Daraviras, T: Back to School

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.