What is it worth? An examination of the professional capital of second career primary teachers with prior creative industry experience and its value within the teaching profession at the start of their careers

Second career teachers (SCTs) may bring valuable prior expertise into their classroom and their school. This study investigates to what extent such teachers, specifically those with prior experience in creative industries, feel that this professional capital (Hargreaves and Fullan, 2012) is valued and used during their first year of teaching. The creative industries are a significant employer and growth area in the UK economy (UK Government, 2017). There is concern however that the number of pupils undertaking qualifications in arts subjects is in decline (Cultural Learning Alliance, 2018; UK Government, 2018), which means that careers in the creative industries in the UK may not be viewed as a credible career option. Teachers might play an important role in enthusing students and exposing them to the career possibilities. Many teachers also come into the profession as SCTs, some with creative industries experience; the impact of this specific experience on pedagogical practice, teacher identity and careers education in schools, is an under-researched area. This paper will present the findings of a year-long small-scale research project that examined the experiences of beginner primary teachers who have backgrounds in the creative industries, and the impact of this on their developing practice and identity as they underwent the transition from student teacher to fully-registered teacher. This is analysed through the lens of professional capital (Hargreaves and Fullan, 2012) which consists of three types of capital, human, social and decisional, which in turn address the knowledge and skills, connections and networks, and confidence and sense of autonomy that an individual accumulates as they develop through their professional lives.
The research took place from January 2019 - December 2019 and was funded by the Carnegie Research Incentive Grant scheme. A qualitative, interpretivist framework was employed, adopting narrative inquiry methodology. Data were gathered at five time points across the year, in the form of interviews, and six beginner SCTs took part; three with creative industries experience and three without. During this period the students undertook their ITE qualification and moved into probation. Findings from the project indicated that these teachers perceived their prior experience to be of limited value in the field of education, and this was particularly the case for those with a background in the expressive arts. Prior experience in digital technologies did appear to be valued in schools however. The project raises a number of questions about how ITE providers and schools acknowledge the professional capital of SCTs and the potential impact this has on curriculum delivery and diversity within the profession.