What brought you here? Motivating Factors and Events of Second-Career Teachers

The choice to become teacher varies in motives for each second-career teacher. Some researchers argue that motives include dissatisfaction with current or past vocations and for others, it is fulfilling a vocational passion that was nurtured over the course of their careers (Laminga & Horneb, 2012). Lee and Lamport (2011) note that an individual’s choice to enter the education arena? offer the profession a depth of practical experience yet may not equate to being prepared for the demands and expectations of teaching.  According to Williams and Forgasz (2009), inaccurate beliefs may result in motivations to teach that are misleading and subsequently unfulfilling. Williams and Forgasz further suggest that although the motivation for most second career teachers is largely intrinsic, pragmatic motivations can be equally important as well as misleading. The aim and intention of this proposed paper is to better understand and synthesize the motivating factors and events that lead to the decision-making to enter the profession of teaching as a second career.