Rennekamp R.A., Nall M.A. Growing Through the Stages: A New Look at Professional Growth [Этапы развития: Новый взгляд на профессиональный рост] [Electronic Resource]: Growing Through the Stages: A New Look at Professional Growth / Roger A. Rennekamp, Martha A. Null//Journal of Extension. June 1994. Volume 32, №1. Feature Articles. 1FEA2. URL: http://www.joe.org/joe/1994june/a2.php .
In rapidly changing environments, both organizations and the people who make up those organizations must engage in continual growth, or risk becoming obsolete. All too often, professional growth is a hit-or-miss process. Learning opportunities selected are often those that meet immediate needs rather than future needs. Most professional development programs do not acknowledge a learners' career stages in helping individuals make choices regarding professional development. In this article, the authors' introduce a model for professional development currently being used by the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, which recognizes that professional development needs vary according to an individual's career stage and long-term career goals.
Key words: professional growth, career stages, stage model, motivators for professional development.
В стремительно меняющемся мире и организации, и люди, входящие в их состав, должны непрерывно работать над своим ростом – в противном случае, они рискуют отстать. Нередко процесс профессионального развития носит случайный, непродуманный характер. Предлагаемое обучение зачастую удовлетворяет лишь сиюминутные потребности, а не те, что могут возникнуть в будущем. В большинстве программ профессионального развития, призванных помочь человеку сделать выбор в своей карьере, не учитывается этап развития обучаемого. В данной статье авторы представляют модель профессионального развития, которая в данный момент используется в Объединенной Службе Дополнительного Образования штата Кентукки, учитывающую необходимость варьировать профессиональное обучение в зависимости от этапа развития карьеры индивидуума и его более долгосрочных карьерных целей.
Ключевые слова: профессиональный рост; этапы развития карьеры, поэтапная модель развития карьеры, мотиваторы профессионального развития.
Growing Through the Stages: A New Look at Professional Growth
Abstract In rapidly changing environments, both organizations and the people who make up those organizations must engage in continual growth, or risk becoming obsolete. All too often, professional growth is a hit-or-miss process. Learning opportunities selected are often those that meet immediate needs rather than future needs. Most professional development programs do not acknowledge a learners' career stages in helping individuals make choices regarding professional development. In this article, the authors' introduce a model for professional development currently being used by the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, which recognizes that professional development needs vary according to an individual's career stage and long-term career goals.
Roger A. Rennekamp Extension Specialist Program and Staff Development Internet address: rrenneka@ca.uky.edu
Martha A. Nall Extension Specialist Program and Staff Development
University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service Lexington, Kentucky
In rapidly changing environments, both organizations and the people who make up those organizations either change with the times or risk becoming obsolete. So as Extension positions itself to address contemporary issues affecting society, professional staff members will need to engage in lifelong learning in order to maintain professional expertise in relevant areas (Martin, 1991).
The Personnel and Organization Sub-Committee of the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) echoes these sentiments in a 1992 report:
Career development and enhancement for the individual
employee are part of the overall (change). To move
through the 1990s, this part of human resource
management should be synchronized with other
organization restructuring strategies. The continuing
professional development of faculty and staff will be
necessary to meet the demands and expectations of the
new workplace (Extension Committee on Organization and
Policy, 1992).
But all too often, professional growth is a hit-or-miss process. Participation in professional development opportunities is seldom done to meet a specific need articulated in advance. The growth that occurs is often serendipitous and may or may not strengthen areas of real need. In this article we introduce a model for professional growth currently being used by the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service that encourages advance planning and focuses on the individual agent. The most unique feature of this model is that it acknowledges variation in professional growth needs at different points in one's professional career.
A Career Stage Approach
In many careers, employees progress through a number of upward job changes. For example, an employee may move from sales associate to department manager to store manager to regional manager. However, professional careers often do not have such a structured career ladder to follow. Recognizing the unique characteristics of professional careers, Dalton, Thompson, and Price (1977) introduced a career stage model for professional growth that identifies and describes four distinct stages of professional careers. Associated with each career stage are identifiable characteristics and needs that guide thoughts, behaviors, and actions at that particular stage.
Building upon the work of Dalton, Thompson, and Price, we have modified and adapted the original model for use in the Cooperative Extension Service (Rennekamp & Nall, 1993). The model suggests that there are four distinct stages in Extension careers. The four stages in Extension careers are labeled, "entry," "colleague," "counselor," and "advisor." Each stage includes a distinct set of motivators that can drive professional development at that point. These motivators provide both the impetus for participating in and the criteria for selecting from among various professional development opportunities.
The Entry Stage
The entry stage corresponds to a time in one's career where the individual first enters the profession or a new job within the profession. It is essential that all professionals move out of this stage to attain career satisfaction.
The entry stage is characterized by psychological dependency. Central motivators for professional development include attaining the foundation skills required to do the job and understanding the organization's structure, function, and culture at that point in the organization's history. Motivators for professional development at the entry stage include: (a) understanding the organization's structure, function, and culture; (b) attaining base level technical skills; (c) giving relevancy to previous training; (d) exercising directed creativity and initiative; (e) moving from dependency to independence; (f) exploring personal/professional dynamics; and (g) building relationships with professional peers.
The Colleague Stage
The colleague stage can be a satisfactory level for many professionals for a number of years, as long as growth in expertise or responsibility continues. Some people never need to move beyond this level, thriving on independent work (Simonsen, 1986). Individuals in the colleague stage have been accepted as members of the professional community and independently contribute their expertise to solving problems and carrying out programs.
The colleague seeks to build at least one area of expertise for which he or she is noted and often shares that expertise on developmental committees and through other special assignments.
Motivators for professional development at the colleague stage include: (a) developing an area of expertise; (b) becoming an independent contributor in problem solving; (c) developing a professional identity; (d) gaining membership in the professional community; (e) expanding creativity and innovation; and (f) moving from independence to interdependency.