Please offer your comments regarding Lynn's view of the phases teachers pass through in their career cycle. Consider the following questions as you comment. Also consider commenting on your colleagues' comments.
1. Can you think of any other environments in addition to personal and organizational that could affect a teacher's career cycle?
2. Offer actions that school administrators might take to develop and/or maintain nurturing environments for teachers.
3.How might the awareness of the teacher career cycle help you?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am looking forward to working with this cohort of such diverse learners! 1. Definately economic environment affects career cycle (we have seen that this year...with teachers choosing perhaps, to delay retirement) 2. Seems admin.awareness of/sensitivity to teacher's place in the cycle would benefit school climate, teacher comfort and (most importantly or ultimately), maximization of student learning and engagement as one of greatest impacts to school's success...looking forward to discussing this! 3. Another great discussion: how cycle is affected with second/third career teachers...seems "compacted" to me. Nancy W.
ReplyDeleteReading this article hit a lot of chords within my short teaching career. I am just starting my fourth year teaching and have already experienced the induction, competency building, enthusiasm and growth, and the career frustration stages. I really felt that competency building and enthusiasm and growth stages go hand in hand at times. I really agree with the idea that professional development should take into consideration the stages and needs of the individual teachers. As a new teacher I don't need to be "convinced" of the importance of incorporating technology into the classroom, I need to be given the resources to make that a reality along with minimal support to be successful. This is an area that school administrators could easily implement by offering group in-service strands that individual teacher have the control over choosing while still offering some ideas to the whole group. I strongly feel having an awareness of the career cycle of teachers is beneficial to the teacher. If I/we recognize that we are in the frustration phase we may be able to do something about it like taking a course or talking to a supportive teacher in the building.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nancy about the financial climate in the world and the significant role that plays with how a teacher feels in her career. I recently experienced this negative influence when our school board did not want to offer the teachers any raise at all. I felt I was not a valued member of the staff and my efforts were not appreciated. This alone made me think of leaving the teaching profession after only three years of service.
Rene McIntyre
Wow, where to start! This article is so rich! First let me say that I am a fourth year teacher and I can already see that I have passed throught the induction and competency building stages of Lynn's career cycle. Looking back I remember the fear I had that I would do something wrong my first year and lose my job. I looked for approval from administration but never really found it the way I wanted. Then I remember feeling more and more confident and relaxed in my second and third years. Now, I want to learn more and change the world! LOL! I also agree with the article though that the process is not linear nor is it the same for any two people. I feel that people can bounce around, pass from one stage to another, and back to the previous stage. It all depends on the person.
ReplyDeleteCommenting on what administrators can do to create or maintain a nurturing environment... I think that one of the most important things is keep the staff working together and happy. We expect our classrooms to feel like a family, why not the school personal as well. Our school is implementing a social/emotional learning program called Lions Quest and we have begun taking some of the ideas and introducing them into our faculty meetings. It has been well received and I feel it will bring people closer. This will help people feel valued and appreciated for their work and hopefully will make them want to be more productive teachers. Also our administrator asked three of us to be a pilot for professional learning communities where we get together every other week and talk about what is going well and not so well in our classroom. We constructively critique each others practices and share ideas to make each other better teachers. The idea being that there is often a gap between known best practice and current practice within a classroom. I think that if administration promotes these type of activities among teachers that some of the loneliness of teaching will disappear and that teachers will truly care about what is going on not only in their classroom but in others as well.
ReplyDeleteRene, I hope the frustration you feel will be short lived! I know what wonderful things you are doing in your classroom. All of us know we don't teach for the money! I was offered a $100,000 a year by Microsoft to be a programmer my junior year of college but I chose the more noble rewarding and meaningful profession. I hope you will bounce back into the enthusiasm and growth phase!
ReplyDeleteGreat article! I am sure it reverberated with everyone who read it. I have often compared my teaching career to the game Chutes and Ladders. It is a winding path, however, should you land on a specific tile, you slide down and start over again. As a special educator I feel that the constant change we experience, often has us in a constant “preservice” mode. Having been in education for the past 14 years, I have found myself in at least five of the phases. Some I have frequented more than once! The nice thing about this article is that it helped me take random experiences/feelings and organize them into categories/phases. I whole heartedly agree that administrator’s awareness of and sensitivity to the teacher’s place in the cycle would benefit school climate. Furthermore, my own awareness of where I am within the cycle will influence my goal setting as part of the evaluation process.
ReplyDeleteJust another note, mentioned by others but an afterthought of mine... Understanding the phases of teaching is beneficial especially when we hit that frustration phase. Recognizing and understanding that everyone goes through it makes it easier to deal with... Teaching is a lot like marriage... understanding that difficult times are ahead makes you perservere
ReplyDeleteA very interesting article. Subconsciously I knew there were phases people pass through during their careers, but I hadn't really thought about it so specifically. I also hadn't thought about the many phases. It was fun to see which phases I had entered, exited, and in which I currently reside. I would say I am in the Competency Building and the Enthusiasm and Growth Stage (I am glad about that)! Lynn writes "teachers at this stage are receptive to new ideas, attend workshops and conferences willingly, and enroll in graduate courses through their own initiative." This is definitely me, right now. I chose to enter into this Master's Degree Program and I am excited about it. I like to hope and think that I won't leave these stages - at least not until I am really ready to retire. I hope I never enter the phase - Career Frustration. If I do, I will seek help to move beyond it, or get out of teaching. This would just not be healthy for me as a teacher and especially for my students. It was also fun to share this article with my husband. He just retired from education in June and we talked about the phases he went through during his career. When he entered the Career Frustration Phase, he took a year's leave of absence and tried something completely different. By October he realized how much he liked and missed his job in education, and he returned the following August to his position as Guidance Counselor. It was the best move he ever made. More people should consider a year off - it gives a whole new perspective.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nancy that economics plays a big part in where a teacher is phase-wise. I think about teachers who have told me they are STILL in teaching because of the insurance for family members. These are unhappy, unfulfilled teachers who can't get out and they should! I feel for the students.
I have seen administrators try to help these teachers, but it is very difficult.
MMerrill - you make a great point there - like a marriage - full of phases, too!
ReplyDeleteErin Therrien's comment as posted by tim.
ReplyDeleteI found this to be a very interesting article that held true to myself as an educator. I could see where I started six years ago and where I am today. 1. I feel that there are so many things that can affect how teachers go through their careers. I know that work environment has a big impact on teachers, as well as the economy and community factors. If a teacher feels like that are a part of the community and making a difference in that community that could change their path through the years.
2.I feel that admi. have a lot to do to help teachers feel like they are in a positive community. I know that this is something that our school and district is working on. We have started off well with a pot luck....little things like this seem to make a difference. I would love to have admi. read this article so they can better understand where we all are in our careers. A supportive, welcoming community can make a world of difference in the learning of our students. 3. I think that by knowing the different stages of the cycle that I can better support myself and the community around me. I can almost see where most of the teachers I work with are. I think that this article has opened my eyes to why we are so different in our goal and needs/wants.
Thanks Tim for your help.
ReplyDeleteJust like many in the class I found that this article hit home. I was able to think back to several points in my short career where I could easily find similar feelings that the article described. We have all felt highs and lows in teaching. I felt my self thinking of the leaders, the followers, and those colleagues that tend to be negative. It was as if I could pick at least one former or current colleague that visibly fits each stage of the cycle. Recognizing the different stages that people are in within their career path could help the communication process.
ReplyDeleteI also thought about the influences that I have had or received from people in the different stages of their career path. I have had six student teachers over the past seven years. I wonder what kind of vibe I, or we as cooperating teachers, put out to our student teachers in the different stages of the path. How does that vibe change the preservice path for students in the beginning or end of their undergrad work? What kind of vibe did we as students receive and how did that shape the different paths that we have taken?
There was one statement in this article that hit harder than any other statement: "The model proposes that a supportive, nurturing environment can assist a teacher in the pursuit of a positive career progression. Aternatively, an environmental atmosphere that includes negative pressures and conflicts can have an adverse effect on a teacher's career path." I cannot agree more with this statement. Even as a second-year teacher, I have found myself surrounded by both positive and nurturing coworkers, as well as individuals who have brought a negative environment into the school. These coworkers have had a profound impact on the attitude and beliefs that I have, even on a day-to-day basis. I agree with what Ed said, regarding his previous student teachers. What kind of impact did he have on his student teachers and their set of teaching beliefs? How much of an influence did he have on them? I would have to say he played a significant role in shaping their current teaching attitudes. Reflecting on my student teaching experience, I know that I have taken a great deal of my beliefs from that teacher. Depending on what career stage she was in, my system of beliefs and educational attitudes could have been greatly altered.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the summary of this article. These stages are not linear, rather, they are dynamic and flexible. Within my first year of teaching I found myself moving in and out many of those stages. At times I became frustrated, and other times motivated. While I believe that I have remained in the induction phase for the majority of the time, I notice myself moving in and out of some of the other stages as I progress through my career.
This also made me think about our students and the stages they are going through.
ReplyDelete