Resistance to classroom observation in the context of teacher evaluation: teachers’ and department heads’ experiences and perspectives

This paper reports the main findings of a study that sought to understand how teachers and department heads perceived and experienced the implementation of a classroom observation system in a teacher evaluation context. The data was collected through a teacher and department head survey and interviews with department heads who were responsible for classroom observation. The findings show that respondents regarded classroom observation as an inadequate teacher evaluation instrument. It was also viewed as one of the features of the teacher evaluation system that least contributed to the teachers’ professional development. Department heads felt torn between their intermediate management role as teacher observers and their professional role as teacher peers. Cultural norms of individual professional autonomy that regulated relations among colleagues prevented department heads from using information, gathered through classroom observation, to nourish in-depth professional discussions about concrete educational practices.     

Principal–teacher interactions and teacher leadership development: beginning teachers’ perspectives

Teacher leadership lies at the heart of school improvement. Leadership development among beginning teachers, however, is often neglected. This paper examines the role of principal–teacher interactions in the leadership development of a group of beginning teachers. Using a case study design, interviews were conducted and documentary evidence was collected. The results showed that the beginning teachers were able to take up leadership roles in schools both formally and informally. Development of teacher leadership requires constructive and regular communication with teachers and encouragement of their continuing professional development. Three types of effects on principal–teacher interactions in developing teacher leadership were identified: ‘inspirational’, ‘empowering’ and ‘allowing’. These interaction patterns contribute to the international knowledge on teacher leadership development in schools. Implications for school leadership are discussed.     

Male teacher shortage: black teachers’ perspectives

In this paper the authors draw on the perspectives of black teachers to provide a more nuanced analysis of male teacher shortage. Interviews with two Caribbean teachers in Toronto, Canada, are employed to illuminate the limits of an explanatory framework that foregrounds the singularity of gender as a basis for advocating male teachers as role models. The study concludes that educational policy attempting to address male teacher shortage would benefit from engaging with both analytic frameworks and empirical research that is capable of unravelling the politics of representation and intersectionality as they relate to addressing questions of male teacher shortage in elementary schools.     

Considering ‘teacher resilience’ from critical discourse and labour process theory perspectives

This article considers the construct of ‘teacher resilience’ from critical discourse and labour process perspectives in order to cast new light on what has been traditionally viewed from a psychological perspective. In this respect, the construct of resilience is placed in the broad political landscape of teachers’ work and the labour process of teaching, within a neoliberal globalised economic paradigm. Importantly, this article argues that any conceptualisations of teacher resilience should be critically appraised and not simply ‘taken for granted’. While the concept of developing ‘teacher resilience’ as a means, for example, of addressing alarmingly high rates of early career teacher attrition may sound like a good idea, it is important to consider the way such constructs can be used to shape and potentially control teacher identity and the nature of teachers’ work.     

Third and fourth grade teacher’s classroom practices in writing: a national survey

A random sample of teachers in grades 3 and 4 (N = 157) from across the United States were surveyed about their use of evidence-based writing practices, preparation to teach writing, and beliefs about writing. Teachers’ beliefs included their efficacy to teach writing, their orientations to teach writing, their attitude about teaching writing, and their attitudes about their own writing. The teachers’ responses raised some concerns about the quality of writing instruction third- and fourth-grade students receive, as teachers reported spending only 15 min a day teaching writing and students spend only 25 min a day at school writing. While teachers indicated they used a variety of evidence based writing practices in their classroom, a majority of these were applied infrequently. Further, three out of every four teachers reported that their college teacher preparation programs provided no or minimal instruction on how to teach writing. They further rated their preparation to teach writing lower than their preparation to teach reading, math, science, or social studies. On a more positive note, a majority of teachers asked students to write multiple paragraph texts relatively frequently (4 times a month or more often) and complete at least one narrative, informative, and persuasive writing assignment monthly. Teachers were also generally positive about teaching writing, their efficacy to teach writing, and their beliefs about their own writing. Finally, efficacy to teach writing and philosophical orientations to teaching writing each made a unique contribution to predicting teachers’ use of evidence based practices, whereas teacher preparation did the same for reported time spent teaching writing and reported time students wrote at school and home.     

High-stakes teacher evaluation policy: US principals’ perspectives and variations in practice

Principals’ implementation of new teacher evaluation policies in a suburban and rural southeastern area of the United States was examined over a five-year period. This study reports findings on two of eleven interview questions examining changes in principals’ perceptions over time regarding policy concerns and benefits. Findings indicate while initially overwhelmed, principals eventually managed implementation time challenges and later focused on the benefits of evaluation. Secondly, principals quickly integrated the instructional rubric criteria into classroom observations and professional development work. Third, increasing doubts emerged regarding the inconsistent application of the rubric criteria, the inclusion of student test scores in teacher evaluation, and the calculation of teacher effectiveness ratings. The authors conclude that mandating rigorous evaluation policy will not sufficiently address teacher effectiveness and may complicate principals’ instructional leadership. They assert that policy-makers must consider the long-term effects of implementation before substantial teacher evaluation change results.     

Enhancing students’ mathematical reasoning in the classroom: teacher actions facilitating generalization and justification

A proof is a connected sequence of assertions that includes a set of accepted statements, forms of reasoning and modes of representing arguments. Assuming reasoning to be central to proving and aiming to develop knowledge about how teacher actions may promote students’ mathematical reasoning, we conduct design research where whole-class mathematical discussions triggered by exploratory tasks play a key role. We take mathematical reasoning as making justified inferences and we consider generalizing and justifying central reasoning processes. Regarding teacher actions, we consider inviting, informing/suggesting, supporting/guiding and challenging actions can be identified in whole-class discussions. This paper presents design principles for an intervention geared to tackle such reasoning processes and focuses on a whole-class discussion on a grade 7 lesson about linear equations and functions. Data analysis concerns teacher actions in relation to design principles and to the sought mathematical reasoning processes. The conclusions highlight teacher actions that lead students to generalize and justify. Generalizations may arise from a central challenging action or from several guiding actions. Regarding justifications, a main challenging action seems to be essential, while follow-up guiding actions may promote a further development of this reasoning process. Thus, this paper provides a set of design principles and a characterization of teacher actions which enhance students’ mathematical reasoning processes such as generalization and justification.     

Students’ use of power in the classroom: An investigation of student power,teacher power,and teacher immediacy

The purposes of this study were to examine: (1) students’ use of power to gain compliance from instructors, (2) the association between students’ use of power and their instructors’ power, and (3) students’ use of power and the nonverbal immediacy of the instructor. The results revealed that even though students did not feel they had a great amount of influence with their instructors, they used a variety of behavior alteration techniques (BATs) to gain compliance from them. Specifically, students reported using prosocial strategies most frequently and antisocial techniques least frequently. The results also revealed a positive association between students’ overall sense of power and their perception of their teachers’ power. Instructors’ use of reward power was also related to students’ use of prosocial BATs. Conversely, instructors’ use of coercive power was associated with students’ antisocial BATs. Finally, students tended to use expert power more with nonverbally immediate teachers than nonimmediate teachers. Students’ use of BATs did not depend upon the nonverbal immediacy of the instructor. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.     

Classroom management and students' mathematics achievement: The role of students’ disruptive behavior and teacher classroom management

Establishing a well-organized classroom conducive to learning is a key element of high-quality teaching. However, less is known about the degree to which the classroom management process is affected by the specific students in the classroom. Using two large-scale datasets of German secondary school students, the present two studies examined the effectiveness of teachers' classroom management in mathematics while taking into account students' disruptive behavior in the classroom. When controlling for the average level of disruptions in the classroom, both students' disruptive behavior and teachers' monitoring activity were negatively associated with students' mathematics achievement, whereas no associations occurred for teachers' structure and rule clarity. The results suggest that teachers' monitoring activity needs to take into account students’ disruptive behavior in the classroom, highlighting the complexity of effective classroom management.     

Mediating effects of teacher enthusiasm and peer enthusiasm on students’ interest in the college classroom

This study explored the mediating effects of students’ perceptions of teacher enthusiasm and of peer enthusiasm on the relation between students’ initial interest and their situational interest at the end of the semester. Students’ motivation for affiliation with their teacher and with peers was also measured to allow for potential associations between these variables and the students’ perceptions of teacher and peer enthusiasm. In path analysis, data from 455 undergraduates showed that perceptions of teacher enthusiasm and of peer enthusiasm had direct associations with two kinds of situational interest, both hold and catch interest. Also, the relations between initial interest and both hold and catch interest were mediated by perceptions of peer enthusiasm but not teacher enthusiasm. Students’ affiliative motivation with the teacher and peers had direct effects on their perceptions of teacher and peer enthusiasm. This study contributes to clarifying the importance of contextual factors as well as students’ own individual variables in understanding the mechanisms by which students’ interest in a course develops and is maintained throughout the semester.     

Negotiating calendar time: ‘Best practices’ and teacher sense-making in a public pre-Kindergarten classroom

Within the United States, publicly funded pre-Kindergarten (pre-K) is a borderland of teacher practice - somewhere between early childhood and Elementary approaches to pedagogy. For pre-K teachers, this can mean negotiating many different, and oftcompeting conceptions of what curriculum and practice should look like in order to support the learning of four-year-olds. This paper explores the practice of calendar time and how one pre-K teacher, Wanda, identified and negotiated competing conceptions of calendar time as 'best practice' in her school, district and in a professional development program. The findings of this paper raise questions about how teacher educators and researchers should be supporting pre-K teacher practice and sense-making in the face of conflicting policies and expectations for pre-K.     

From LSA to teacher: the value of classroom experience in shaping a ‘teacher’ identity

Routes into teacher training have expanded in recent years, accompanied by a growing interest in schools ‘growing their own’ teachers from amongst support staff. However, little attention has been paid to their transition to the role of teacher. This article investigates influences on identity development and the extent to which personal values are reconciled with professional demands and socially constructed facets of educational practice. Participants were nine staff in one secondary school for pupils with moderate learning difficulties who had undertaken the transition from LSA (learning support assistant) to teacher. Qualitative data were obtained through an online survey and focus group discussion. Findings show that extensive opportunities to experiment with provisional and possible selves, immersion in educational discourse, classroom agency and staff collaboration engender a ‘teacher’ self-concept and positive motivations for LSA career development, and that self-esteem and self-efficacy are strengthened by how an individual’s values align with those of the setting in which they work. Findings may inform school leaders as to the value of training teachers ‘in-house’ and support career development decisions of LSAs, a pathway of potential significance given the current pressures on teacher recruitment and retention.     

Instructional and motivational classroom discourse and their relationship with teacher autonomy and competence support—findings from teacher professional development

European Journal of Psychology of Education - The present study investigates whether productive classroom discourse in the form of instructional and motivational classroom discourse (Turner et al.,...     

Torey Hayden’s teacher lore: classroom behavior management of children with emotional and behavioral disorders

Torey Hayden’s portrayal of classroom behavior management in her teacher lore, autobiographical writings about teaching children with emotional and behavioral disorders, is examined. Five of her books were sampled: One child, Somebody else’s kids, Just another kid, Ghost girl and Beautiful child. Each of these books unfolds within the space of an elementary age, self‐contained classroom for children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Each technique Hayden used to respond to her students’ problem behaviors in the five books was categorized according to Fritz Redl’s theory on managing behavior problems. Redl identified five strategies educators can use to handle their students’ behavior problems: changing, managing, tolerating, preventing and accommodating. The methodology used to categorize Hayden’s techniques was analogous to constant comparative analysis of documents. Hayden is portrayed through Redl’s strategies as a teacher who relies on managing without consequences and changing techniques. Narrative passages illustrating these techniques are presented. The roles of altruism and student empowerment in Hayden’s storied model of classroom management are presented. Implications for Hayden as a role model for teachers of children with emotional and behavioral disorders are discussed.     

Explicit and implicit perspectives on research-based teacher education: newly qualified teachers’ experiences in Finland

Much of the international debate and research on teacher education has centred on how the preparation of teachers should be organised. In contrast to many other countries, teacher education in Finland has been university-based for decades and has a strong research-based approach. This inductive study describes newly qualified teachers’ (NQTs) experiences of research-based teacher education. The study uses data from semi-structured interviews with 10 newly qualified primary school teachers that were conducted in 2016, directly after they had finished their master’s degrees but had not yet begun to work as teachers. A qualitative content analysis identified three main knowledge areas that describe NQTs’ experiences: personal development, teacher professional competence and research competence. The results demonstrate that students in research-based teacher education gain a solid basis for their future teacher profession, as well as experiencing legitimacy and a high level of status in society. Their education encourages them to become innovative and professional teachers who are prepared to honour the trust and autonomy given to them by society.     

Principals’ use of rating scale categories in classroom observations for teacher evaluation

Teacher evaluation systems commonly rely on observation of teaching practice (OTP) by school principals. However, the value of OTP as evidence of teacher effectiveness depends on its psychometric quality. In this study, we address a key aspect of the psychometric quality of principals’ OTP ratings. Specifically, we investigate the degree to which rating scale categories have a consistent interpretation across teaching episodes and practices. Results suggest that the 1,324 principals’ use of the rating scale categories functioned as intended overall. However, we also found that the midpoint category is underutilized and that rating categories do not always reflect similar levels of teaching effectiveness across teaching episodes and practices. When such discrepancies occur, we cannot assume principals’ ratings reflect a consistent level of teacher effectiveness within and across classrooms. This is a critical component of validity evidence that can inform the interpretation of OTP ratings and point to areas for improvement in both the rubrics and in principals’ training for classroom observations.