This is a job! [electronic resource]: second career teachers' cultural and professional capital and the changing landscape of teaching

As newcomers to schools in the last thirty years, second career teachers, were studied to better understand this group of teachers within schools. Second career teachers bring professional knowledge that did not originate in the field of teaching to their teaching career such as relationship building and collaboration. The professional perspectives of second career teachers were assessed and analyzed in relation with current professional expectations in schools utilizing an analytical framework built from Pierre Bourdieu's reflexive sociology. Second career teachers and their supervisors were interviewed and their responses were reviewed in relation to the districts' defined professional habitus and the professional cultural capital developed by second career teachers. The results from this study indicate that Second career teachers did have professional perspectives that aligned with the current professional expectations valued within the schools they worked. In addition, their presence in schools revealed alternative viewpoints that were highly valued and sought by others. This study goes beyond Bourdieu's theoretical definitions of capitals to explore specific relationships between embodied and institutionalized capitals that were valued in school settings. The knowledge gained from this study provided insight into the professional habitus defined by teachers within a school district and the relationship of second career teachers to this habitus.