Career Patterns and Decisions

In "The next generation of teachers, changing conceptions of a career in teaching" by H. G. Peske, E. Liu, S. M. Johnson, D. Kauffman, & S. M. Kardos (Phi Delta Kappan, December 2001), we explore our respondents’ career options and choices. Our findings suggest that, rather than approaching teaching as a calling and lifelong commitment, many new teachers—both those who complete teacher preparation programs and those who do not—approach teaching tentatively or conditionally. While there were respondents who planned to make teaching a lifelong career, they were surprisingly few in number. These findings suggest that retaining the next generation of teachers may be more difficult than retaining the previous generation. Teachers’ decisions to stay in the profession depend a great deal on their conceptions of career, their specific interests, and the day-to-day experiences they have in their schools. For those respondents who will pursue teaching for the long-term, the possibility for differentiated roles and the possibility of redesigned work holds promise, while for those who envision short-term careers, well-designed alternative routes to teaching and support at the school site might ensure that they enter and remain in teaching and do their work well.