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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