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Development stages address various domains, including the cognitive (Piaget,1961),

conceptual (Hunt, 1971), ego (Loevinger, 1966), interpersonal development (Selman, 1980)
and values or moral (Kohlberg, 1969). Although all of these developmental theories address
different domains, they are all interrelated. Each of the developmental theories move from
the concrete to the abstract. The same also applies with stages of "teacher development".

The term "teacher development" has two general meanings, depending on how
"development" is defined. Teacher development can mean activities, such as workshops and
graduate coursework, meant to develop teachers professional abilities. Teacher
development may also mean the natural process of development which teachers undergo
during their careers; this describes a personal process.

A solid grounding in development is essential for good teaching. It helps a teacher

create settings that allow students to learn how to behave and interact socially, manage their
emotions productively, and engage purposefully in individual and group learning opportunities
that foster cognitive process. Developmental knowledge is also essential for helping a
teacher select and construct tasks that take into account a student's attention span and
developmental readiness, and to individualize instruction when necessary. Developmental
knowledge is essential for enabling teachers to assess and understand how children think
and their readiness for particular kinds of learning activities. Developmentally responsive
teachers provide strategic guidance and assistance within students' zones of proximal
development, accomodating individual differences and moving all children toward greater
competence. Finally, developmental knowledge and an appreciation of cultural contexts are
essential to enable a teacher to work cooperatively with families and connect the child's
home experiences to the curriculum.

In 1969, Frances Fuller presented a three-phase model of teacher development. This

model was based on interviews with fourteen student teachers, written statements from
twenty-nine student teachers, and a comparison of the concerns of these teachers to those
of experienced teachers expressed in previous studies. Fullers theory of development
focuses on the concerns of teachers beginning in preservice and continuing.

Fuller calls the first, or pre-teaching, phase, one of no concerns for preservice
teachers. In talking with sophomore and junior education majors, Fuller found "these
students rarely had specific concerns relating to teaching itself" (1969, p. 219). Any concerns
they did have were "amorphous and vague" (Fuller, 1969, p. 219). Quite simply, these
students were not really sure what to be concerned about, and thought of teaching from their
place as students.

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The second stage, early teaching, which takes place during student teaching, was
marked by concerns about self. These concerns consisted of covert concerns and overt
concerns. Teachers in this stage were covertly concerned with how much support they would
have in the school environment, getting along with other school personnel, and presenting
themselves as professionals. These concerns were classified as covert because they were
only expressed "during confidential contacts" (Fuller, 1969, p. 220); these concerns were not
stated in written form or "routine interviews" (Fuller, 1969, p. 220).

The overt concerns of teachers in this stage focused mainly on "adequacy in the
classroom" (Fuller, 1969, p. 220). These concerns were self-directed. Teachers were
concerned with their own abilities. They worried about knowing the subject matter,
anticipating problems, being allowed to fail, correcting when they do fail, and being able to
cope with being evaluated.

Fuller warns that "to some extent, these concerns are overt. But the intensity of
concern with self-adequacy (and evaluation) is so great that it is easily underestimated"
(Fuller, 1969, p. 221). Student teachers are expected to worry about class management and
visits by their supervisors. However, she found that student teachers were often even more
concerned with these areas than their supervisors and university counsellors believed.

Finally, in the third stage, the teachers concerns shifted away from themselves and to
the needs of their pupils. Teachers measured their success by student achievement and
gain, rather than by evaluation by a supervisor. Fuller states that teachers in this stage are
concerned about their abilities to understand pupils capacities, specify objectives for them,
assess student gains, partial out their contributions to pupil difficulties and gain and to
evaluatethemselves in terms of pupil gain (Fuller,1969, p. 222).

Relating Fuller's Theory of teacher development stage and The Montessori

Method,which is one of Maria Montessory's well-known contribution and legacy to the

education field , is more suitable to be carried out when the teacher is in the third stage of
teacher development stage as this is when the teacher are able to put their focus on the
needs of the pupils. The needs of the pupils are one of the major concerns in the Montessori

Method. According to Maria Montessori, the teachers first duty is to watch over the

environment, and this takes precedence over all the rest. Its influence is indirect, but unless it

be well done there will be no effective and permanent results of any kind, physical,

intellectual or spiritual. The teacher, student, and environment create a learning triangle. The

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classroom is prepared by the teacher to encourage independence, freedom within limits, and

a sense of order. The student, through individual choice, makes use of what the environment

offers to develop himself, interacting with the teacher when support and/or guidance is

needed.

However, it is possible for the novice teacher to implement The Montessori method of

teaching in the classroom bit by bit .The Montessori Method is is a modern educational

movement that encourages teachers to view children and classroom education differently

than the common teacher-student relationship. Instead of focusing on academic education,

the Montessori method focuses on respecting and encouraging each child's individual

differences, providing a nurturing environment to teach social interaction and emotional skills.

This method of teaching can grasped and learned by the novice teacher in the first stage

then proceed to trying it out slowly in the classroom with guidance from supervisor or senior

teachers when they are in the second stage.

Other than that, as a novice teacher, there are other many things that can be learned

from Maria Montessori. Firstly, Montessori encourages teachers to take the time to observe

the children in their classrooms. It's the best way to discover each child's particular interests

and abilities.

Maria Montessori dreamed big and was successful. She became a big influence to
the world; and she has made such a huge change in the way some schools educate children.
She observed the children, figuring out how they learn best, and developed a way to help
them excel. Even until the day she died she had that drive to go farther, help more, and love
others. As a novice teacher, we can try to learn from her traits, to have her loving heart,
overcome obstacles, have determination, open mind, and willingness to learn, so that we
might help people around and postively affect a teacher's professionalism in teaching
practice and future teaching career.