main Findings Of Research Traditionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several researchers (Chong & Goh, 2007;Hunter-Johnson, 2015;Richardson & Watt, 2005;Varadharajan et al, 2019;Wilkins, 2015;Williams & Forgasz, 2009) have pronounced intrinsic/social utility as a primary factor in the decision-making process of SCTs. However, several other researchers (Alharbi, 2020;Anthony & Ord, 2008;Bunn & Wake, 2015;Knell & Castro, 2014;Koç, 2019;Raggl & Troman, 2008;Richardson & Watt, 2005) assert a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (respectively social and personal utility).…”

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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Can Career Changers Be Game Changers in Classrooms?: Recommendations and Implications for the Profession

Varadharajan

Buchanan

2021

Career Change Teachers

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Navigating and negotiating: Career changers in teacher education programmes

Cited by 19 publications

References 25 publications

Entering, Staying, Shifting, Leaving, and Sometimes Returning: A Descriptive Analysis of the Career Trajectories of Two Cohorts of Alternatively Certified Mathematics Teachers

Entering, Staying, Shifting, Leaving, and Sometimes Returning: A Descriptive Analysis of the Career Trajectories of Two Cohorts of Alternatively Certified Mathematics Teachers

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

Can Career Changers Be Game Changers in Classrooms?: Recommendations and Implications for the Profession

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