ABSTRACT
The differences between new and experienced teachers suggest creative approaches to professional development. Preservice teachers spend a year (sometimes two years) studying the field of education and working diligently to develop new curricula and to practice pedagogical techniques that are often at the cutting edge of educational reform. Many enter the field with a strong sense of idealism, hoping to make a difference in the lives of the children they will teach; in addition, many show a strong naiveté about working in schools and the frenetic day-to-day existence of busy teachers. Experienced teachers, on the other hand, often do not have the time or energy to keep up with the latest school-reform efforts, and many scoff at what they believe are ever-changing fads being touted by schools of education. We hear from the veteran teachers, “We tried that 20 years ago. Who has time to create completely new curricula? Got any proof that this new stuff works better than what I already use? My kids are doing fine. Let me close my classroom door and get back to doing what I do best. . . .” The idealism is still there, but it has been tempered by the reality of the almost impossible demands the educational system places upon teachers and the coping mechanisms many have developed to survive in the occupation for so many years.
