Examining New Instructional Designers' Use of LinkedIn During Their Transition From K-12 Teaching

I recently defended my dissertation at Florida State University, completing my Doctor of Education in Learning Design and Performance Technology. My research, "Examining New Instructional Designers' Use of LinkedIn During Their Transition From K-12 Teaching," looks closely at a path many people in our field have walked, including me: leaving a classroom for a career in instructional design.

I interviewed eight former K-12 public school teachers who had each made that transition within the past three years, all of whom used LinkedIn along the way. I wanted to understand three things: why they turned to LinkedIn during their transition, how they actually used the platform, and what challenges and opportunities came up for them along the way.

A few things stood out. Participants came to LinkedIn out of curiosity about roles outside the classroom, frustration with unsustainable teaching conditions, and a desire for better pay and flexibility. Once there, they used the platform to study job descriptions, learn the language of instructional design, connect with professionals already in the field, and rework their teaching experience into terms that made sense to a new industry. Many described rebuilding their professional identity in real time, revising headlines, profiles, and portfolios to make their teaching background visible and legible in a completely different field.

It wasn't always easy. Participants talked about uncertainty over how to market themselves, comparison fatigue, algorithm confusion, and the vulnerability of transitioning publicly in a professional space. But most also credited LinkedIn with real, tangible outcomes: recruiter outreach, interviews, contract work, full-time roles, and a sense of community during a hard transition.

This research matters to me because it's not abstract. It's the transition I made myself, and it's one I know a lot of my colleagues have made too. My hope is that this work gives instructional design programs, hiring managers, and career coaches a better sense of how to support the teachers who are increasingly finding their way into our field, and gives transitioning teachers themselves a little more language and confidence for the road ahead.

If you're navigating a similar transition, or you've made this jump yourself and want to swap notes, I'd love to hear from you.

— Dr. Christie Catteeuw