Teacher attrition is a major problem in many countries. One possible and widely spread counter measure is to recruit persons from other occupational fields to become teachers. Although the existent literature suggests that second career teachers (SCT) have additional resources compared to first career teachers (FTC), empirical data are still scarce on whether SCT are able to transfer prior skills and knowledge into teaching, how this affects the way they deal with professional demands, as well as their intentions to stay in their new profession. On this basis, the present study explores whether FCT and SCT differ in how challenged they feel by typical professional demands associated with teaching, and in what way their challenge appraisals are relevant for the intention to leave the profession. A questionnaire survey was conducted with a sample of 297 teachers, comprising 193 FCT and 104 SCT. Both groups had had regular teacher training, resulting in a full teacher diploma. Professional demands associated with student learning and assessment were rated as most challenging, whereas classroom management, establishing a professional role and cooperation with colleagues were perceived as less challenging. A group difference was found in professional demands concerning student learning and assessment, where SCT felt less challenged than FCT. Also, SCT were more intent to stay in the teaching profession. Further analyses showed that both group differences are mainly attributable to the higher proportion of male teachers among SCT, as well as to their higher general self-efficacy beliefs. Both career background and the degree to which the teachers felt challenged in their job played a subordinate role for the intention to leave the teaching profession. The findings indicate that SCTs’ background as career switchers might be less important for coping with specific professional demands than the existent research literature implies. On the other hand, they indicate that SCT feel nearly as challenged when starting to teach as traditional teachers, and need may have the same needs for good teacher induction.

The goal of the present study was to investigate the relationship between parental acculturation attitudes and second language (L2) skills and acquisition in immigrant children and to identify the mechanisms that potentially mediate between parental acculturation attitudes and children’s L2 skills and acquisition. Our longitudinal study is based on a sample of 252 children with German as L2 (age t₁: M = 41 months; t₂: M = 57 months) and their parents. Research Findings: Results revealed that parental acculturation attitudes toward the country of origin negatively correlated with children’s L2 skills at t₁ and at t₂. Furthermore, time spent in early childcare predicted L2 skills at t₁ and at t₂. Parental L2 proficiency and children’s contact with German language speakers outside of childcare were related to children’s L2 skills at t₁. Parental L2 proficiency mediated the relationship between parental acculturation attitudes and children’s L2 skills. Practice or Policy: The findings support the importance of early childcare attendance and parental acculturation for L2 skills and acquisition in children with an immigrant background.

We examined the extent to which three sibling structure variables number of siblings, birth order, and presence of an older sibling at school age are linked to the second language skills of bilingual children. The research questions were tested using an ethnically heterogeneous sample of 1209 bilingual children with German as a second language. Controlling for children’s age, sex, nationality, number of children’s books at home, family language and parental German language skills, hierarchical regression analyses showed an inverse relationship between the number of siblings and second language skills: the more siblings a child had, the lower was his/her second language proficiency. This relationship was mediated by attendance in early education institutions. Moreover, first-born siblings showed better second language skills than later born siblings. The current study revealed that the resource dilution model, i.e., the decrease in resources for every additional sibling, holds for second language acquisition. Moreover, the results indicate that bilingual children from families with several children benefit from access to early education institutions.

To alleviate teacher shortages, many countries are investing in professionals from other fields to become teachers. As second career (preservice) teachers (SCT) are thought to bring additional resources into the teaching profession, it is important gain insights into whether and how these resources are impacting their learning experiences and professional development. Therefore, using the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) framework, this study examined practicum output among first career preservice teachers (FCT) and SCT. Questionnaire data from 396 students (143 SCT) were analysed via path analyses with multi-group comparisons. The two groups differed significantly regarding self-efficacy beliefs as a resource, as well as the impact of job demands and resources on practicum output. FCT were more likely to feel discouraged by practicum demands. These findings indicate that practicum studies need to be tailored to different student groups.

The conduct of teachers, especially in handling disruptions, significantly impacts the comfort of students. This research investigates the correlation between preservice teachers’ effectiveness in terms of managing disruptions and the emotions experienced by both engaged and disruptive students. In an experimental simulation, we crafted a classroom scenario wherein preservice teachers engaged in handling severe disruptions over a 10-min period. During the simulation, other preservice teachers assumed the roles of either engaged or disruptive students, following specific behaviour guidelines. Afterwards, the student role players completed questionnaires to gauge their perceptions of positive and negative emotions, as well as to assess the effectiveness of the teacher’s management of disruptions. Notably, interaction effects were observed between preservice teachers’ disruption management strategies and the students’ roles (either engaged or disruptive) on their emotional responses. When preservice teachers effectively managed the classroom during the simulation, those acting as engaged students reported higher levels of positive emotions and fewer negative emotions. In contrast, when classroom management was ineffective, participants portraying disruptive students experienced more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions. The educational implications of these results are considered and discussed.