A Life-Cycle Model for Career Teachers

It’s a new year and your students’ success depends on the quality of your teachers. Teachers make the difference for students, and teachers need support for their continued growth and satisfaction in their profession. If we expect excellence, we must support it. The Life Cycle of the Career Teacher model is based on the premise that, given the appropriate learning environment, teachers will continue to grow and develop throughout their professional lifetime.

The model identifies four distinct phases of development:

• The apprentice phase begins with the orientation period and extends into the second or third year of teaching. The teacher is the primary learner in the classroom.
• The professional phase emerges as teachers grow in their self-confidence as educators. Student feedback plays a critical role in this process.
• The expert phase symbolizes achievement of the high standards. Even if these teachers do not formally seek it, they meet the expectations required for national certification.
• The distinguished phase is reserved for teachers truly gifted in their field. They exceed current expectations for what teachers are expected to know and do. Distinguished teachers impact education-related decisions at district, state, and national levels.

The critical factor that enables teachers to propel themselves through the career life-cycle is the opportunity to reflect on professional practice colleagues. Reflective practices like Peer coaching, collaborating, study teams and learning communities are especially helpful to teachers. The primary benefit of reflective practice is a deeper understanding of one's teaching style and, ultimately, greater competence as a teacher.

If the opportunity for reflecting on one’s practices is missing, teachers are likely to begin to withdraw. Withdrawal is a form of disengagement. Without help, an educator who begins the downward slide can become a detriment to students, schools, and the profession.

The Life Cycle of the Career Teacher model challenges the administrators to take action. It addresses teacher needs at different phases along the continuum of practice. Administrators can implement systems of professional development to assist teachers, regardless of career stage. The life cycle model can help put change into motion for teachers and their students. Administrators can advocate the need to link professional development with a structured career ladder.

Source: Kappa Delta Pi Record, Fall 2001, Betty E. Steffy and Michael P. Wolfe