You looking at me?

1

You looking at me? Designing Practical
Classroom Observation Instruments Presenter Mar
tin Goosey Assistant Teaching Centre Manager
for Professional Development British Council
Madrid Young Learners
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Session Outline

• In this presentation, you be will be asked to
  take the role of a classroom observer, as well as
  listening to the talk.
• You will find a classroom observation instrument
  on your chair.
• One side looks like this
• The other looks like this
• Choose one version,
• and complete it during the
• session as you watch and
• listen.

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Why observe?

• Peer observation can be an excellent stimulus
  for professional development, both for the
  observer and the observed Nunan Lamb

Many educationalists identify collegiality and
collaboration as key dimensions of teacher
development leading to interactive
professionalism Brewster
Received Knowledge can be distinguished from
Experiential Knowledge in professional
development. Wallace argues for the
complementary importance of shared experience of
practice in teacher education and discussion
of such practice being focused along selected
parameters Wallace
4
Who do you watch?

• In the vast majority of cases, observation is
  used to observe teachers, for
• Institutional quality control
• Professional development the observed, e.g.
  teaching practicum
• Professional development the observer, e.g.
  peer observation

• BUT
• If we use observation to watch
• The learners
• The activities
• Classroom interactions
• Technological functionality
• we can get new perspectives on many aspects of
  teaching-learning.

5
The Project

• TITLE
• Comparison of Experienced and Inexperienced
• Teacher Use of IWBs (Interactive White Boards)
• through Classroom Observation
• KEY AIMS
• Number of years of teaching experience
  utilization of IWB functionality.
• Technological familiarity range of functional
  use.
• Particular uses of the technology and YL
  engagement.
• IDEA
• From Ruth Wajnryb, who suggests using observation
  for gathering information about the ways in
  which and the purposes for which the board was
  used in the lesson and use these to discuss
  related issues Wajnryb.

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The Project

• PROCEDURE
• Conduct research, establishing possible activity
  types
• Design pro-forma
• Agree observation schedule 10 teachers to be
  observed
• First observations
• Adapt instrument, meeting recognised needs
• Continue observations
• Second adaptation
• Complete observations
• Follow-up with those observed
• Reporting

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The Pro-forma
8
The Pro-forma
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Project Results

• RESULTS OF OBSERVATION FEEDBACK
• With only 10 observations, analysis of results
  must be qualitative rather than quantitative
  patterns emerge from results, but these are
  uncertain given the small sample.
• In fact, there is little apparent correlation
  between the range of functions used and level of
  IWB experience, or service years.
• The original issues raised for this research were
  gauging correlations between
• Years of experience and utilization of IWB range.
  
• Technological familiarity and range.
• Particular uses of the technology and Young
  Learner (YL) engagement.
• Addressing these in turn, we see
• Little apparent difference between length of
  service and use of IWBs
• Technological familiarity does not imply greater
  use of functional range
• YLs are equally engaged with or without IWB-based
  tasks

10
Project Results

• YL ENGAGEMENT IWB USE
• There is no evidence in this research to suggest
  that YLs are more engaged with IWB-based
  activities than otherwise.
• From a total of 51 observed activities, 27 were
  IWB-orientated.
• The average number of activities was 6-7 (but 11
  with one class of 6 year olds), in classes of one
  hour.
• No statistical correlation between positive
  responsiveness task-orientation is discernible.
  
• Too many other elements are involved in the
  complex interweaving of affective factors,
  including
• Mood / tiredness
• Teaching-Learning style
• Interpersonal relationships / group dynamics
• Effectiveness of teacher set-up
• Intrinsic motivation
• (NB Totals are based on observations 4-10, after
  the change to emoticon descriptors, since it
  would be implausible to assign correlations
  between the same emoticons with differing
  descriptors.)

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Project Results

• TEACHER REACTIONS
• From the feedback questionnaire
• One inexperienced professional, whose use of IWBs
  has only spanned a few months, responded that
  IWBs had caused him unnecessary difficulties in
  his teaching.
• Asked if IWBs had affected their YL teaching in
  any way, six said their teaching had improved
  somewhat. Additionally, one who responded no to
  this question, added not really in terms of
  quality but of course I do different activities.
• It seems clear that most teachers see IWB
  functions as increasing their range of options,
  rather than changing the methodological basis of
  their teaching. One (inexperienced in IWBs)
  commented, The great thing about IWBs is they
  bring colour to the classroom.
• However, one interesting result was teacher
  interpretation of learner reactions to IWB use
  asked if YL enthusiasm for their classes would be
  affected if IWBs were absent, six teachers
  reckoned about the same, while four felt that
  enthusiasm would decrease.

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Project Results

• PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
• Designing the pro-forma wasnt difficult, but the
  process was thought-provoking.
• The experience of looking at the children, rather
  than the teacher, was highly informative.
• The pro-forma itself was adaptable to many
  different classroom observation tasks.
• However, in this case, background knowledge on
  the teachers relative experience was crucial.
• Seeing a number of teachers in action for the
  same purpose gave real impetus to my personal
  learning.
• I was still able to provide accurate feedback to
  teachers who asked for it very simply, I was
  able to observe far more than in a normal
  observation.

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Summary

• The aim of the advisor in the feedback session
  is to enable the teacher to reflect on their
  teaching experience and critically reassess their
  understanding in the light of this reflection
  Randall Thornton
• Behaviour can be so habitual that you dont pay
  much attention to it. As a result you can be
  driven by old patterns rather than make conscious
  choices about the way you act Head Taylor

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References

• Brewster, J. (2007) Issues in Pre- and In-Service
  Teacher Preparation. In Powell-Davies, P. (Ed.)
  Primary Innovations Regional Seminar, Hanoi,
  March 2007, A Collection of Papers Hanoi British
  Council
• Head, K. Taylor, P. (1997) Readings in Teacher
  Development Oxford MacMillan Heinemann ELT
• Moon, J. (2000) Children Learning English Oxford
  MacMillan-Heinemann ELT
• Nunan, D. Lamb, C. (1996) The Self-Directed
  Teacher Managing the learning process
  Cambridge Cambridge University Press
• Randall, M. Thornton, B. (2001) Advising and
  Supporting Teachers Cambridge Cambridge
  University Press
• Wajnryb, R. (1992) Classroom Observation Tasks
  A resource book for language teachers and
  trainers Cambridge Cambridge University Press
• Wallace, M. (1991) Training Foreign Language
  Teachers A reflective approach Cambridge
  Cambridge University Press

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Many Thanks!

• Any questions, please e-mail
• martin.goosey_at_britishcouncil.es
• Thank you for your participation, and I wish you
  good luck in your observations!