Classroom Observation: A n Accurate Representation of Teaching?

Classroom Observation: An Accurate Representation of Teaching? Amanda Howard PhD British University in Dubai

Definition of observation: • The purposeful examination of teaching and/or learning events through the systematic processes of data collection and analysis (Bailey, 2001:114)

Reed and Bergeman (2005): • Observation can be a research tool, or used for evaluating teachers, students, classroom, school or curriculum, or for training teachers, or for developing successful teaching skills in the form of Professional Development (PD)

Summary of Beare’s rationales for teacher assessment (1989:15)

Purposes of classroom observation: • To establish what a teacher does in the classroom • To ensure that a teacher is doing what they are supposed to be doing • To demonstrate what a teacher is capable of doing in the classroom • To provide stakeholders with access to the learning environment • To provide accountability • To enable the teacher to interact with the observer

Who should have a good working knowledge of observation processes (Wragg,1999)? • Teachers, heads, student teachers, inspectors, appraisers, researchers and curriculum developers. ‘if lessons are worth observing then they are also worth analysing properly’ (ibid:2)

Bennet, 1992:39: • ‘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?’

Wang and Day, 2002 • The nerve-wracking experience. Teachers found observation to be stressful, and their experience in the profession made no difference. • The wonder-why experience. ‘Teachers felt disempowered because their supervisors afforded them no voice in the analysis of their own teaching, and failed to provide specific feedback for them to construct a better understanding of their teaching practices’ (ibid:9). • The put-on-the-best-show experience. This is ‘perhaps the most natural reaction to classroom observations’ (ibid:9) • The embarrassing experience. The classroom is the teacher’s domain, and when observers intervene in the lesson, the teacher can lose the courage of their teaching convictions. It may also be very difficult for them to discuss this afterwards with the observer. • The get-used-to-it experience. Observers have an invasive influence on the classroom, and teachers being appraised need to learn to ignore this.

Scriven (1981) • 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)

Labov, 1972: • 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 (ibid:209). The ‘Observer’s Paradox’

My research: • Qualitative case study • Investigated the impact of an observer on a teacher’s classroom behaviour • Based in tertiary education in the Middle East • To my knowledge the only research into observationusing transcripts of classroom interaction • Involved teachers recording model (observed) and pedagogic (normal lessons), and subsequent analysis • Investigated External and Internal features of lessons • Teachers, observers and learners were interviewed

External features of an observed lesson (those that can be prepared in advance): • Lesson planning • Classroom organisation • Interaction patterns • Structure and sequencing: beginning, middle and end

Internal features: Self-Evaluation of Teacher Talk (SETT: Walsh, 2006) 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

What the observer sees: What the teacher and learners want them to see…

What we know about observation: • It is reputedly the most common method of teacher evaluation • To observe a teacher at work it is necessary to observe their teaching, but the impact of the Observer’s Paradox means that this usually will not be a true representation of normal practice • Teacher observations often occur several times per year/contract • Model lessonsrepresent a tiny proportion of a teacher’s total number of lessons • They are often ‘high-stakes’ and linked to career progression • Anecdotal evidence suggests that they are stressful for all parties concerned

However: • Any trained teacher can teach a model (demonstration) lesson: artificial situation • Model lessons can be costly in both observer and teacher time • Power relationships affect the interaction • All participants are affected by their previous learning experience • Observers should be trained • There is generally a lack of input from participants • There are questions of validity and reliability

What can generally be said about a model lesson: • It is generally a demonstration of a teacher’s best practice • It has 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 observer in mind (Howard, 2008) • The observer is only able to record judgements relating to what s/he actually sees

What cannot be said about a model lesson (Howard 2008): • The teacher is teaching as s/he normally teaches • The learners are behaving as they normally behave • The observer is recording the higher order cognitive responses of the teacher to the events that are occurring in the classroom • The lesson is an accurate representation of what happens in a teacher’s classroom on a regular basis

Implications for research: 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

Things that can be done to improve perceptions of classroom observations: • Develop intercultural competence in terms of evaluation • Reduce the role of judgement • Increase the role of participants in the process, particularly the learners

References • 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 • Reed, A.J.S. and Bergemann, V.E. (2005) A Guide to Observation, Participation and Reflection in the Classroom. (5thed) New York: McGraw Hill • 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

Classroom Observation: A n Accurate Representation of Teaching?