amanda howard phd british university in dubai 1. teacher appraisal can take a variety of forms, but...
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Amanda Howard PhDBritish University in Dubai
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Teacher appraisal can take a variety of forms, but research suggests that the most frequently used is classroom observation.
Observation serves no purpose without some form of feedback.
Observation occurs before feedback. Feedback can be written or oral, and may
be solely the province of the parent organisation, or shared with the teacher being appraised.
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Form two groups, the observers and the observed.
Summarise your own positive and negative experiences of observation and feedback within the context of teacher appraisal.
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Observation Collins English Dictionary:Action or habit of observing; remark Bailey, 2001:1The purposeful examination of teaching
and/or learning events through the systematic processes of data collection and analysis
Feedback Collins English Dictionary:n. Information received in response to
something done
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Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5
Objective Teacher improvement
Teacher promotion
School improvement
Accountability Research or professional feedback
Specific purpose
To improve teaching performance
To rank and compare teachers
To improve team skills
Efficient and effective use of resources
To improve student performance and learning
Audience The teacher The employer The team or manager
The patron or owner of the enterprise
The profession
The assessor A mentor or professional coach
An external assessor
An agent of the team
An ‘auditor’ A professionally expert analyst
Nature of assess-ment
Advice to the assessed
Formal grading: advice to employer
A report to the team
A productivity audit, including efficiency measures
A research report, including targeted data and their analysis
the aim of linguistic research in the community must be to find out how people talk when they are not being systematically observed; yet we can only obtain this data by systematic observation (1972:209).
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What potential impact does this have on teacher appraisal?
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‘Classroom observation for some teachers will undoubtedly be a considerable threat. ….if….the teacher perceives that the purpose of the other’s presence is to judge their effectiveness and provide recommendations for future improvement, this will make an established head of department with 35 years experience much more nervous than a newly qualified teacher who has just spent3 years training with regular visitors to the classroom’
‘If the judgement is unsuccessful, how much credibility will be lost amongst the team?’
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Using classroom visits by colleagues (or administrators or “experts”) to evaluate teaching is not just incorrect, it’s a disgrace. First, the visit itself alters the teaching, so that the visitor is not looking at a representative sample. This defect is exacerbated by preannouncing the visit. Second, the number of visits is too small to be an accurate sample from which to generalize, even if it were a random sample. Third, the visitors are typically not devoid of independent personal prejudices in favour of or against the teacher ... Fourth, nothing that could be observed in the classroom ... can be used as a basis for an inference to any conclusion about the merit of the teaching (1981:251)
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In the research, transcripts of observed (model) and non-observed (pedagogic) lessons taught by participant teachers were analysed according to the following features, in order to identify commonalities and differences between the two:
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Lesson planning Classroom organisation Interaction patterns Structure and sequencing: beginning,
middle and end
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Modes which become evident when a transcript of a lesson is analysed:
Managerial Mode Materials Mode (IRF pattern predominates) Skills and Systems Mode Classroom Context Mode
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What the observer expects to see
What the teacher wants them to see
What the learners want them to see
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It is axiomatic Model lessons are usually a demonstration of a
teacher’s best practice The low order features have usually been
carefully planned in advance The teacher may teach this lesson (or a
variation thereof) every time they are observed It is a lesson that has been developed with that
particular supervisor in mind (Howard, 2008) The observer is only able to record judgements
relating to what s/he actually sees It is ‘going through the motions’ (Scrivener,
IATEFL Conference, 2012)
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It relates to the lesson the observer has just seen, and links to her/his preferred teaching methodologies
It usually contains positive and negative elements
Teachers tend to ignore positive feedback and focus on the ‘but’...
Feedback is only constructive if it relates directly to teacher professional development (PD)
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Bearing in mind the Observer's Paradox (Labov, 1972), can any classroom observation be said to be a real representation of a typical lesson in that context? And, having said this, how valid is the feedback?
So, depending on context, observation and feedback may not be necessary for teacher appraisal.
BUT what are the alternatives?
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Student evaluations Teacher portfolios (covering PD) Student summaries Evaluation of the learners Peer evaluation Self-evaluation 3 minute walk-throughs…
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Bailey, K.M. (2001) Observation. In: Carter, R. and Nunan, D. eds. The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 114-119
Beare, H. (1989) The Australian Policy Context. In: Lokan, J. and McKenzie, P. eds.. Teacher Appraisal: Issues and Approaches. Victoria, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research: v-viii
Bennet, H. (1992) Teacher appraisal; survival and beyond. Harlow: Longman
Howard, A. (2008) Teachers being observed: coming to terms with classroom appraisal. In: Garton, S and Richards, K. eds. Professional Encounters in TESOL. London: Palgrave: 87-104
Labov, W. (1974) Sociolinguistic Patterns. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press
Scriven, M. 1981. Summative Teacher Evaluation. In: Millman, J. ed. Handbook of Teaching Evaluation. London: Sage: 244-271
Walsh, S. (2006) Investigating Classroom Discourse. London: Routledge
Wang, W. and Day, C. (2002) Issues and Concerns about Classroom Observation: Teachers’ Perspectives. Paper presented at TESOL, Conference in St Louis, USA, 27th March 2001
Wragg, E.C. (1987) Teacher appraisal: a practical guide. London: Macmillan
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