Classroom Observation
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)
Objective
Specific purpose
Audience
Model 1
Teacher improvement
To improve teaching performance
The teacher
The assessor A mentor or professional
Nature of assessment coach
Advice to the assessed
Model 2
Teacher promotion
To rank and compare teachers
The employer
An external assessor
Model 3
School improvement
To improve team skills
The team or manager
An agent of the team
Model 4 Model 5
Accountability Research or professional feedback
Efficient and effective use of resources
To improve student performance and learning
The profession The patron or owner of the enterprise
An ‘auditor’
A professionally expert analyst
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
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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
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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’
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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. (5 th 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, 27 th March 2001
Wragg, E.C. (1987) Teacher appraisal: a practical guide. London: Macmillan
