Stepping stones to success: previously developed career competencies and their benefits to career switchers transitioning to teaching

Abstract This case study looks at four second career teachers’ recognition of previously developed career competencies and their influences on teaching philosophy and classroom practice as they adapt to a new career in teaching. The know-why, know-how, and know-whom career competencies (Defillippi & Arthur, J. Organizational Behavior 15 (1994) 307) provide a framework for the discussion of transferable abilities. Support structures available to the new teachers and how they are experienced are also considered. The findings reveal that for career switchers, seeing the connections of what they have learned and developed through a previous career to what they do everyday within their classrooms and being provided support to do so can aid their adaptation to teaching.

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