Fuller Teacher Concerns Theory: three developmental stages of teacher concerns¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 3 claims (1 for, 2 mixed) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The study's theoretical base is Fuller's Teacher Concerns Theory, which holds that teachers progress through three stages of concern as they develop professionally: "a survival stage when teachers are preoccupied with their own adequacy, a mastery stage when teachers concentrate on performance and concerns focus on the teaching task, and an impact stage when teachers become concerned about their effects on pupils." The stages address what the teacher is concerned about rather than accomplishments, and are theoretically developmentally related: only after self and task concerns are dealt with do impact concerns begin to predominate. The authors coded interview responses into self, task, and impact categories using George's (1978) interpretation of the theory.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Responses must be categorizable into self, task, and impact concern levels using a protocol based on George's (1978) interpretation of the theory

Constraints¶

• The stages are theoretically developmentally related, but this study found many teachers progressed and retreated rather than moving linearly through the stages

Target Learners¶

• first-year and reentry teachers in induction programs

Target Learning Objectives¶

• professional development of teachers' concerns from self toward impact on students

Claims¶

• Teachers without mentors reached the impact level more often than mentored teachers, raising the question that mentoring may inhibit development [~W]
• Teacher concern development is better characterized as progression and retreat than linear stage movement [~W]
• First-year teachers without mentors declined in self and impact concerns but task concerns stayed at 50% [+W]

Related Theories¶

• Fuller's Concerns Theory of Teacher Development
• Stages of Concern About the Innovation: a seven-stage developmental taxonomy of individuals' concerns
• Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) stages of concern
• Revised emergent-growth model of technology adoption integrating voluntary activities with maintained early concerns
• Seven Stages of Concern About an Innovation

Examples¶

• Withdraw mentor support earlier than currently thought, and calibrate how closely mentors work with mentees

Key Sources¶

• Olsen, Dwayne G.; Heyse, Kathy L. (1990). Development and Concerns of First-year and Reentry Teachers with and without Mentors. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED323188