Classroom Observation: An Accurate

Representation of Teaching?

Amanda Howard PhDBritish 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)

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Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5Objective Teacher

improvementTeacher 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 assessment

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

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

observer5

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?’

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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.

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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)

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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’10

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 observation

using 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

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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

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What the observer sees:

What the teacher and learners want them to see…

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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 lessons represent 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

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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

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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

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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

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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. (5th ed) 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