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inability to obtain release time (30.5%). Another study examined the beliefs and practices
of 10 exemplary early childhood educators. The common themes identified included the
irrelevancy of current staff development sessions and the lack of support shown to
teachers in implementing new strategies (Adcock & Patton, 2001).
Blenkin and Yue (1994) claim that continuing professional development should
be seen is a strategic tool through which practitioners can gain confidence in their own
professionalism and in making educational decisions. According to Morris (2002) there is
a tendency today to think of professional development as opportunities to “fill in the
gaps” or “fill up what is lacking.” Such a deficit model of professional development is
seldom healthy or desired because it is based on what is lacking. As with children,
opportunities for learning and development are more effective when they build upon the
capabilities, interests and previous learning that have occurred through a wide variety of
experiences (p. 17). According to Katz (1972), professional development relevancy
depends on the practitioner’s current stage of development and the concerns of that stage.
Stages of teacher development.
Katz (1972) described teacher development in terms of their predominant
concerns, categorizing four stages of development. Development generally refers to the
phenomenon of change over time. A stage is a period of time in a process of development
(Burden, 1990). In identifying what the teacher’s concerns are at each stage, Katz
suggests strategies for meeting training needs.
The first stage of development according to this model is survival. At this stage,
novice teachers come to terms with the discrepancy between the anticipation of teaching
and the realities of the classroom. This is a stage filled with feelings of being unprepared