Page 67 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Training Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 67
teachers’ professional development
including initial training, induction courses, in-service training, and con-
tinuous professional development within school settings. TALIS (OECD,
2009; 2014) also determined that participation in professional develop-
ment is a common feature and that, on average, between countries in low-
er secondary schools teachers have 16 years of teaching experiences and
more than 80% are permanently employed. Since the career of an educa-
tor is clearly a stable path and the majority stays on it one way or another
throughout their entire working life, it is extremely important to emphasise
that being/becoming a (good) educator requires an intentional, systemat-
ic ongoing process of development to maintain the motivation throughout
the entire career and to develop the competencies needed to meet students’
changing needs, although this sometimes also occurs unintentionally. Not
only does the process need to be continuous, it must also meet the differ-
ent needs of educators at various stages of their career and in different ed-
ucation systems.
Models and stages of professional development
Several professional development models have been designed to support
efforts to provide opportunities to maintain a high standard of education
practice, with these models being based on different concepts and there-
fore applying dissimilar approaches. The models typically take the stages of
professional development into account. The most noteworthy models will
be introduced in this paper in order to indicate the specifics of the different
stages of educators’ professional development and link them with possibil-
ities for reducing ESL. The model of the professional development of teach-
ers and other educators that is most often cited was developed by Fuller
(Fuller et al., 1969; Fuller & Brown, 1975) who identified the stages as: con-
cern for self (primary survival as a teacher); concern for the task (which fo-
cuses on actual performance) and concern for impact (relating to a positive
influence on students).
Huberman (1989, 1997) produced a more detailed model of teacher ca-
reer development that describes several interrelated phases linked to the
years of teaching, and can also be attributed to other educators. This model
has influenced most of the later work on this subject matter. Day (2007) re-
cently established a six-phase professional development model with similar
characteristics but with slightly different focuses of the phases. Hargreaves
(2005) also produced a model of the professional development of teachers
(and other educators), but only three phases were established there. In the
67
including initial training, induction courses, in-service training, and con-
tinuous professional development within school settings. TALIS (OECD,
2009; 2014) also determined that participation in professional develop-
ment is a common feature and that, on average, between countries in low-
er secondary schools teachers have 16 years of teaching experiences and
more than 80% are permanently employed. Since the career of an educa-
tor is clearly a stable path and the majority stays on it one way or another
throughout their entire working life, it is extremely important to emphasise
that being/becoming a (good) educator requires an intentional, systemat-
ic ongoing process of development to maintain the motivation throughout
the entire career and to develop the competencies needed to meet students’
changing needs, although this sometimes also occurs unintentionally. Not
only does the process need to be continuous, it must also meet the differ-
ent needs of educators at various stages of their career and in different ed-
ucation systems.
Models and stages of professional development
Several professional development models have been designed to support
efforts to provide opportunities to maintain a high standard of education
practice, with these models being based on different concepts and there-
fore applying dissimilar approaches. The models typically take the stages of
professional development into account. The most noteworthy models will
be introduced in this paper in order to indicate the specifics of the different
stages of educators’ professional development and link them with possibil-
ities for reducing ESL. The model of the professional development of teach-
ers and other educators that is most often cited was developed by Fuller
(Fuller et al., 1969; Fuller & Brown, 1975) who identified the stages as: con-
cern for self (primary survival as a teacher); concern for the task (which fo-
cuses on actual performance) and concern for impact (relating to a positive
influence on students).
Huberman (1989, 1997) produced a more detailed model of teacher ca-
reer development that describes several interrelated phases linked to the
years of teaching, and can also be attributed to other educators. This model
has influenced most of the later work on this subject matter. Day (2007) re-
cently established a six-phase professional development model with similar
characteristics but with slightly different focuses of the phases. Hargreaves
(2005) also produced a model of the professional development of teachers
(and other educators), but only three phases were established there. In the
67
