ABSTRACT

Throughout their careers teachers often experience periods of growth and decline (e.g., Summers and Wolfe, 1977). These peaks and valleys may affect teacher-communication style. To adequately describe these changes, researchers would have to collect data from career beginning to end. This, of course, is clearly a daunting task. While we’ve begun the process-each year for the past four we’ve analyzed the interpersonal behavior of a group of teachers-a prolonged wait is not necessary for an impression of the communicationstyle changes teachers undergo as they gain experience. This chapter will analyze the interpersonal behavior of teachers in varying phases of their careers, They are:

— Teachers with four years of experience who have participated annually since they began, — Two teachers with seven and nine years’ experience, respectively, and — Other groups of teachers with experience up to thirty years.