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modern times, which offer some background information about the changes schools
and teachers have to deal with. Then, an exploration into teacher isolation and
collaboration helps understand the nature of teaching profession. Furthermore, the
paper examines issues relevant to teacher professional development, which include
changes in the concept of professionalism, the locus of control of professionalism,
quality professional development and professional development for English
teachers.
Lastly, closely related to the shift in teaching paradigm is the changing role of
teachers. The new paradigm demands that teachers see themselves as co-learners
with their students. Teachers, like their students, are required to advance their
knowledge and enrich their vision so as to become competent and confident in the
ever-changing time. A comparison of teacher-centered and learner-centered
paradigms is offered by Huba and Freed (2000):
The factors above contribute to the needs for teachers to change. And the facts
prove that educational reforms cannot attain its goals without the fundamental
changes from teachers. That is why scholars such as Fullan and Stiegelbauer (1991)
and Fullan (2001) have urged teachers to play the roles of change agents within the
educational context. However, why teaches choose to engage in professional
development programs and why they are willing to be change agents are closely
related to such internal forces of teachers as motivation or personal belief and the
external attributes like social changes or school reforms. While most researches
promote either the ideas of the importance of teacher professional growth or the
design of professional programs, there is a need to explore and analyze those inner
needs or motives. This research expects to explore teachers’ internal needs or
motives for professional development. To do this, it is necessary to examine what
makes teaching an isolated job and how to encourage teacher collaboration.
Teacher isolation, a common theme addressed by those who study the collegial
relationships of teacher (Johnson, 1990; Little, 1993), is defined as the extent to
which teachers are restricted from or restrict themselves from interactions with other
individuals or groups in the school (Bakkenes, Brabander, & Imants, April, 1999;
Johnson, 1990). Generally speaking, this isolation is built into the structure of the
working day, in the scheduling, in the description of roles, duties, and
responsibilities, in the division of programs, content, and students, and in the
physical design of the school (Savvedra, 2000). It also results from personal
characteristics. For example, Johnson (1990) suggests that some teachers remain
distant from their colleagues either out of disregard for others, reluctance to share, or
fear of exposing their weaknesses. A research conducted by Bakkenes, Brabander
and Imants (1999) explains teacher isolation from a defensive perspective—the
protection of scarce time and resources to work with students, rather than from an
offensive perspective—the opportunities to influence other adults in the school. The
finding suggests that to develop collegial relationships within a school,
communication should be stimulated on topics that are closely linked to the
instructional process.
There is no denying that the protection of opportunities and time to work with
students is a strong motive in teacher behavior. Nias (1989) holds that teacher’s self
or professional identity is built on the work with students. Nevertheless, research
also indicates that teachers recognize that informal or formal interactions with
fellow teachers could satisfy their needs for adult company and personal support,
invigorate their teaching from instructional assistance as well as promote
institutional coordination (Johnson, 1990). Collegiality would allow teachers to
share the common goals, and most of all, the moral purpose emphasized by Fullan
(2001) in his book Leading in a Culture of Change. Therefore, collegial programs
should not be limited to the instructional aspect only. Rather, inquiry about
instructional practice is only one of the collegial seeds, which is joined by
collaboration, self-direction, trust, and commitment (Dantonio, 2001).
There are two types to collaboration: inside and outside collaboration (Fullan,
1999). Inside collaboration provides teachers with a means for professional learning
and development with the context of self and community. Outside collaboration
involves working with other interested parties outside the school, which provides
opportunities for new kinds of expertise through teamwork and conversations. In
this research, collaboration started inside the community initially but spread out
when those participants started to work in different schools. Outside collaboration is
expected when the members work on collaborative projects that require them to seek
expertise from different resources. Both inside and outside collaboration requires
teachers who enjoy pursuing professional development and seeking opportunity to
working with others in order to achieve certain professional goals in their career
path. Therefore, a broader picture of teacher professional development, which is
going to be discussed in the following section, could provide clearer ideas how to
promote teacher learning.
The Professional Development of Teachers
Complex professionalism considers teaching not only extended but also very
complex in terms of knowledge, reasoning and tasks. This increased complexity
leads to a rise in professional prestige and occupation status in one end and stress or
“burn out” on the other.
Hargreaves and Goodson (1996) conclude that elements from all the five
models should be incorporated into professionalism in a post-modern era where
teachers are faced with increasing complexity, economic flexibility and scientific
and moral uncertainty. Table 2 summarizes the relationship between two ideologies
and five different professional development models.
Higgins and Leat (2001) state that professional development consists of five
aspects: 1) subject knowledge, 2) pedagogical knowledge, 3) craft knowledge, 4)
image and self-concept, and 5) understanding goals of education. Compared with
other scholars, Higgins and Leat’s propositions sound simpler. However, examined
closely, they probably provide a more complete list which best meets the needs of
modern teachers not only because they remind to include technology learning in
teacher professional development but also take into account teachers’ image and
self-concept, an area which gains little attention in the academy.
With so many areas to cover, professional development is complex per se, let
alone when it involves individual teachers who are tremendously different in their
teaching philosophy and beliefs, their teaching styles, their views of teaching and
learning, as well as their relationship with students. Research has contributed by
offering a spectrum of professional knowledge for teachers; nevertheless, in reality,
most of the mandated training programs for professional development deliver
subject or pedagogical knowledge while leaving little space for teacher
collaboration. Teachers’ personal well-being is seldom included in the formal
professional development activities, nor is teacher self-direction. Without taking
these aspects into account, teachers are not inspired to take charge of their own
personal and professional journey of growth.
When it comes to the locus of control, Higgins and Leat (2001) present their
analysis in three different perspectives: managerial, situational and individual. The
relationships between knowledge areas, delivery approaches and locus of control are
well illustrated by Higgins and Leat (2001) in figure 3, which is followed by more
elaboration on the three dimensions.
Subject knowledge
How it can be changed
Modeling
Peer Collaboration
Pedagogical knowledge
Managerial
Induction
Craft knowledge
Action Research
Coaching
Critical inquiry
Individual
Note. From Horses for courses or courses for horses: What is effective teacher
development (p.66), by S. Higgins & D. Leat, in Teacher development: Exploring
our own practice, J. Soler, A. Craft & H. Burgess (eds.), 2001. London: Paul
Chapman Publishing Ltd.
Vonk’s framework (1989) provides seven phases in teacher career life: 1) pre-
professional phase: pre-service training and preparation; 2) threshold phase (first
year): new teachers get a handle on the job; 3) the phase of growing into the
profession (2 to 7 years): attention is focused on improving teaching skills and
competencies; 4) the first professional phase: the teacher demonstrates the
accomplishments, skills and mastery in the profession; 5) phase of reorientation to
oneself and the profession: the teacher may question and doubt his or her
commitment to teaching; 6) the second professional phase: the teacher reenergizes
themselves and pursues further job satisfaction; and 7) the phase of running down:
the period before retirement.
Hurberman’s model divides the career cycle into five major stages. The first
three years is a stage for survival and discovery, which is followed by another three-
year period during which teachers try to find stabilization in their teaching job. Next,
teachers who have taught seven to eighteen years might find themselves in either of
the following situations: experimentation/diversification and stock-
taking/interrogation. In each case, those who find job satisfaction feel serene in the
following stage (Year 19-30) while those who take stock of their job become
conserved. In the last leg of the career cycle, the disengagement stage, teachers
expect to leave the job either feeling fulfilled or bitter. Hubermans’ model is better
understood by the following illustration (Figure 4):
4-6 Stabilization
7-18 Experimentation/ Stock-taking/
Diversification Interrogations
31-40 Disengagement
(“serene” or “bitter”)
1. Pre-service. At this stage, teachers receive trainings and preparation for the
teaching profession.
4. Enthusiastic and growing. Teachers at this stage love their jobs, and look
forward to making progress as professionals. They are featured by enthusiasm and
high level of satisfaction. The ideal climate reinforces teachers at this stage with
opportunities to learn and apply new ideas.
7. Career wind-down. It is time for teachers to leave the job. Some might find
it pleasant to reflect on many previous positive experiences and look forward to a
career change or retirement. Others might find it bitter if they cannot wait to get out
of a job they resent.
8. Career exit. This stage does not refer to retirement only. It could be a
temporary career exit for child rearing, for example. It might also be a time of
alternative career exploration or of moving to a non-teaching position in education.
What makes Fessler and Christensen’s model different from the others is that it
reckons the impact of personal environment and organizational environment on
teacher development. The personal environment of the teacher includes several
interactive facets, such as family support structures, positive critical incidents, life
crises, individual dispositions, avocational outlets and the developmental life stages
experienced by teachers.
It cannot be denied that “teachers as learners” is not only a trend but a must in
teachers’ professional life, especially with the assertion and implementation of
educational reforms. However, teacher learning sometimes could be very isolated
and individual. What really helps teachers grow? What kind of support do teachers
need? Zemelman, Daniels and Hyde (1994) provide the following answers:
3. Teachers need support from the top which encourages teachers’ decision-
making and initiative.
1. has the goal of improving student learning at the heart of every school
endeavor;
2. helps teachers and other school staff meet the future needs of students
who learn in different ways and who come from diverse cultural, linguistic,
and socioeconomic backgrounds;
8. balances individual priorities with school and district needs and advances
the profession as a whole;
Community
Learner Knowledge
centered centered
Assessment
centered
Note. From How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school (p. 134), by J.
D. Bransford, A. L. Brown & R. R. Cocking, 1999. D. C.: Academy Press
…groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic,
and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an
ongoing basis (p. 4).
2. The ability to use the language in real-life contexts, for both social and
professional purpose.
Apparently, Gebhard and Oprandy (1999) also build their framework on the
reflective rationality. Some of their beliefs and assumptions are summarized as
follows:
Summary
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York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University.
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Publishing Ltd.
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