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chapter 4 Adult and Teacher Development Within the Context of the School

Learning Outcomes for This Chapter

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

List the implications of any of the theories of adult learning discussed in this chapter for

instructional supervision.

Explain why the notion of a universal model of adult development has been challenged.

Discuss what the authors mean by the “ebb and flow” of adult development.

Questions to Reflect On as You Read This Chapter

As you read the chapter, reflect on learning about each of the following concepts:

Andragogy

Transformative learning

Self-directed learning

Experiential learning

Situated cognition

Informal learning

How do you think adult thinking differs from that of younger learners? To what do you

attribute these differences?

Two different teachers may approach the same teaching challenge in markedly different

ways. In what ways do you think adult development may explain this?

As you read the various models of adult development, which resonate with your own

experience?

What ways do you see that knowledge of adult development might be applied in

supervision and professional development of teachers?

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This chapter will serve as a core for thinking and practicing supervision in a

developmental framework. So far, we have defined “a cause beyond oneself” as a

demarcation between the collective, thoughtful, autonomous, and effective staffs of

successful schools and the isolated, unreflective, and powerless staffs of unsuccessful

schools. Knowledge of how teachers can grow as competent adults is the guiding

principle for supervisors in finding ways to return wisdom, power, and control to both the

individuals and the collective staff in order for them to become true professionals. With

the understanding of how teachers change, the supervisor can plan direct assistance,

evaluation of teaching, professional development, curriculum development, group

development, and action research at an appropriate level to stimulate teacher growth

and instructional improvement.

The research on adult learning and development has been prolific. We have attempted

to distill the knowledge of adult and teacher development that has direct applications for

supervision and supervisors. Readers who desire more detail should refer to the

references cited. The use of such readily available and potentially rich knowledge about

human growth can be extremely valuable to those who work with adults. If schools are

to be successful, supervision must respond to teachers as changing adults.

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figure 4.1 Adults as Learners

Unfortunately, many schools do not foster collaborative action, reflection, critical

thinking, or teacher empowerment. Rather, the hierarchical structure of many

school systems—as well as the environmental problems of isolation,

psychological dilemma, and lack of a shared technical culture discussed in

Chapter 2—tends to work against the type of growth described in the adult

learning literature. Conversely, Drago-Severson’s (2007) qualitative study of

principals as professional development leaders found that those who

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successfully exercised their leadership to promote adult learning consistently

employed four strategies, which she refers to as “pillar practices”:

Encouraging various forms of teaming/partnering with colleagues within and

outside school (e.g., teaching teams, curriculum teams, technology teams,

diversity teams, developing partnerships with other organizations)

Providing opportunities for teachers to serve in leadership roles (e.g., mentoring

graduate student interns, knowledge-based management, technology leaders,

sharing decision making, leading accreditation teams)

Promoting collegial inquiry (e.g., reflection through writing and dialogue)

Mentoring

According to Drago-Severson, these pillar practices, particularly when adapted to

teachers’ developmental stages, foster transformative rather than informative

learning (Drago-Severson, 2007; Drago-Severson, 2009).

Adult and Teacher Development

Literature on adult development can be seen as reflecting several distinct but

related approaches. Just a few decades ago, the study of human development

focused on children, and adulthood was either not a consideration or was thought

to represent a period of stability. Theory and research on adult development for

several decades emphasized development as an orderly progression. Because

developmental psychologists did much of the work in this area, there was an

emphasis on the change processes occurring in the individual with relatively little

consideration of his or her interaction with the environment. Early approaches to

adult development were rooted in such a tradition. Over time, alternative views of

adult development evolved, with less concern for a universal progression and

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greater interest in the interaction between the individual and the social

environment. Subsequent sections of this chapter will discuss adult development

according to these five subtopics: (1) stage development, (2) life cycle

development, (3) transition events, (4) role development, and (5) sociocultural

influences on adult development.

Stage Theories of Adult and Teacher Development

We will begin discussion of adult development by focusing on developmental

stage theories. Levine (1989) delineated the characteristics of stages:

First and foremost is their structural nature. Each stage is a “structured whole,”

representing an underlying organization of thought or understanding. Stages are

qualitatively different from one another. All emerge in sequence without variation;

no stage can be skipped. Finally stages are “hierarchically integrated”; that is,

progressive stages are increasingly complex and subsume earlier stages.

Individuals always have access to the stages through which they have passed.

Under ordinary circumstances or with proper supports, people will generally

prefer to use the highest stages of which they are capable. (p. 86)

It may be helpful to look more closely at several specific stage theories.

Cognitive Development

Piaget described four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor,

preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations (Blake & Pope,

2008). The person at the formal operations stage has already progressed beyond

reasoning only for the “here and now” and can project into and relate time and

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space. A person at the formal operations stage uses hypothetical reasoning,

understands complex symbols, and formulates abstract concepts.

Some researchers have found that formal thought is not demonstrated by all

adults. There has also been considerable exploration of characteristic adult forms

of thinking that go beyond Piaget’s fourth stage to a postformal operations stage

(Cartwright, Galupo, Tyree, & Jennings, 2009; Merriam & Bierema, 2014; Wynn,

Mosholder, & Larsen, 2014). Terms like postformal thought (Sinnott, 2009),

integrative thought (Kallio, 2011), and epistemic understanding (Baxter-Magolda,

2004) have been used to describe the highest stage of cognition observed in

adults. Figure 4.2 represents the adult cognitive developmental continuum.

igure 4.2 Adult Cognitive Development Continuum

Source: Adapted from Stephen P. Gordon (1990). Assisting the entry-year

teacher: A leadership resource. Columbus, OH: Ohio Department of Education.

Used with permission.

Ostorga (2006) provides insight into connections between teachers’ cognitive

development and their reflective thinking. Part of a larger study of student

teachers, the two participants selected as the focus of this article were both adult

learners, ages 28 and 35, who had previous experience in the classroom as

paraprofessionals. Ostorga analyzed interview protocols and Measurement of

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Epistemological Reflection (MER) questionnaires developed by Baxter-Magolda

(2004), as well as 15 weekly reflective journal entries. Neither participant

exhibited epistemic stances at either end of the epistemological spectrum

presented by Baxter-Magolda—absolute knowing and contextual

knowing—rather, they exhibited adjacent stances in the middle of

Baxter-Magolda’s spectrum. Nonetheless observable differences were

demonstrated in the nature of reflective statements made in their journals, coded

according to Mezirow’s (1981) taxonomy of reflectivity, developed as part of his

work on transformational learning. Elena, the participant exhibiting a transitional

epistemological stance, exhibited content level reflection in most of her journals,

the most basic of Mezirow’s levels of reflection, and only once engaged in a

combination of content and process reflection. Shakira, the participant exhibiting

an independent thinking epistemological stance, wrote at least one journal entry

exhibiting premise reflection—the highest of Mezirow’s levels of reflection—when

she critiqued a response provided by her supervising teacher.

Moral Development

Kohlberg & Kramer (2006) identified three broad categories of morality: the

preconventional level, the conventional level, and the postconventional level.

They further delineated two stages of development within each of these levels,

with the second stage more advanced and organized than the first. Across the

three levels, reasoning shifts from a self-centered perspective to one that

increasingly considers the perspectives and rights of others. The individual at

Level I makes decisions from a self-centered orientation. At Level II, individuals

“do the right thing” because that is what is expected according to social norms.

Finally, at Level III, moral decisions serve to recognize the social contract and to

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uphold individual rights. Although conflicts between these principles and legal

mandates are recognized as problematic in the lower stage of Level III, moral

principles come to take precedence by the time an individual reaches the highest

stage of moral development. Kohlberg (Kohlberg & Armon, 1984; Kohlberg &

Kramer, 2006) sees the higher stages as superior, and he sees enhancing

development as an appropriate aim for education. Figure 4.3 represents the

moral development continuum.

figure 4.3 Moral Development Continuum

Source: Adapted from Stephen P. Gordon (1990). Assisting the entry-year

teacher: A leadership resource. Columbus, OH: Ohio Department of Education.

Used with permission.

It is important here to also mention the work of Carol Gilligan (1982). Gilligan

compared conclusions from Kohlberg’s model of moral development with

conclusions from her own research with women discussing personal decisions.

People at the top of Kohlberg’s stages worry about interfering with others’ rights,

whereas those at the top of Gilligan’s stages worry about errors of omission, such

as not helping others when possible. At Gilligan’s highest stage, morality is

conceived in terms of relationships, and goodness is equated with helping others.

Gilligan (1979) proposed that a different conception of development emerges

from the study of women’s lives:

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The shift in women’s judgment from an egocentric to a principled ethical

understanding is articulated through their use of a distinct moral language, in

which the terms “selfishness” and “responsibility” define the moral problem as

one of care. Moral development then consists of the progressive reconstruction

of this understanding toward a more adequate conception of care. (p. 442)

Several small-scale studies have investigated relationships between teachers’

moral development and their understandings of teaching and learning. Johnson

and Reiman (2007) explored the relationship between teacher dispositions in the

moral/ethical domain and their actions in the classroom through a case study of

three beginning teachers, all of whom were described as “lateral entry” teachers

(entering without a teaching degree or specific training in education). All three

teachers were found to operate primarily from a moral schema aimed at

maintaining norms and emphasizing rules that are clear, consistent, and apply to

everyone, which the authors reported is typical of beginning teachers. The three

teachers varied, however, in the degree to which they also exhibited a personal

interest schema (in which decisions are primarily based on the personal interest

of the decision maker) or a postconventional schema (based on alterable social

norms, with ideals that are open to justification and scrutiny). Using the Flanders

Interaction Analysis System (also known as the Guided Analysis System, or

GIAS) to document teacher actions, they found:

When the teachers used more postconventional reasoning and less personal

interest judgments, the percentage of direct instruction decreased. Teachers

spent less time providing information and giving direction and more time

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prompting inquiry, accepting and using students’ ideas and offering

reinforcement. (Johnson & Reiman, 2007, p. 683)

Johnson and Reiman concluded that with increased percentages of

postconventional reasoning teachers became more open to learner perspectives

and engaged in more indirect interactions. They also found that in response to

mentoring provided as part of the study, beginning teachers were able to move

toward more complex levels of judgment, although they remained primarily at a

below average level of complexity. In an earlier study, Reiman and Peace (2002)

found an increase in moral/ethical development as well as a shift from

self-concern to concern for the learners in eight teachers involved in peer

coaching using a framework of social role-taking and guided reflection, as

compared to a control group. Both these studies suggest that moral dispositions

are linked to teaching practice, and that both dispositions and actions are

amenable to tailored mentoring and coaching programs.

Levels of Consciousness

Robert Kegan (1994, 2009), a self-acknowledged neo-Piagetian, is a more recent

entrant on the scene of adult developmental psychology with his theory of levels

of consciousness. As with the Piagetian shift from concrete to formal operations,

the development of abstract thinking is a key characteristic of movement from

Kegan’s adolescent stage of durable category level to a more mature

cross-categorical (or third-order) consciousness. The person functioning at the

cross-categorical level is capable of thinking abstractly, reflecting on his or her

own emotions, and being guided by beliefs and values that ensure loyalty to the

larger community. At this stage the adult experiences a new construction of

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reality, with the needs, wants, and desires of others figuring as prominently as his

or her own (Albertson, 2014; Bridwell, 2013; Taylor & Marienau, 1995).

Only with the transition from cross-categorical to systems (or fourth-order)

consciousness, however, does the individual move beyond defining oneself in

terms of those duties, devotions, and values to become a truly independent and

autonomous person. At this level we can look objectively at our own perspective,

compare it with that of others, and work to reconcile differences—a process

associated with transformational learning (Bridwell, 2013; Kegan, 2009). It is the

systems level of consciousness that is said to be necessary to meet the various

demands of modern adult life (parenting, partnering, working, continued

learning), but Kegan contends that many do not reach this stage until their 30s or

40s, if at all. Finally, as is common with stage theories, Kegan posits a level

rarely achieved, trans-systems (or fifth-order) consciousness. Dialectical thinking

is associated with this level of consciousness, said to be rare before midlife.

Kegan’s model suggests that our expectations may be too high, both for

ourselves and others. In the preface to his book In Over Our Heads: The Mental

Demands of Modern Life (1994), he especially appeals to those who provide

education, training, and supervision for other adults to be mindful of the mental

demands we place on others. An example would be our expectation that

teachers, even those recently graduated as traditional-age students, exhibit high

levels of critical thinking and metacognitive skills, as he speculates these skills

may not be fully evolved for many until their 30s and 40s. The emphasis Kegan

places on continuing adult learning in the workplace, as well as in other domains

of adult life, along with his suggestion that teaching/coaching can stimulate

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developmental growth, makes this a promising model for future examination with

practicing teachers. It is this model upon which Drago-Severson (2009, 2012;

Drago-Severson, Blum-DeStefano, & Asghar, 2013) bases her four-pillar model

of leadership for adult growth. Kegan’s model also provides a framework that is

consistent with the principles of developmental supervision. Figure 4.4 depicts

the continuum of adult consciousness.

figure 4.4 Adult Consciousness Continuum

Stages of Concern

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Frances Fuller (1969) conducted pioneer studies

of teacher concerns. In analyzing both her own studies and six others, she found

that the responses by hundreds of teachers at various stages of experience

showed different concerns.

Teachers at the self-adequacy stage focus on survival. They are concerned with

doing well when a supervisor is present, getting favorable evaluations, and being

accepted and respected by students and other teachers (Adams & Martray,

1981). Their primary concern is making it through the school day.

With survival and security assured, teachers think less of their own survival

needs and begin to focus on teaching tasks. At this stage, teachers become

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more concerned with issues related to instructional and student discipline. They

begin to think about altering or enriching the classroom schedule, the teaching

materials, and their instructional methodology. Instructional concerns include the

pressures of teaching, routinization and inflexibility of the teaching environment,

student load, workload, and lack of academic freedom. Discipline concerns

include class control, conflict between student and adult values and attitudes,

and disruptive students (Adams & Martray, 1981). Concerns at this stage can be

characterized as focused on the teaching environment and teaching

responsibilities.

Superior teachers are at the highest stage of concern, referred to as the teaching

impact stage. At this stage, teachers are most concerned with the impact on

students’ learning and students’ well-being, even if it means departing from rules

and norms. Academic concerns at this stage include diagnosing and meeting

individual needs, sparking unmotivated students, and facilitating the intellectual

and emotional development of students. The teacher with mature concerns also

tends to be interested in the whole child, including interest in student health and

nutrition, use of drugs by students, and dropout preve