ABSTRACT
This chapter is partly based on a larger study (Mealyea, 1988). Briefly, in mid-1985, sixteen qualified tradespersons, fifteen males and one female, chose a mid-career change and entered secondary school teaching in Victoria. Unlike most prospective teachers, each entered teaching from a former occupation. Skilled tradespersons, each had many years’ experience in industrial settings within the ‘building trades’. Each entered teacher education possessing highly developed trade skills and an extensive knowledge of industry. Thus they had ample time to develop a healthy occupational self-identity which they brought to teaching as work.
