Career cycle of general and special school teachers in Serbia

Abstract

The specificities of general and special school teachers' work might influence their career differently. The aim of the study was to examine the career cycle of these teachers. A survey was conducted on a sample of 120 teachers from general and 95 from special schools. Five stages of career cycle were discovered: induction, competency building and enthusiasm, career frustration, stagnation, career wind-down. Results indicate that age, gender, intrinsic, and extrinsic factors of career choice can influence teachers' career cycle. When these factors are controlled, special school teachers experience less enthusiasm and more willingness to retire than general school teachers.