Transitioning to the Classroom: Reflections of Second-Career Teachers during the Induction Year

Source: Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, Volume 16, Issue 5, 2010, p. 577 – 594.

The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching beliefs that post-baccalaureate students brought into a graduate level teacher certification program.
Furthermore, the study explored the extent to which those beliefs persevered or changed during their first year of teaching.

Written philosophy statements and semi-structured interviews from the three participants were analyzed to identify emerging themes.

The results, presented in the form of vignettes, suggested that second-career teachers experienced many of the same contextual pressures as baccalaureate teachers and struggled adapting to the teaching profession and implementing their stated teaching beliefs.