Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Career Change Teachers

Bringing Work and Life Experience to the Classroom

  • Book
  • © 2021

Overview

Authors:
  1. Meera Varadharajan

    1. Centre for Social Impact, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. John Buchanan

    1. University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Provides insights into career change teachers’ value and contributions to the teaching profession

  • Examining the experiences of both career change classroom teachers and student teachers

  • Uses a phenomenological framework to explore career change teachers’ transformation

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (11 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxviii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction to the Book

    • Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan
    Pages 1-5

  3. The Teaching Profession: Local and Global Contexts

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 7-7
      Download chapter PDF

    2. The Recruitment, Support, Retention and Attrition of Teachers in Australia

      • Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan
      Pages 9-30

    3. Future Work Landscape

      • Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan
      Pages 31-45

    4. Career Change Individuals in the Teaching Profession

      • Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan
      Pages 47-70

  4. “My Journey into Teaching”: Stories of Career Change Teachers in Australia

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 71-71
      Download chapter PDF

    2. The Careers and Lives of Amy, Kamini, Jim, and Sharon

      • Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan
      Pages 73-98

    3. The Teaching Practices of Career Change Teachers: What Works and What Doesn’t Work?

      • Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan
      Pages 99-114

    4. A Phenomenological Approach to Understanding Career Change Teachers

      • Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan
      Pages 115-134

  5. Career Change Pre-service and In-service Teachers: The Journeys of Student Teachers and Classroom Teachers

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 135-135
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Career Change Student Teachers: Lessons Learnt from Their In-school Experiences

      • Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan
      Pages 137-154

    3. How Do STEM Career Change Teachers Experience the Transition?: A Comparison Between Dutch and Australian Teachers

      • Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan
      Pages 155-186

  6. Re-imagining the Future of the Teaching Profession

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 187-187
      Download chapter PDF

    2. Twenty-First-Century Teachers and Beyond: The Way Forward

      • Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan
      Pages 189-198

    3. Can Career Changers Be Game Changers in Classrooms?: Recommendations and Implications for the Profession

      • Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan
      Pages 199-216
Back to top

Keywords

About this book


Authors and Affiliations

  • Centre for Social Impact, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Meera Varadharajan

  • University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    John Buchanan

About the authors

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.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Career Change Teachers

  • Book Subtitle: Bringing Work and Life Experience to the Classroom

  • Authors: Meera Varadharajan, John Buchanan

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6038-2

  • Publisher: Springer Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Education, Education (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-16-6037-5Published: 27 October 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-16-6040-5Published: 28 October 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-16-6038-2Published: 26 October 2021

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXVIII, 216

  • Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Teaching and Teacher Education, Professional & Vocational Education, Educational Policy and Politics, Educational Philosophy

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation