Classroom Observation and Professional Development of.docx

Classroom Observation and Professional Development of.docx

《Classroom Observation and Professional Development of.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Classroom Observation and Professional Development of.docx（8页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

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