Talking About Teaching: Conversations to Improve Practice

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Talking About TeachingConversations to Improve
Practice

• Charlotte Danielson
• charlotte_danielson_at_hotmail.com
• www.danielsongroup.org

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The Complexity of Teaching

• After 30 years of doing such work, I have
  concluded that classroom teaching is perhaps
  the most complex, most challenging, and most
  demanding, subtle, nuanced, and frightening
  activity that our species has ever invented.
  ..The only time a physician could possibly
  encounter a situation of comparable complexity
  would be in the emergency room of a hospital
  during or after a natural disaster
• Lee Shulman, The Wisdom of Practice

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Contributors to Professional Learning

• Self-assessment
• Reflection on practice
• Professional conversation
• Its all about the conversation

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The Wisdom of Practice

• Recall an occasion in which you, as a teacher,
  were engaged in a productive conversation about
  teaching. Who were you speaking to? What was the
  situation? What was the stated purpose of the
  discussion?

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Opportunities for Professional Conversation

• Formal reflective conversations, following an
  observation, associated with performance
  appraisal, with an evaluator(a variation a
  conversation with a mentor, in preparation for
  a formal observation)
• Coaching conversation, with mentors, peer
  coaches, or administrators
• Informal professional conversations, following an
  un-announced, drop-in observation

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Formal Reflective Conversations

• PurposeCollect evidence of practice according
  to established standards of practice, e.g., the
  framework for teaching
• Agenda Set by the administrator
• Procedure - As per the districts policy-
  Should promote self-assessment and reflection on
  practice

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The Limitations of Formal Observation

• Teachers teach 5-6 hours per day, for about 180
  days per year
• In other words, teachers teach about 1000 hours
  per year
• Formal observations take a maximum of 4 hours per
  year about 0.4 of the total
• The best one can hope for is that the observed
  lesson is typical
• HOW LIKELY IS THAT?

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The Traditional Observation Scenario

• Observer watches a class
• Observer takes notes
• Observer writes up the notes
• Observer provides feedback to the teacher
• WHO IS DOING THE WORK?

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Traditional Observation (from the teachers
perspective)

• You come to watch me teach, and you take notes
• Now, we are in your office, discussing the lesson
• All I have to do is endure the conversation
  eventually you will stop talking and I can leave
  I just have to live long enough!

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What is the evidence?

• Evidence
• Accurate and unbiased
• Relevant
• Representative of the total

Interpretation
Judgment
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Domain 2The Classroom Environment2a Creating
an Environment of Respect and Rapport
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Formal Reflective Conversations (cont)

• A better procedure
• Evaluator observes the lesson takes notes
  considers evidence against the teaching
  standards makes preliminary interpretation
• Teacher also considers events of the lesson in
  light of the standards interprets evidence
  against the levels of performance
• Teacher and evaluator compare notes summarize
  strengths and areas for growth

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Coaching Conversations

• PurposeProvide another set of eyes for a
  teacher
• Agenda Set by the teacher
• Procedure - Flexible, according to local
  conditions and schedules- Promote teacher
  self-analysis

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The Informal, Unannounced Observation

• The lesson is likely to represent typical
  teaching
• Not possible to conduct a planning conference
  therefore, the observer cannot be sure of the
  teachers aims
• The time in the classroom may be very brief 5-15
  minutes

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Informal Professional Conversations

• PurposeAdvance student achievement by promoting
  rigorous and engaging learning experiences
• Agenda Set by the administrator or mentor/coach
• Procedure - Flexible, based on time available
  for informal observations of teaching- Engage
  teachers in problem-solving conversations

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Limitations of Feedback

• If one regards teaching as a cognitive activity,
  then the conversation must be about the
  cognition.
• Feedback as normally offered feels judgmental,
  even condescending, patronizing
• Meaningful conversations about teaching are
  centered on asking questions and solving
  problems, rather than on feedback, convey
  professional respect.

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Conversation Skills

• These are used in all three types of
  conversations
• Establishing rapport
• Active listening
• Linguistic skills- paraphrasing- probing-
  clarifying
• Inviting thinking

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Paraphrasing

• Paraphrasing interpreting anothers statement
  or question in ones own words
• Two arenas for paraphrasing are
• content
• emotion
• A paraphrase sends three messages
• I am listening
• I am interested/I care
• I understand you (or Im trying to)

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Principles of Paraphrasing

• Attend fully.
• Listen with the intention to understand.
• Capture the essence of the message the voice,
  tone, and gesture.
• Paraphrase before asking a question make it
  shorter than the original statement.
• Use the pronoun you, instead of I.

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Probing

• Invite a re-statement
• Ask for an example
• Clarify (so is what you mean ?)
• Use silence

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Coaching Practice

• Observe a learning-focused conversation
• Pay attention to the skills of the coach
  (questions, rapport, paraphrasing, probing)
• Provide feedback to the coach

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Trios Coaching Conversation

• Designate A B C in your triosA teacher B
  coach C - observer
• 3 Rounds, 7-8 minutes per round
• A Talks about anything (1 min)
• B Conducts a coaching conversation (5-6 min)
• C Takes notes on the conversation (silently)
• After 1 round, C offers feedback to B (1 min)
• Rotate to new roles and repeat.

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Power and Leadership

• Teachers and administrators in schools hold
  unequal amounts of power
• In performance appraisal, the buck stops with
  the administrator
• Even conversations associated with performance
  appraisal can emphasize self-assessment and
  reflection on practice
• For other conversations, administrators can
  remove their evaluator hat

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The Basis of Trust

• Consistency
• Maintaining confidentiality
• Professional competence
• Admitting mistakes
• Protecting vulnerability

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The Research Foundation

• The nature of learning- it is done by the
  learner- involves active intellectual engagement
• The nature of student motivation- the need for
  human connection - the drive for competence and
  mastery- the need for autonomy and choice-
  students intellectual curiosity
• Differing views of human intelligence

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The Nature of Human Learning

• Mental activity writing, investigating,
  collecting information, collaborating
• Sustained and thoughtful reflection what do we
  know and how do we know it?
• Focus and disciplined application hard work
• Problem-based answering an interesting question
  or solving an interesting problem

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Student Learning

• We tend, as teachers, to think that our students
  learn because of what we do. Thats not correct.
  Our students dont learn because of what we do
  they learn because of what they do.
• Our challenge, then, is to engage them in
  intrinsically interesting work that will yield
  the learning we want.

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A Quote from John Dewey

• The child is already intensely active, and the
  question of education is the question of taking
  hold of his activities, of giving them direction.
  Through direction, through organized use, they
  tend toward valuable results, instead of
  scattering or being left to merely impulsive
  expression.
• John Dewey, The School and Society, 1900

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Theories of Intelligence(Carol Dweck)

• Entity theory everyone is born with a certain
  amount of intelligence, and that is that. There
  is nothing one can do to change it.
• Incremental theory intelligence can be
  enhanced through learning and effort.

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Implications of Entity Theory

• Self esteem depends on easy success
• Effort, difficulty, setbacks, or
  higher-performing peers call intelligence into
  question
• Students are not willing to work hard that might
  indicate one is not intelligent
• Students will pursue learning so long as it is
  easy as soon as they encounter difficulties,
  they give up.

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Implications for Praise(Carol Dweck)

• When we say to children Wow, you did that so
  quickly! or Look, you didnt make any
  mistakes! what message are we sending? We are
  telling them that what we prize are speed and
  perfection. Speed and perfection are the enemy of
  difficult learning.
• Carol Dweck, Mindset, 2006

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Topics for Conversation

• Clarity of purpose
• A safe and challenging environment
• Intellectual rigor
• Smooth organization and management
• Student assumption of responsibility
• Implementation of school/district initiatives

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Watching Video Clips

• Watch the clips, paying particular attention to
  what the students are doing
• Determine which of the big ideas would provide
  the most fruitful topic for conversation
• Frame an initial question for the teacher

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Reflection on the Workshop

• An insight I had as a result of todays session
  was .
• A concern I have related to todays content is
• A question I have related to todays content is