Practitioners to professor 1 Practitioner to professor: Second career academics ' perceptions of entry into the academy

Practitioners to professor 2 Academic institutions that prepare personnel to work in the field of special education face considerable challenges in finding and retaining qualified faculty. At the same time, a growing number of special education teachers and administrators choose academia as a second career. Few studies have sought to capture their lived experiences as shift to the world of academe and being a professor. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study in which interviews were used to elicit practiced special education professionals ’ understandings of their early experiences as special education faculty. The data suggest that interviewees perceived that their practice knowledge and skills made them credible teachers and enhanced their ability to create bridges between theory and practice for their students. While study participants understood themselves as being experienced at and willing to work collegially with others, they found the academy to be significantly less conducive to collaboration than their previous work environments. Implications for doctoral training programs and special education departments are discussed. Practitioners to professor