Relationships are with people-not with lines of computer code: Changing career from hi-tech to teaching

Abstract

This study examines former hi-tech workers who have pursued a second career in teaching. Narratives of 15 novice teachers: 8 men and 7 women from scientific fields are examined based on Positioning Theory. Two facets of their transition are examined: (a) Reasons for career change and image of both professions and (b) task perception, motivation, and commitment to teaching. Through the narratives, common themes are exposed: feelings of appeal versus rejection; financial sacrifice; work overload in hi-tech; and the need for meaningful emotional connections. Emphasis is placed on the importance of appropriate training for such teachers and the optimal conditions for their placement and acclimation in the education system.

Keywords

Novice teachers second career high tech to education narrative approach Positioning Theory Psychology of Working Theory beginning teachers employment transition

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bar-Tal

Chamo

Ram

Snapir

Gilat

(2020). First steps in a second career: Characteristics of the transition to the teaching profession among novice teachers. European Journal of Teacher Education, 43(5), 660–675. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2019.1708895

Blustein

D. L.

(2006). The psychology of working: A new perspective for career development, counseling, and public policy. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Blustein

D. L.

(2013). The psychology of working: A new perspective for a new era. In Blustein

D. L.

(Ed.), The Oxford handbook of the psychology of working (pp. 3–18). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oXfordhb/9780199758791.013.0001

Blustein

D. L.

Duffy

Ferreira

Cohen-Scali

Gali Cinamon

Allan

B. A.

(2020). Unemployment in the time of COVID-19: A research agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior, Volume 119, 103436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103436

Blustein

D. L.

Kenny

M. E.

Autin

Duffy

(2019). The psychology of working in practice: A theory of change for a new era. The Career Development Quarterly, 67(3), 236–254. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12193

Blustein

D. L.

Olle

Connors-Kellgren

Diamonti

A. J.

(2016). Decent work: A psychological perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 407. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00407

Bullough

R. V.

Draper

R. J.

(2004). Making sense of a failed triad: Mentors, university supervision and positioning theory. Journal of Teacher Education, 55(5), 407–420. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487104269804

Callanan

G. A.

Perri

Tomkowicz

S. M.

(2017). Career management in uncertain times: Challenges and opportunities. National Career Development Association, 65(4), 353–365. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12113

Chambers

(2002). The real world and the classroom: Second-career teachers. The Clearing House, 75(4), 212–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098650209604935

10.

Clandinin

D. J.

Huber

(2010). Narrative inquiry. In McGaw

Baker

Peterson

P. P.

(Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (3rd ed., pp. 137–138). Elsevier.

11.

Connelly

R. M.

Clandinin

D. J.

(1999). Shaping a professional identity: Stories of educational practice. Teachers College Press.

12.

Craig

C. J.

Huber

(2007). Relational reverberations: Shaping and reshaping narrative inquiries in the midst of storied lives and contexts. In Clandinin

D. J.

(Ed.), Handbook of narrative inquiries (pp. 251–279). Sage.

13.

Crow

G. M.

Levine

Nager

(1990). No more business as usual: Career changers who become teachers. American Journal of Education, 98(3), 197–223. https://doi.org/10.1086/443956

14.

Darling-Hammond

Burns

Campbell

Goodwin

Hammerness

Low

McIntyre

Sato

Zeichner

(2016). Empowered educators: How high- performing systems shape teaching quality around the world (pp. 1–16). Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers.

15.

Davies

Harré

(1990). Positioning: The discursive productions of selves. Journal for Theory of Social Behavior, 20(1), 43–63. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5914.1990.tb00174.x

16.

Donitsa-Schmidt

Ramot

(2020). Opportunities and challenges: Teacher education in Israel in the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Education for Teaching, 46(4), 586–595. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2020.1799708

17.

Donitsa-Schmidt

Zuzovsky

(2014). Teacher supply and demand: The school level perspective. American Journal of Educational Research, 2(6), 420–429. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-2-6-14

18.

Duffy

R. D.

Blustein

D. L.

Diemer

M. A.

Autin

K. L.

(2016). The psychology of working theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(2), 127–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000140

19.

Duffy

R. D.

Douglass

R. P.

Autin

K. L.

(2015). Career adaptability and academic satisfaction: Examining work volition and self-efficacy as mediators. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 90(2015), 46–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.07.007

20.

Frey

Michael

Osborne

M. A.

(2017). The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerization? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 114(217), 254–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.08.019

21.

Gavish

Friedman

I. A.

(2010). Novice teachers’ experience of teaching: A dynamic aspect of burnout. Social Psychology of Education, 13(2), 141–167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-009-9108-0

22.

Geertz

(1990). Interpreting cultures. Keter Publishing House, p. 9. (Hebrew).

23.

Imanuel-Noy

Wagner

(2016). Unpacking the clinical and participatory dimensions of the trump math-teacher-residency-program. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(7), 88–109. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2016v41n7.6

24.

Ingersoll

R. M.

May

Collins

(2019). Recruitment, employment, retention, and the minority teacher shortage. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 27(37), 1–38. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.27.3714

25.

Kelchtermans

Vandenberghe

(1994). Teachers’ professional development: A biographical perspective. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 26(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022027940260103

26.

Kleiman

E. M.

Riskind

J. H.

Schaefer

K. E.

(2014). Social support and positive events as suicide resiliency factors: Examination of synergistic buffering effects. Archives of Suicide Research, 18(2), 144–155. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2013.826155

27.

Klingbail

(2020). Enough with hi-tech: Which professions do Israelis really value. The Marker. (Hebrew) https://www.themarker.com/magazine/Ext-Interactive1.8560145

28.

Lee

Lamport

M. A.

(2011). Non-traditional entrants to the profession of teaching: Motivations and experiences of second-career educators. Christian Perspectives in Education, 4(2), 1–40. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cpe/vol4/iss2/3

29.

Lent

R. W.

Lopez

F. G.

Sheu

H. B.

Lopez

A. M.

Jr. (2011). Social cognitive predictors of the interests and choices of computing majors: Applicability to underrepresented students. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 78, 184–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.10.006

30.

Lieblich

Tuval-Mashiach

Zilber

(1998). Narrative research: Reading, analysis and interpretation, p. 47. Sage.

31.

Lindorff

(2010). Ethics, ethical human research, and human research ethics committees. Australian Universities’ Review, 52(1), 51–59. https://eric.ed.gov/?id = EJ877047

32.

Lund

Madgavkar

Manyika

Smit

Ellingrud

Meaney

Robinson

(2021). The future of work after COVID-19. McKinsey & Company Global Institute. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/the-future-of-work-after-covid-19

33.

Ma’agan

(2018). Data on teacher’s characteristics in teaching. Seminar HaKibbutzim Conference on Induction in Teaching, January 2018. Tel Aviv. (Hebrew).

34.

Masdonati

Massoudi

Blustein

D. L.

Duffy

R. D.

(2022). Moving toward decent work: Application of the psychology of working theory to the school-to-work transition. Journal of Career Development, 49(1), 41–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845321991681

35.

MOFET Institute (2020). Retraining hi-tech graduates as teachers. (Hebrew) https://high-tech.macam.ac.il/.

36.

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] (2015). Securing livelihoods for all: Foresight for action. Development center studies. OECD Publishing.

37.

Paula Couto

M. C. D.

Rothermund

(2019). Ageism and age discrimination at the workplace—A psychological perspective. In Domsch

M. E.

Ladwig

D. H.

Weber

F. C.

(Eds.), Vorurteile im Arbeitsleben (pp. 57–80). Springer Gabler. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-662-59232-8_4

38.

Pinnegar

Shaun-Murphy

(2011). Teacher educator identity emerging within a teacher educator collective. Studying Teacher Education, 7(2), 211–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/17425964.2011.591191

39.

Prince

Saveri

Swanson

(2015). Exploring the future education workforce: New roles for an expanding learning ecosystem. Knowledgeworks, 1–16 https://app.box.com/s/6mg4cvf7bgu4xu5p5x0fknwbjl8s55nx

40.

Reimers

F. M.

Schleicher

(2020). A framework to guide an education response to the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020. OECD. Retrieved from: https://www.hm.ee/sites/default/files/framework

41.

Schatz-Oppenheimer

(2017). Being a mentor: Novice teachers’ mentors’ conceptions of mentoring prior to training. Professional Development in Education, 43(2), 274–292. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2016.1152591291

42.

Schatz-Oppenheimer

Dvir

(2014). From ugly duckling to swan: Stories of novice teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 37, 140–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2013.10.011

43.

Schatz-Oppenheimer

Maskit

Zilbershtrom

(2019). Novice teachers in stories and posters. Israeli Ministry of Education. (Hebrew).

44.

Sperling

(2018). Recognition of years of service, prior training and experience when changing to educating and teaching. MOFET Institute Publications, Intercollegiate Information Center.

45.

Vanassch

Kelchtermans

(2014). Teacher educators’ professionalism in practice: Positioning theory and personal interpretative framework. Teaching and Teacher Education, 44, 117–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.08.006

46.

Wagner

Imanuel-Noy

(2014). Are they genuinely novice teachers? - motivations and self-efficacy of those who choose teaching as a second career. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online), 39(7), 31–57. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2014v39n7.5

47.

Watt

H. M. G.

Richardson

P. W.

(2008). Motivations, perceptions, and aspirations concerning teaching as a career of different types of beginning teachers. Learning and Instruction, 18(5), 408–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2008.06.002

48.

Watt

H. M. G.

Richardson

P. W.

Klusmann

Kunter

Beyer

Trautwein

Baumert

(2012). Motivations for choosing teaching as a career: An international comparison using the FIT-choice scale. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(6), 791–805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.03.003