After teaching the writing methods course (WMC) for five years, I have not found these divisions between a first and second career to be as clear cut as the literature suggests. For example, though Terry had served in the military she taught high school music prior to seeking licensure in language arts, while Sally continues to instruct international students in our English as a Second Language program as she seeks her teaching license in English. Therefore, teaching as a career is often not new to these preservice teachers. In fact, roughly half of my non-traditional students in the writing methods course already have extensive teaching experiences, often due to temporary state licenses that allow non-licensed teachers to substitute. And while the others hail from a variety of careers ranging from ministry to engineering, nearly all have some type of experience with instructing others in some capacity, though not necessarily in the field of writing.
Within the WMC, the picture of the preservice second career writing teacher is a mixed one. Though some characteristics tend to hold true such as the tendency to have a variety of experiences and to be female (over the past five years, about two-thirds of my WMC students have been female), these future writing teachers are usually not seeking a career as a language arts teacher as an antidote to a unsatisfactory career in another field. In fact, many, as noted previously, already thrive in teaching-related careers but are seeking official licensure in English language arts in order to find permanent employment as literacy educators. For the minority that do approach the teaching of writing as a new career, because writing is an essential workplace skill, most enter the WMC full of definite ideas about how writing works, how writing should be taught, and what constitutes "good" writing. True, some of these beliefs contradict best practices writing instruction (for example, assuming students will be able to write well after reading canonical authors, as this is the way they have been instructed) but many beliefs stem from sound rhetorical practices evident in the workplace.