Classroom Observation and Professional Development of.docx
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Classroom Observation and Professional Development of.docx
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ClassroomObservationandProfessionalDevelopmentof
ClassroomObservationandProfessionalDevelopmentofEnglishTeachers:
ALiteratureReview
WangMinghui
MACandidateof2009,ForeignLanguageCollegeofZNU
1.Introduction
Observationisoneoftheoldestresearchinstruments,ifweacceptthetermasindicatinganyhumanactivitymeanttodiscoverandlearnnewthingsaboutourworld.Fromthebabystaringatitshand,tothescientistwatchingovertheirexperiments,everybodyisan‘observer’.Thesituationisnotsosimplehowever:
wehavetodiscriminatebetween‘observation’asdailyroutineandasaresearchtool.
Inaneraofknowledgeexplosion,theresearchesoftheeducationalmethodssuchasclassroomobservationhavebeentakenintoaccountinandabroad.Teachersmustkeepupwiththeever-changingsocietywithcontinuouslearningandadaptation.Teachers’professionaldevelopmentisthereforeanindispensablecomponentinqualityeducation.
ClassroomObservationplaysaverycrucialroleinensuringprofessionaldevelopment.However,theresearchtoclassroomobservationhasnotbeengivenenoughattentionitdeservesandevenhasbeenneglectedwhiletheothermethodsarepaidmuchattentionto.Inspiteofthedifficultiesindatacollectionandotheraspects,classroomobservationasaresearchtoolplaysanimportantroleinChineseschools,andespeciallyitisprevalentinEnglishlanguageteaching.Throughclassroomvisiting,visitingteachersandvisitedteacherscanlearnfromeachother’sstrongpointstooffsettheirownweaknesses.However,duetothelackoftheoreticalsupportandpracticalresearch,manymisunderstandingsaboutthemethodemergedandexistedforalongtime,whichimpededteachers’Professionaldevelopmentinacertainextent.Theresearchofclassroomobservationshouldbetakenintoaccount.
Oneofthepurposesofthispaper,then,istoexploretheusefulnessofclassroomobservationasanefficientteacher-developmentprocedure.Anotherpurposeistodescribesomeoftheconstraintsthatobstructthepracticeofclassroomobservation.
2.LiteratureReview
2.1TheDefinitionofClassroomObservation
Briefly,classroomobservationisobservationbyathirdpartyofteachingandlearningthattakesplaceininstitutionsandschools.InChenYao’s(Chen,2002)words,classroomobservationisasortofeducationalscientificresearchmethodoraspecialtechniquewhichbasedontheordinaryobservation.Theobservers,withthehelpofrelevanttools(theobservationalchart,taperecorder,videorecorder,etc),collectthedatafromtheclassroomsdirectlyorindirectlyandmakeresearchinspecificpurposes.Butinmystudy,itjustreferstotheactivitiesthatteachersobserveothers’lessonsintheclassrooms.Recentlyclassroomobservationispraisedhighlybyteachersasithasbeenwidelyrecognizedasatooltoimproveteachingqualityamongteachers.
2.2ThePatternsofClassroomObservation
Classroomobservation,asRichards(2001:
142-152)concludes,mayincludeobservationofotherteachers(especiallytheexperiencedones),peerobservationandthree-wayobservationwhichistousestudents’perceptionsofthelessonasathirdsourceofinformation.AccordingtoShui-fongLam(Lam,2001:
172),thecurrentpatternsofclassroomobservationmaybeclassifiedasthefollowing:
a.principalobservesteachers;
b.panel/sectionheadsobserveteachers;
c.teachersobservepanel/sectionheads;
d.experiencedteachersobservenewteachers;
e.newteachersobserveexperiencedteachers.
Sinceobservationiscomparativelyeasyandsimpletoorganizeandhasimmediatetangiblebenefits.Nowonderitisadoptedbydifferentlevelsofteachersindifferentlevelsofschools,especiallybeginningteachers,whogenerallyprefertobehelpedandtobetoldwhattodo.Inaddition,classroomobservationespeciallypeerobservationhelpsteacherstransfertheskillsandknowledgethattheyreceivedfromthetrainingclassesintoactualpracticeintheclassroomseffectively.ItisreportedpeerobservationofteachingisincreasinglyusedinhighereducationinUKtoenhancelearningandteachingpractice,andrespondpositivelytoexternalreview.Evenreluctantparticipantshavereportedbenefits.
2.3ThePurposesofClassroomObservation
Whydoweneedtoundertakeclassroomobservation?
Generallyspeaking,itspurposeshouldbetoprovideevidenceofthequalityofteachingandlearningacrossthecurriculum,includingtheidentificationofgoodpracticeandweaknessthatneedtobeaddressedandthenecessarysupport.
Infactthroughclassroomobservation,thevisitingteacherscan“gainanincredibleamountofknowledgenotonlyabouthowotherteachersviewteaching,butalsoabouthowIcanseemyownteachingdifferentlyaswellasconsiderwhatchangesIcanmakeinmyteaching”(Gebhard,1984:
165).Thevisitingteacherisnotasahelper,supervisororevaluatorbutasonewhoisinterestedinlearningmoreabouthisorherownteachingorasonewhoviewshisorherownteachingdifferentlythroughobservationandself-exploration(Gebhard,1984:
163).
Tobespecifically,themainpurposeistocollectevidenceforprofessionaldevelopment.Tohaveaneffectiveteaching,pre-serviceteacherscannotrelysolelyonpre-servicetrainingprogramsorrecruitmentmechanisms,andin-serviceteacherscannotrelyontheworkshopsandseminars.Throughclassroomobservations,theobservedteachersenrichtheteachingperformanceandtheobserversgaininsightintothestrengthsandeffectivenessoftheirteaching.Inotherway,teachersaremorelikelytochangetheirbehaviorsandcontinuetousenewideas(Fullan,1991:
319)
Althoughclassroomobservationplaysanimportantroleintheabovepurpose,itisnotwellreceivedingeneral.Thereasonsarevariable.AsShui-fongLamhavenoted,classroomsareveryisolatedplacesandthereissubtleresistancefromteachersagainsthavinganotheradultintheirclassroom.Visitedbyanotheradultintheclassroommaybeperceivedasintrusioninsteadofsupport.Ontheotherhand,classroomobservationisusuallycarriedoutinpurposeofstaffappraisalinchina.Classroomobservationisamainwaytoevaluateteachingqualitybyschooladministrators.Althoughtherearemanywaysofdatacollectingforstaffappraisal,suchasstudents’scores,self-report,pairedcompared,itseemsclassroomobservationisthemostefficientway.Teacherstendtoequatebeingobservedwithbeingassessed.Beingobservedisanunusualevent,andmakesteachingunderobservationanevenmorestressfulexperiencethanusual.
Asclassroomobservationisanintegralpartofteacher-development,theresistancetothepracticeofclassroomobservationmakesaproblematiccontrasttotherecognition.Sowemustmakeitclearbeforewecanuseclassroomobservationasaneffectivetool.Firstofall,weneedtoknowhowteachersperceivethepracticeofclassroomobservationintheirschools.Theirperceptionrelatedtotheirattitudes(acceptanceorresistance)towardsclassroomobservation.Secondly,theirexpectationofclassroomobservationwillhaveitssignificanceonthefuturedevelopmentofthepractice.
2.4TheProceduresofClassroomObservation
Classroomobservationisactive,notmerelyaformofwatching.Itisgeneral1yprecededbyabriefinterviewinwhichtheinstructorarticu1ateshisorhergoalsforthecourseandtheparticularclasssessiontobeobserved,andindicateswhatheorshewou1dliketheobservertopayparticu1arattentiontoduringthesession.Thisissomething1ikewhatisgoingoninmanymidd1eschoolsbeforegivinga1essontobeobserved—“shuoke”inChinese.
SometimessometeachersotherthanEnglishteacherscanalsobeinvitedtoattendthisinterviewandputforwardsuggestionsandtheyusuallycanfindandthinkoutsomevaluablethoughtsandideasandgiveyouinterestingandpreciousperspectiveswhichmightnotbeavailablefromamongthesecondlanguageteachersastheseteacherslookatthingsfromadifferentangle.Thenassoonaspossibleafterthelesson,meetagainandhaveadiscussiontotalkabouthowtheclasswent.Someinsightswillemergefromthesubsequentevaluationandcommentsofthelessonwhichareexceptionallyprecioustotheteachingimprovementofthetwoparties.Itshouldbepointedoutthatthesubsequentdiscussionshouldbeheldshortlyafterthelesson,thesooner,thebetter.Supposingthatafterafewdayswebegintotalkaboutthelessonwhenwehavealmostforgottenwhathappenedinthatlesson,say,theexamplesentencessupportingyourviewstherewillbedefinitelylesseffectiveness.
Therearemanywaysofobservationlikeobservationofexperiencedteachers,peerobservation,Three-Partobservation.HereisanobservationprocedureofaThree-PartModelofClassObservation:
Ⅰ.Beforeclass:
a.Meetandtalkwiththeinstructor:
b.Asktheinstructortotellyouaboutthecourse.
c.Whatarehisorhergoalsforthecourseandobjectivesforthespecificclassyouaregoingto?
Whatissheorhetryingtoaccomplish?
d.Whatistheinstructor’splanfortheclass?
e.Whatisittheinstructorwouldlikeyoutopaycloseattentionto?
f.Makesureyouknowwhatyourpeerwantsfromyousoyoucanfocusyourobservation.
Ⅱ.Duringclass:
a.Trytocomeearly.
b.Sitandtakenotesunobtrusively.
c.Doeswhatyourpeeraskedyoutoobservelenditselftoachecklist?
Deviseacheck-list.
d.Isthereabetterwaytocapturewhatyouareobserving,e.g.,amapoftheclassroom,listofkeywords,diagram?
e.Don’ttrytorecordeverythingthatgoesonintheclassroom.Selectivelyobserveandrecorddependingoninstructor’sconcerns.
Ⅲ.Afterclass:
a.Immediatelyafterobservingtheclas
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