High school English teachers' professional life cycle: A study in an EFL context

Abstract

A product has a life cycle. A man likewise has life cycle-- from conception to decline through infancy, puberty, youth and maturity. Similarly, a teacher's professional life cycle passes through clearly identifiable stages-from novice to proficient, experienced and then expert (mentor). He enters the profession as a novice and gets training in teaching or at least, guidance of his seniors and accumulates experience. This process may take 1 to 2 years. The experience of classroom situations, training/retraining and/or through diverse interactions, he becomes an experienced and accomplished professional in 5 to 7 years before he starts conceptualising and doing research work, and becomes an expert in teaching in about 6 to 8 years after which, he starts mentoring and becomes a Head Teacher. There can be a variance in the number of years an individual teacher takes to move from one stage to the next. In Yemen and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the upward mobility is purely on seniority; merit alone gets back-seat. Promotion to Head Teacher depends upon the vacancy available. The three broad stages are crossed before retirement. Some teachers study subjects intensively and extensively and remain updated, and create philosophical constructs--they become universally acknowledged super-experts. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.