A Description of Michael Huberman’s Teacher Career Cycle Model

R.M. Joerger

How can a theoretical model help teachers?

• A theoretical model of the professional lives of teachers can provide a framework for organizing

– Personalizable professional development plans

– A review and extension of personal psychosocial support

– Ideas for personal and collaborative research

Model of Teacher DevelopmentYears of Teaching

Themes / Phases

1-3 Career Entry: Survival and Discovery

4-6 Stabilization

7-18 Experimentation/ Diversification

Stock-taking / Interrogations

19-31 Serenity Conservatism

31-40 Disengagement (serene or bitter)

The Teacher Career Cycle Model

• The TCCM incorporates the influence of personal and organizational ecologies upon the lives of teachers

• Personal factors include and extend beyond:– Family events, life stages, and individual differences

• Organizational factors include and extend beyond:– School policies, budget constraints, and union actions

Model of Teacher Development

1-3 Career Entry: Survival and Discovery

4-6 Stabilization

31-40 Disengagement(serene or bitter)

19-31 Serenity Conservatism

7-18 Experimentation / Diversification

Stock-taking /Interrogations

Years of Teaching Themes / Phases

Career Entry: Discovery and Survival

• Initial stage lasting from years 1 – 3

• Characteristic stage activities / dispositions– Learning how to teach– Determining what to teach– Navigating teaching / school environment– Learning to work with students– Developing self-efficacy – Sense of survival

Stabilization

• Secondary stage lasting from years 4-6

• Characteristic stage activities / dispositions

– Make a commitment to the profession– Focus on autonomy and independence– Feeling of Mastering instructional pedagogy– Widening of focus to include student needs

Experimentation / Diversification

• Tertiary stage lasting from years 7-18

• Characteristic stage activities / dispositions– Experiment with teaching strategies,

assessment, and instructional content– Seek leadership roles to affect change– May seek new roles:

• Administrative• Appointment

Stocktaking / Interrogations

• Tertiary stage lasting from years 7-18

• Characteristic stage activities / dispositions– Reflect upon their “inventory” of accomplishments– Consider the time remaining to change

occupations– Exhibit a more negative attitude toward

professional development and change

Serenity

• Quaternary phase lasting from years 19-30

• Characteristic stage activities / dispositions

– Lament the difference between their initial and current levels of enthusiasm, activism, and energy

– Acceptance of real self in professional roles

– Increase intergenerational differences between them and their students more pronounced

Conservatism • Quaternary phase lasting from years 19-30

• Characteristic stage activities / dispositions

– Exhibit rigidity and stubbornness

– Great reluctance to accept innovations

– Often express their discontent with: • school administration / policies • The commitment of students and other teachers

• Some become reinvigorated and experience a personal renaissance

DisengagementSerene or Bitter

• A quinary stage extending 31 years and beyond

• Characteristic stage activities / dispositions– Withdrawal from professional commitments – Use of time for personal activities – Partially withdrawal focus on preferred

courses and tasks

The Teacher Career Cycle Model

• Often teachers jump from more harmonious pathways to less harmonious pathways

• Teachers sometimes leapfrog stages because of particular events or circumstances

• Plateaus, discontinuities, regressions, spurts, and dead ends are all possible actions within the model framework