Second-Career Teachers: first reflections on non-traditional pathways toward the teaching profession

In the 21st century, in the field of Teacher Education, many countries face teacher shortages and have problems recruiting the necessary number of qualified teachers. Many educational systems have developed alternative pathways to access the teaching profession which attract high-quality graduates and/or professionals coming from previous careers, so-called second-career teachers (SCT). Based on an analysis of European and National documents and reports, this paper intends to share the first state of the art study on the topic of alternative pathways and lateral entry of second-career teachers into the teaching profession with reference to England, Germany, and Italy which are partner countries of the SecWell Project - Second Career Teachers Well-being: toward non-traditional professional development strategies funded by the EUniWell - European University of Well-being Universities Alliance.