With the changing age profile of teachers in
Australian schools, considerable numbers of
experienced teachers need to feature as educational
leaders, before their workplace knowledge and
expertise are lost to schools with retirement.
Stereotypes of veteran teachers depict individuals,
wearied by decades of work experiences, entering
professional decline when educational systems need
these experienced practitioners to remain connected
and motivated in their work. This study explores the
careers and contemporary professional lives of
experienced practitioners predominantly classroom
teachers currently working in a school with a long
standing commitment to student-centred education. The
factors that influenced career pathways and affected
engagement with their work are identified from the
rich work stories of the lived experiences of the
teachers. Critical incidents in the teachers careers
and professional lives are discussed in relation to
the theories of motivation and the nature of their
workplace. A serendipitous outcome of the study was
the benefit participants gained from reflecting on
their careers which contributed to the teachers'
enhanced professional identities.
Australian schools, considerable numbers of
experienced teachers need to feature as educational
leaders, before their workplace knowledge and
expertise are lost to schools with retirement.
Stereotypes of veteran teachers depict individuals,
wearied by decades of work experiences, entering
professional decline when educational systems need
these experienced practitioners to remain connected
and motivated in their work. This study explores the
careers and contemporary professional lives of
experienced practitioners predominantly classroom
teachers currently working in a school with a long
standing commitment to student-centred education. The
factors that influenced career pathways and affected
engagement with their work are identified from the
rich work stories of the lived experiences of the
teachers. Critical incidents in the teachers careers
and professional lives are discussed in relation to
the theories of motivation and the nature of their
workplace. A serendipitous outcome of the study was
the benefit participants gained from reflecting on
their careers which contributed to the teachers'
enhanced professional identities.