Capítulo 3: Presentación de la solución propuesta
4.11 Pruebas a la herramienta propuesta
4.11.2 Prueba de Caja Negra aplicada al requisito funcional Adicionar pozo
One of the most signifi cant developments in schools has been the introduction of formal and systematic schemes of teacher appraisal (Jones et al., 2006; Middlewood and Cardno, 2001).
Self-appraisal and critical refl ection by teachers on their own teaching is an important aspect of their ability to continue to improve and develop the quality of their teaching (Dymoke and Harrison, 2008; Pollard et al., 2008). Pollard et al. (2008) describe
‘refl ective teaching’ as the adoption by teachers of constant self-appraisal in which they monitor, evaluate and revise their own practice in a cyclical manner. Pollard et al. argue that adopting this stance requires an open-minded willingness to look at aims and consequences, to engage with colleagues and externally developed frameworks, and to consider different sources of evidence.
Whilst self-appraisal is often conducted in a somewhat informal and intuitive basis, a number of attempts have been made to use self-evaluation forms or checklists, either adopted by the teacher on his or her own initiative, or introduced as part of a whole-school self-evaluation programme. Typical questions asked in such self-appraisal are:
Do I plan my lessons well, with clear aims and a suitable lesson content and structure?
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Do I prepare the materials needed for the lesson, such as worksheets and apparatus,
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in good time?
Are my explanations and instructions clear and pitched at the right level for pupils to
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understand?
Do I distribute questions around the classroom well and use both open and closed
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questions?
Do I use a variety of learning activities?
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Are my lessons suitable for the range of ability of the pupils I teach (able, average and
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less able)?
Do I maintain a level of control and order that is conducive for learning to occur?
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Do I monitor pupils’ learning closely during the lesson and give help to those having
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diffi culties?
Do I mark work, including homework, thoroughly, constructively and in good time?
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Do I have a good relationship with pupils based on mutual respect and rapport?
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Is my subject expertise fi ne for the work I do?
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In addition, many teachers have evaluated their own teaching by collecting research data on their own performance. This has often been referred to as teacher action research (Costello, 2003; Koshy, 2005). Such action research involves the teacher in working through a cycle comprising four stages. In the fi rst stage, the teacher needs to clarify the nature of their concern about some aspect of their own classroom practice. This may, for example, deal with aspects such as their use of questions, the quality of pupils’ writ-ten work, their relationship with pupils, the curriculum materials adopted, or perhaps the methods of assessment they use. Once the problem has been clarifi ed, the second stage involves the teacher in designing a solution to the problem. The third stage involves implementing the solution through some change in their classroom practice. The fi nal stage involves evaluating whether the action taken has resulted in an improvement. Each stage of this cycle can involve data collection, such as talking to colleagues and pupils, using questionnaires and collecting observation data by recording lessons or being observed by a colleague. The teacher can also make use of wider reading, consultations with advisers, examination of information databases concerning developments in other schools, and indeed visits to other schools to talk to teachers and observe practice there.
In addition, this cycle can be repeated by adapting and modifying the solution until the teacher is satisfi ed with the level of improvement achieved.
Formal systems of teacher appraisal, or performance review/management, involve being appraised by a colleague. There are three main purposes underlying teacher appraisal:
Managerial.
Ɂ It is argued that regular teacher appraisal enables the headteacher to monitor more effectively the extent to which teachers are carrying out their professional duties (teaching, administrative, and other), to identify any problems that have managerial implications, and to consider the potential role of particular teachers in any future developments within the school.
APPRAISINGPRACTICE 153 Public accountability
Ɂ . This aspect of teacher appraisal focuses on establishing a means by which central government, local government, and school governing bodies, can satisfy themselves that teachers are effectively carrying out their duties. Much of the impetus here stems from the belief in some quarters that there are teachers who are ineffective and who will be more likely to improve or be removed if a formal system of appraisal is in operation.
Professional development
Ɂ . This involves two strands. The fi rst concerns the use of appraisal as a means by which teachers can improve and develop their skills in order to meet their current duties more effectively and take on further duties or responsibilities in the future. The second concerns fostering career development that will enhance promotion opportunities. Whilst these two strands are often complementary, they need not necessarily be so.
Teacher appraisal schemes are in use in many countries. Studies of such schemes have highlighted several problems and issues involved. First, there is a real tension between using a scheme to enhance professional development, and using it to formally evaluate the teacher’s competence with the possibility, in extreme cases of poor teaching, that this could lead to dismissal. This has often been referred to as a tension between for-mative assessment (designed to help foster teacher development) and sumfor-mative assess-ment (designed to be used as a basis for decisions about pay, promotion or competence).
Second, its operation can be time consuming and expensive to resource. Third, any attempt to link teacher performance with merit pay or some other type of reward for outstanding work can be harmful and divisive in its effects.
A fully fl edged scheme of teacher appraisal needs to comprise seven main stages:
Initial meeting
Ɂ . Here the appraiser outlines the purpose of the appraisal scheme and how it will operate, and ensures that the teacher has all the appropriate documentation that relates to the scheme.
A self-appraisal stage
Ɂ . In this stage the teacher is asked to refl ect on his or her own performance and professional development concerns. This would normally be in response to a written checklist or form and will produce a written response that is given to the appraiser.
Setting the agenda
Ɂ . This takes the form of a meeting at which the agenda for the appraisal interview is agreed. In addition, the lessons to be observed and any particular points of focus for the classroom observations are agreed.
Classroom observation
Ɂ . Notes are made during lesson observations, which are to be used as a basis for providing useful feedback to the teacher concerning their classroom practice. There should also be a brief meeting after each lesson to discuss how it went and any issues it raises.
An appraisal interview
Ɂ . This takes the form of a review meeting at which the teacher’s all-round contribution to the school and his or her professional development are discussed. In particular, targets and objectives are agreed that are intended to contribute to the teacher’s improved effectiveness and professional development.
Producing a written statement
Ɂ . A written record of the appraisal is produced and agreed, which includes a note of the targets set.
A follow-up review
Ɂ . At this meeting the extent to which the targets have been met and any other action points that were agreed at the appraisal interview are discussed.
Studies of teacher appraisal (or performance review/management) indicate that many teachers feel they have benefi ted from appraisal in a number of ways (Jones et al., 2006; Wragg et al., 1996). The following six comments are typical:
It enables teachers to be told that their work was valued.
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Positive feedback is reassuring and can boost confi dence.
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It enables teachers to review their career to date and get advice from a senior
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colleague on how their career might develop further.
The teacher can get useful feedback and advice on aspects of their classroom
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practice.
It offers an opportunity to talk through their worries with a senior colleague.
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The targets set and agreed can act as something positive to aim for and achieve.
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However a number of teachers have voiced concerns about appraisal, typically in rela-tion to the time and expense involved, and suspicions about the fairness of the infor-mation gathered about them and the use to which it will be put.
In the context of effective teaching, the appraisal of classroom teaching is of particular interest. In many schemes, a particular focus has been selected for the classroom observation part of the appraisal. For example, a teacher might ask an appraiser to look at the way they use questions in the classroom, or the way they differentiate the work to meet the needs of pupils of differing ability. In effect, the appraiser is being used as a consultant in the service of the teacher. This form of appraisal, in which the onus is on the teacher to make good use of appraisal, rather than to see it as something judgemental that is done to them, seems to lie at the heart of the tone adopted in the more successful examples of its operation. Overall, there appear to be fi ve main pur-poses advocated for classroom observations:
It enables an appraiser to encourage, support and assist the appraisee to think about
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their current and future classroom practice.
It provides an opportunity for the appraiser and appraisee to share ideas about
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classroom practice.
It enables the appraiser to offer advice, guidance and support concerning any
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particular concerns, problems or shortcomings that could usefully be addressed.
It enables the appraiser to act as an extra pair of eyes to provide the appraisee with
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some useful data about specifi c aspects of the lesson.
It enables the appraiser to make a judgement and evaluation about the quality of the
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appraisee’s teaching.
Effective classroom observation for appraisal can be carried out in a number of differ-ent ways. Some appraisers make use of observation schedules or checklists, whilst others prefer to simply record what goes on in a more impressionistic way. Some appraisers simply sit at the back of the room and make notes, whilst others circulate around the room and may even participate in the teaching. Of particular importance is that the teacher has confi dence in the views of the appraiser. The appraiser’s main task is to share ideas with the teacher being observed in a way that will be helpful to the teacher. Many teachers have reported on how classroom observation has helped them think about and change their classroom practice. The most common examples of such changes reported by teachers who have been appraised are:
APPRAISINGPRACTICE 155 better meeting the needs of the less able
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better meeting the needs of the more able
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better allocation of time for activities
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better use of resources
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better handling of transitions between activities
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budgeting more time within lessons for individual attention
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trying out new materials and methods
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better planning
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better record keeping.
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In addition, a number of teachers have reported on how being an appraiser has helped them because observing colleagues and talking to them about their teaching has given them insights about their own classroom practice.
Despite these positive features of appraisal, the task of being an appraiser is not an easy one. Indeed, the area of appraisal in which appraisers felt they had the least level of expertise was in the conduct of the classroom observations and how to use such observations so that it was of real benefi t to the teacher being appraised. In addition, being an appraiser requires a high level of social skill in handling the sensitivities that can arise, particularly if the teacher is anxious, as is usually the case, and if there are areas of concern that need to be aired. This involves establishing as non-threatening a context for the appraisal as possible, and maintaining a helpful and constructive stance throughout the process.
As well as schemes of teacher appraisal, most countries also operate a system of formal inspection, which includes classroom observation. Preparing for such an inspection often produces a great deal of anxiety. However, it does force teachers and schools to consider the quality of education the school provides, and to measure these against any published criteria that they know the school inspectors will be using in making their assessments. The handbooks produced by Ofsted (e.g. Ofsted, 1995, 2003) for use by school inspectors, for example, gives details of key features to be used in arriv-ing at a judgement concernarriv-ing the quality of teacharriv-ing observed in lessons. These fea-tures include the extent to which teachers:
have a secure knowledge and understanding of the subjects or areas they teach
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set high expectations so as to challenge pupils and deepen their knowledge and
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understanding plan effectively
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employ methods and organisational strategies that match curricular objectives and the
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needs of all pupils
manage pupils well and achieve high standards of discipline
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use time and resources effectively
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assess pupils’ work thoroughly and constructively, and use assessments to inform
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teaching
use homework effectively to reinforce and/or extend what is learned in school.
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In addition, when observing lessons, Ofsted inspectors pay particular attention to the following features:
Lessons should be purposeful.
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Lessons should give pupils the opportunity to be creative.
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Lessons should match pupils’ abilities.
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Lessons should be interesting, relevant and challenging.
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Lessons should involve a variety of learning activities.
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Whilst school inspections in the UK are a quite separate exercise from teacher appraisal, there is little doubt that the published criteria used in school inspections to judge the quality of teaching will have an infl uence on the type of features that may be high-lighted by appraisers when conducting a classroom observation as part of the appraisal process. As a result, there is a danger that teacher appraisal may come to take the form of an inspection that the school conducts on itself, rather than an opportunity for genuine dialogue and the sharing of ideas among colleagues aimed at fostering profes-sional development. It is also likely that the list of standards developed by the TDA in 2008 (TDA, 2008), which covers the quality of teaching expected of practitioners at different stages of their teaching career (the QTS standards; the core standards; the post-threshold standards; the excellent teacher standards; and the advanced skills teacher standards), will also colour the features of classroom practice that appraisers will wish to focus on.
Another issue concerning appraisal is how best to meet the professional needs of the teacher that have been identifi ed during the appraisal process. For example, if teachers feel they need to update their subject knowledge or develop new classroom teaching skills, in-service support needs to be made available for this to happen. There is a danger that regular appraisal can simply serve to highlight needs that cannot be met.
As such, an effective scheme must be resourced properly to ensure that such teacher development needs can be addressed in a satisfactory manner.
Finally, it is important to note that the teacher’s professional development is also infl uenced by the school climate. Those teachers working is a school where they feel their attempts to develop their skills is encouraged and supported by colleagues are more likely to thrive. In addition, the opportunity to take part in a ‘learning commu-nity’ of teachers, in which teachers’ refl ections on their efforts to explore and improve their classroom practice are shared, is also very benefi cial. A case study by Ahuja (2007), for example, of a ‘successful’ high school operating in a challenging urban setting, identifi ed teamwork, capability development, and a sense of collective effi cacy, as major factors underpinning the school’s ‘excellence in urban pedagogy’. Interest-ingly, however, the study noted there was no key to effective pedagogy but, rather, there was an eagerness among the teachers to learn to improve their own practice and to make extra efforts in meeting pupils’ needs.