A second apprenticeship: the career transition of trades teachers

This paper describes research conducted at three Western Canadian technical colleges to explore the career transition, or second apprenticeship, of individuals who moved from trades practice to teaching trades. This research set out to understand the career transition of tradespeople as they move to teaching in a college setting. The research questions asked were: what motivates tradespeople to move to teaching; what competencies do they bring from the first career to the second; how do they learn to teach; how does the vocational identity change with a career change; and what are the...  [+] Show more

This paper describes research conducted at three Western Canadian technical colleges to explore the career transition, or second apprenticeship, of individuals who moved from trades practice to teaching trades. This research set out to understand the career transition of tradespeople as they move to teaching in a college setting. The research questions asked were: what motivates tradespeople to move to teaching; what competencies do they bring from the first career to the second; how do they learn to teach; how does the vocational identity change with a career change; and what are the factors leading to satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the teaching role.

Excerpt from publication.