Teachers in Transition: Growing Forward through Retirement

by Mary Z. McGrath

Overview

This unique collective story and guidebook encourages and supports educators to envision their future journey while living fully in the present. Using developmental understanding of mid-life and the years beyond, this book expands on the present and potential experience of teachers, both active and retired, in these areas:
·Work
·Ways of being
·Personal connections
·Caring for self and others
·Planning and preparing, and
·Fulfillment and freedom

Readers will find validation of their experience as developing and mature educators and the encouragement to continue to enhance their abilities and professional lives. Through examples from the lives of other educators, questions for reflection, and the commentary and perspective of the author, those seeking enhancement in each dimension of their lives will find a home in this guide.

Written in conversational style, this book will be of interest to educators and retired teachers and administrators as well as beginning and pre-service teachers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781578862498
Publisher:	R&L Education
Publication date:	09/07/2005
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 8.94(h) x 0.54(d)

About the Author

Mary Z. McGrath, Ph.D., speaker, author, and consultant, works with schools, organizations and parents interested in wellness and the family's potential. She taught in public schools for thirty-one years.

Editorial Reviews

A meaningful gift for all mid-life educators...Inspirational as well as practical, this book reminds us all of the many skills that educators have...It gives confidence as well as helpful hints for educators as they make decisions about their future. Helpful reflection exercises...are included.

Bev Johns

...serendipitous bibliotheraphy...I enthusiastically recommend your book to teachers of all ages.

Diane L. Taylor

This is...a WISE book about initiation into the age of wisdom. Provides meaningful reflective activities to help strengthen the inner processes of change. I can't imagine how anyone can get through the process of leaving a career in teaching without doing the inner and outer work described so well in this book.

Ann Kohl Re

McGrath’s book is part of the self-help genre, a growth industry that is gaining a multitude of adherents through television, videos, and the Internet. Her contribution is designed to raise the consciousness of teachers at the midpoint of their professional careers as they deliberate (or choose to overlook) what life will be like for them when they inevitably leave the security of the classroom environment. To her credit, McGrath has taken the big step and embarked on a rewarding post-teaching career, something she wants to share with others like herself, mid- and late-career teachers seeking self-understanding and the motivation to plan ahead. Her goal is to raise their awareness about the many transitions that occur throughout a teaching career and to offer strategies and templates for reflecting on their relationships with parents, colleagues, and friends.

Teachers College Record

Mary McGrath nails the realities and feelings that teachers experience as they progress through the later stages of their careers. This book is a must read for educators.

Charles E. Kyte

This is not a how-to book, but rather a book that affirms the caring, nurturing, and inquisitive qualities of educators. The author emphasizes the importance of a teacher's relationship with students, parents, colleagues, and most importantly with one's inner self. This book is filled with affirmations and challenges to educators in midlife and in the transition into retirement. This book would be excellent for a faculty book study group.

Ruth Tillquist

In her insightful, thought-provoking and matter-of-fact approach, [the author] invites the new teacher, seasoned educator, administrators, along with all of us who work to consider the value of paying attention to and preparing for these significant life steps. Ms. McGrath provides poignant open-ended questions to begin our reflecting of this mid-life transition process that is encouraging, supportive, and reminds us to value our working life efforts and to be empowered through the realities of life's changes.

Marie J. DiSciullo-Naples

This well written book will capture your attention and cause you to reflect about career decision making.

Council For Exceptional Children

Partly career advice, and somewhat a self-help guide, this book addresses the concerns of teachers nearing retirement and promotes the many possibilities that exist.

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