What Shapes Teachers’ Professional Development?

Abstract

Studies of teachers’ professional development have identified phases or sequences that teachers go through in the course of their careers. Some of the commonly identified phases are an initial survival and exploration phase, a stabilization phase if the experience in the previous phase is positive, or a phase of self-doubt if the experience is negative, an experimentation and diversification phase in which they are highly motivated to try out new ideas and increase their impact inside as well as beyond the classroom, a phase of reassessment if they are disappointed with the outcome, and a phase of serenity in which teachers come to terms with themselves. These phases of development, however, are not linear. Teachers move in and out of phases because of a number of factors such as personal experiences, social environment and organizational influences. This chapter reports on a case study of one ESL teacher and the factors and sources of influence that have shaped her professional development. It discusses the implications of the findings for teacher education.