Doing good what money can’t buy? Exploring teachers’ career success preferences in DACH countries.

Description

Societies around the globe face significant challenges triggered by several major global trends that increase the importance of education: Within many countries socioeconomic inequality is growing, today’s societies are becoming more culturally diverse, and as many facets of life are rapidly changing due to scientific and technological progress, individuals need to quickly adapt and to be prepared for life-long learning. These trends increase the societal impact of the teaching profession, among others, as education is considered crucial for the reduction of social inequality, for the societal integration of migrants, and for helping young people to prepare for life-long learning. However, teacher shortages due to attrition are a major issue in many countries. Thus, to support teachers to respond to the described challenges, the teaching profession requires special consideration on multiple levels. In particular vocational counseling, selection, training, retention, and career management of teachers gain in importance. To support these processes, it is crucial to understand what teachers desire for their careers. We contribute to the career literature in the following ways: First, we build on the theory of vocational choice to develop and test hypotheses on teachers’ conceptualizations of what a successful career means. We link this concept with the multi-dimensional Subjective Career Success scale developed by the “Cross-Cultural Collaboration on Contemporary Careers” (www.5c.careers) that allows for a broader description of career orientations. Second, we carve out the distinctive motives for choosing a career in teaching to promote the current understanding of these professionals’ career-related needs working in the DACH area. Third, we discuss what these insights practically imply for the support and development of the teaching profession at the individual, organizational and sociopolitical level.

Period	5 Jul 2018 → 7 Jul 2018
Event title	34th EGOS Colloquium
Event type	Conference
Location	Tallinn, EstoniaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International