Description
The issue of teacher shortages is not a new phenomenon. At a time when many school districts are at the crossroads between teacher vacancies and state certification requirements, programs geared towards recruiting adults to teaching are growing in number. After having spent a number of years in the workforce, an increasing number of college educated adults are seeking employment as teachers. Prior teaching successes, through either work or volunteer activities, coupled with a general sense of malaise towards their current occupations, and the need for a greater sense of personal fulfillment encouraged participants in this study to seek teacher certification. They believed utopia could be found in a classroom; that they would be gaining a sense of purpose through what they believed to be an altruistic career choice. By focusing on the experiences of career changers and their reasons for pursuing teaching as a new career, this book informs teacher educators, pre-service teachers, and those contemplating careers in education. Tracy Daraviras, Ph.D: Received her doctoral degree in English Education from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education. She is currently employed as an Assistant Professor in the SEEK (Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge) Department of Brooklyn College, City University of New York.
