Career Stages

The term career stage refers to sequenced workrelated stages, movements, or points in one's profession. In 1986, Gene Dalton and Paul Thompson identified four distinct stages, including apprentice, independent contributor, mentor, and sponsor. In each stage, the expected performance activities, the expected relationships, and expected psychological adjustments differ. For example, the apprentice stage is the beginning, entry-level position filled with new learning, subordinate relationships, and the understanding to perform in subordinate positions. This may also be referred to as an intern stage. The independent career stage is one in which the professional contributes to the organization. In the mentor stage, one moves to mentoring the less experienced. The sponsoring stage is the highest career stage, in which one influences the goals and direction of the organization through leadership. Other aspects of career stages include stress, career development, career management, and career pathing. Issues of women and minorities in educational administration are issues in career stages. In 1989, Betty Steffy identified six distinct stages or steps in the life cycle of the classroom teacher: novice, apprentice, professional, expert, distinguished, and emeritus. The Steffy model was unique in that teachers could fall back into a previous stage without positive reinforcement and support. The regression was termed “withdrawal” and occurred in three phrases: initial, persistent, and deep. Teachers could move into withdrawal at any stage. A teacher in deep withdrawal may become a hazard to students. Deep withdrawal involved loss of self-confidence, listlessness, and cynicism about students and about the profession.

The term career stages and mentoring refers to those aspects of a mentoring relationship that enhance learning the ropes and preparing for advancement in an organization. School leaders at all career stages—aspiring, intern, new, midcareer, and late career—need other more experienced professionals to guide them in their journeys through the challenges of turbulent times in public education. J. C. Daresh noted in 2001 that he saw mentoring as a vital part of a principal's development process. In the context of principal shortages, accountability demands, ongoing changing school reform efforts, and the changing role of the principal, mentoring is vital to principal development, starting at the principal preservice stage through the late career stage.

Colleges of education and school districts work collaboratively to develop mentoring programs for aspiring principals and other principals. Aspiring principals will have formal and informal mentors. The ideal formal mentor is the supervising principal. The formal mentor is the internal role model. The informal mentor is a confidant and a friend who can challenge the mentee. Mentors help aspiring principals and experienced principals to develop the necessary knowledge, skills, behaviors, and values to be dynamic school leaders, including technical and social/cultural learning. Other mentoring activities include providing support though advice, guidance, practical applications, listening, reflection, and other activities as applicable to the mentoring career stages. Understanding the district culture for administrators is a key activity in mentoring principals who are aspiring, new to the profession, and new to the district.