This paper highlights ways in which understandings about masculinity intersected with concepts of vocation, career and character in the life and work of an Australian teacher, Victor Pavia. Firstly, it outlines his vertical career path from teacher to headmaster and then inspector, made possible in a bureaucratised state school system that…

For several years now a number of countries have been attempting to increase their numbers of male primary teachers, yet have met with little success. Feminists/pro-feminists have challenged the intentions of these male teacher recruitment drives but failed to offer any interventions that might contribute to a broadening of the primary teacher…

This article reports the authors' collaborative research on teacher identity as revealed by examining paths to teaching. When individuals enter the teaching profession, they appear to be making a personal career choice. Beginning educators look ahead, envisioning the teachers they hope to become. At this time it is rare to look backward, to…

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of career choice of second career teachers currently in at least their fifth year of work in the classroom and the factors that influence these perceptions. Seven second career teachers, all in their fifth year or more of teaching, were the participants in the study. Each participant had an…

The United States is experiencing a health crisis because of poor dietary habits and insufficient physical activity. Unless something changes, more of the population will become overweight or obese and suffer from debilitating and life-threatening diseases. The federal government has responded by charging schools with the establishment of…

A number of recent studies have shown that teachers are unevenly distributed across schools: compared to other students, students who are low-income, minority, limited-English proficient, low-performing, and/or from urban contexts tend to be taught by substantially less qualified teachers. Consequently, many researchers have analyzed how teachers…

In an era of teacher shortages, what would motivate individuals to become teachers when the demands on teachers are greater than ever and there are plenty of alternative occupations from which to choose? This paper presents the findings of a study of student teachers' motivations to be primary teachers and their commitment to teaching after their…

This paper draws on interviews undertaken with second year student teachers. They describe their motivations for wishing to enter the profession and imagine the type of teacher they wish to become. These student teachers express a desire to make a difference as strong motivation for wanting to enter the profession. This is not uncharacteristic.…

In this paper, we report on an inquiry exploring the experiences of 10 mainland Chinese student teachers of English so as to understand why they came to Hong Kong for a teacher education programme. The study revealed that these students were largely attracted to teaching in Hong Kong because of its extrinsic benefits such as professional…

Current statistics show that roughly one quarter of all classroom teachers are male: this proportion sinks to approximately ten percent in the elementary grades. A scarcity of men in teaching is not a new phenomenon and has remained relatively constant through more than a century of various educational reforms. This brief discusses the historical…

Vocational choice appears to crystallize during adolescence and one's career aspirations begin to take shape later. Over 40 years ago Holland studied incoming freshman to match vocational aspirations to vocational preference profiles. Individuals seeking to become foreign language teachers were assigned a Social, Artistic, Enterprising vocational…

This phenomenological qualitative study provided a venue for veteran teachers in a southwestern border state to voice their thinking of what they believed had made them stay in the education profession. The "maestros veterans" in this study had a minimum of 10 years in the education profession and were currently teaching within the…

This article profiles six educators who have taught for as long as two generations. These educators are the following: (1) Hazel Wilson--teaching 47 years; (2) Agnes Zeiger--teaching 61 years; Rose Gilbert--teaching 51 years; (4) Ellie Johnson--teaching 52 years; (5) Roy Clare--teaching 48 years; and (6) Carrie Hansen--54 years in education. These…

Because the teaching occupation plays a crucial role in a country's development, policymakers and teacher recruitment units all around the world strive to understand how to attract individuals to this profession. However, research regarding the attractors of teaching has been conducted almost entirely in developed countries and has not focused on…

The following essay is a dialogue between two high school English teachers at a small, progressive public school on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Throughout their dialogue, Jen, whose voice appears in italics, and Kim, whose voice appears in plain text, discuss the factors that motivated their decisions to become teachers, tell of the distinct…