Career Change Teachers: Bringing Work and Life Experience to the Classroom

Dr Meera Varadharajan is a Research Fellow in Education at the Centre for Social Impact, University of New South Wales. Her PhD thesis was on the lived experiences of career change teachers who were new to the teaching profession. Extending her thesis work, her subsequent research examined the experiences of career change pre-service student teachers in Australian universities and the experiences and motivations of career change teachers from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) backgrounds. Her work has been recognized through high commendations from thesis examiners, being awarded the 2010 Teacher Guild Prize and being able to successfully secure funding to support her research. She has presented her work in schools, universities and in teacher education conferences. Her current research, funded by the New South Wales Department of Education in Australia, focuses on mechanisms to attract and retain career changers from STEM backgrounds. Meera is passionate about highlighting the characteristics and contributions of career change teachers. A career changer herself, Meera has a Bachelors’ and Masters’ degree in accounting and has worked in the banking and business sector for over 10 years before moving to education.

Dr John Buchanan is an Honorary Industry Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney, where he has coordinated international programs, including the International Practicum, most recently as an Associate Professor. He has taught at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, and is a recipient of teaching awards at institution, state and national levels. His teaching and research interests include: retention, attrition and quality of teachers, including the contributions of career change teachers; English as an additional language; LOTE (Languages other than English) education; intercultural; regional and global studies; and civics and citizenship education. He has published more than 80 refereed journal articles, books and book chapters in these fields, and has supervised more than a dozen higher degree research students on related topics. He has also presented at numerous international conferences, including invited plenary addresses in Korea, Pakistan, Colombia and the UAE. He has contributed to and led numerous funded research projects. He is a past president of the New South Wales Institute for Educational Research.

This book examines the lives and contributions of career change teachers: individuals who have switched careers to become classroom teachers. Their leadership experiences, industry connections, ways of embedding real world applications in classroom teaching practices and diverse skills sets are investigated in the context of their contributions to student learning. Through collaborative research and rich insights from those who have undertaken the career change journey, the book sheds light on why individuals switch to teaching and what career and life experiences they bring to schools. Case studies help to illuminate career change teachers’ journey, including the affordances and obstacles they encounter, and experiences in the classroom.