Moscow State University of Psychology and Education (MSUPE) has published the analytical report “Myths About Age: How Can Teachers’ Professional Longevity Become a Resource for Education?”. The report is based on the results of a large-scale online survey of 9,799 teachers from 75 regions of Russia. The authors examine how teachers’ professional goals change with age, what helps them maintain their interest in their work, and what conditions are necessary for them to continue their professional activity.
Teachers’ professional longevity is becoming particularly important amid changes in the age structure of the education workforce. However, continuing to work at an older age is often viewed primarily through a deficit-based lens, with an emphasis on declining health, reduced activity, difficulties in mastering new technologies, and the need to end one’s career. The survey findings offer a different perspective. For teachers who have reached retirement age, remaining in the profession is not simply a matter of staying employed, but an opportunity to remain professionally engaged, maintain cognitive activity, pass on accumulated experience, and adapt the format of their work to their abilities and goals.
The survey findings show that older age in the profession is associated not so much with leaving work as with changes in the nature of professional activity. Expertise, mentoring, the transfer of experience, and more flexible forms of employment gradually come to the forefront.
At the same time, responsibility for professional longevity cannot rest solely with teachers themselves. According to the respondents, preserving this resource requires reducing excessive administrative workloads, providing health support, offering opportunities for flexible employment arrangements and digital support, respecting professional experience, and creating conditions for mentoring activities.