Psychological States and Staff Development

By Michael D. "Mike" McKibbin

This is an excerpt of a research paper of a two year study of teacher learning styles.

Staff development must fill three needs, needs which at first may seem different but which actually have much in common. One is the societal need to create an educational system which can regenerate itself continuously so that it can more effectively and humanely create environments within which all children can flourish. The second need arises from within each school, whose communities need to find ways to improve their environments so as to nurture the personal, social, and academic potential of the young people in their neighborhoods. The third arises from the necessity for the individual professional to live a satisfying and stimulating personal and professional life--to become the kind of person who, through the example of a vital and committed existence, can help children to develop optimism, confidence, knowledge, and values to engage in the quest to fulfill his/her own potential and join with his/her neighbors to bring about a better world for everyone.

From our observations, we have come to believe that the consideration of the psychological states of individual teachers is of the utmost importance not only in the South Bay School but also in any general consideration of staff development. The general milieu of the school and the social movements of the times interact powerfully with the personalities of the teachers to create personal orientations which greatly influence how teachers view the world (and themselves in it), and those views largely control what the individual can see as possibilities for personal and professional growth and the kind of options to which they can relate.

Presently there is great concern about the life cycle of educational careers. The current literature speakers frequently about "burned out" teachers and serious questions are being raised about what happens to individual teachers after a long time in the classroom or in an administrative position. Recent analysis of the fate of innovations in education has raised questions about the dynamics of aging as an educational professional. It is suggested that, whereas in many professions the years of greatest power and satisfaction are in one's forties and fifties, teachers may become jaded and unhappy by middle age. A good deal of concern is focused on feelings of alienation. It is suggested that the continuous tattoo of criticism about public education is taking its toll on the individuals working within the walls against which that tattoo is beaten. For example, many teachers in California appear to have reacted with shock and dismay after the overwhelming public approval of Proposition 13 and may have taken the public reaction to taxation for schooling as a personal rejection of their services. The loved, feared, and respected images of "Miss Dove" and "Mr. Chips" of the past are being replaced by the image of an embattled and threatened bureaucrat. It is reported that experienced teachers are leaving the profession at a time when jobs are hard to come by, leaving out of a feeling of disgust and a loss of personal meaning.

The result of these concerns is becoming translated into an attention to educational personnel as people, living and working under difficult conditions. It is a matter of utmost importance that environments be created within which they can renew themselves, feel integrated and connected to their children and society, feel proud and dignified, and have a job they look forward to rather than dreading and waiting for each day to end.

The importance of Maslow's conception lies in the emphasis given to the total personality of the individual. His view contrasts sharply with narrow conceptions of motivation and social engineering. Motivation is often spoken of as if people are all alike ("If we can provide the `right' incentives, everyone will respond.") Teachers are people, however, and while they share much in common they are also different from each other.

In the South Bay setting governance was shared, training could be tailored to the needs of the individual teacher, a rich array of options was available and new possibilities could be created as teachers expressed the need for them. A very complex training environment resulted. Unfortunately, only a few teachers could take advantage of it, largely those who were on the road to self-actualization. Those in a state of "self-survival" had been placed in what was, for them, a most threatening environment, and they did not profit very much from it.

The norms of the school were dominated by people who feel comfortable as they are. A staff development program which is designed to help people reach beyond themselves is grindingly mismatched with people who are contented. Within those level-three (passive consumers) norms the most growing persons felt threatened and suspect. The training program was a productive outlet for these "self actualizers," providing them with new worlds to conquer in teaching and the variety and challenge they thrive on.

This investigation and our observations are framework-generating rather than conclusive. We are uncertain how personality should be taken into account in the development of inservice programs, but we are convinced that it is critically important, not only because of the obvious implications for each individual's ability to profit from options, but because of the normative pressures generated by the collection of personalities in the school. South Bay was dominated by level-three personalities and a very rich program was used in only a limited way, probably because it was designed for "self-actualizers."

Clearly, we need very careful investigations into personality and learning by teachers. For the present, we suggest two avenues for program development (and research).

The first is through the sensitive modulation of training to the psychological states of individuals and groups. David Hunt's principle of an "optimal mismatch" is our guide. That is, training environments should be oriented just above the level at which someone functions most comfortably. If the optimal mismatch is achieved, the teacher can function adequately but is "pulled" toward greater development.

The second is the "social ecology" route, operating on the thesis that our social environment "pulls" our functioning level toward the norm of the group. Thus, if we build a "self actualizing" social climate, we are more likely to function at a higher level than if the social climate by a "survival" orientation.