The Reflective Teacher: Eurocentres’ Exploration of

Approaches to Self-Reflection on Classroom Practice

Joel Cutting

Eurocentres Bournemouth

EAQUALS Staff Charter: “6. In addition to initial training, all staff are given opportunities to improve their skills in continuous professional development within and outside working hours.”

Three approaches to self-reflection on classroom practice:

1.Self-evaluative questionnaires identifying key features of classroom practice

2.Self-assessment of teaching competences with the European Profiling Grid

3.Short films of a teacher‟s own classes with no external observer – ‘Video Selfies’

Bournemouth

• 50-200 students

• Core teaching staff of 6 (MA/Dip)

• Up to 12 further teachers

Self-Evaluative Questionnaires: Background

Data Collection Identification of

Key Areas Communication with Teachers

• Heads of Academic Development

• Academic Summer Visits

• Student Questionnaires

• Classroom Dynamics

• Exploiting Learning Opportunities

• Presentations

• Questionnaires

Self-Evaluative Questionnaires: Two stages of teacher induction

Classroom Dynamics

Exploiting Learning Opportunities

• Treating students as „partners‟

• Agreed discipline

• Teacher/student talking time

• Concept-checking

• Task-based learning

• Variety/staging

• Deviation from lesson plans

• Spontaneous remedial practice

• Learner training: In and beyond

the classroom

• Dealing with errors

• Phonology

• Incidental vocabulary

Self-Evaluative Questionnaires: In focus

Teacher / student talking time

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Som

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es

Oft

en

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ry

lesson

Comments (to assist discussion on how / why you do / don’t do these things):

I promote more than 70% student talking time

(less than 30% TTT)

I follow each focus on new language with

student reformulation / recycling activities

I use choral drilling / repeating after a model

When giving instructions I demonstrate the

activity to the class (e.g. first question)

I talk to the class as a whole

I use pair work / group work

I stand off quietly while students speak

I interrupt speaking with on the spot

corrections / assistance

I elicit the answer to a question rather than

directly explain the answer

I nominate students to talk / present / read

aloud in front of the whole class

I have a quiet phase of the lesson where

nobody is talking

Self-Evaluative Questionnaires: Teacher Feedback

“Along with my observation feedback, this has helped identify my need to…”

“…reminds me of some of the things I might or should be doing… potentially very useful for inexperienced teachers.”

“I can see how it might be easy to get into bad habits quite quickly.”

“Could you arrange a teacher development session on phonology?”

“I‟d actually quite like to do this again when I have been at the school a little longer…perhaps in conjunction with observations or an appraisal.”

The European Profiling Grid: Background to its use for teacher self-reflection in

appraisals at Eurocentres Bournemouth

“ (The EPG is a)…means of outlining current competences …(and is more specifically intended to) serve as an additional tool for staff selection and appraisal.”

http://www.epg-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/The-EPG-PDF-publication_EN.pdf (retrieved 20/03/2014)

• Personal involvement with the validation process

• Perceived need to make appraisals more meaningful

The European Profiling Grid: Complementing a more ‘meaningful’ appraisal?

Criticisms of the pre-EPG appraisal process included: • That they could be directionless

• That they could be dominated by lesson (etc.) observations

EPG introduced with the aims of:

• Broadening discussion, raising it to career-level

• Providing 50% „ownership‟ of the process to the teacher

• Helping teachers recognise strengths and areas for development

The European Profiling Grid: The procedure in practice - A first attempt

Teachers were:

Provided with paper copies and links to

online versions of EPG

Invited to self-assess against descriptors in advance of appraisal

Encouraged to use EPG to

help consider developmental

objectives

2 (out of 7) used paper grids to self-

assess in advance of appraisal

The European Profiling Grid: Trial outcomes and teacher feedback

One teacher keen on involvement in: • Running in-house teacher development (digital media) • Assisting (managing?) placement testing

“(EPG is) good as a tool for self-reflection... not enough for a complete appraisal but a good complement.”

Another considering applying for an internship (train to diploma-level)

“It‟s helped me understand where I am... I can see where I need to develop”

“(As some of my teaching colleagues) seem to have reached a „ceiling‟ here, shouldn‟t there be another phase?”

‘Video Selfies’: Background

Came about as consequence of „best-practice filming project‟

Recognition of:

• Own personal need to re-engage with fundamentals

• Value of filming as a self-reflective tool for really experienced teachers

• Breadth of perspective it offers

‘Video Selfies’: Case study – Teacher profile

• Lifelong career in language teaching

• Consistently outstanding feedback from students and observation (internal and external)

• 3.1 and 3.2 in all areas of EPG

‘Video Selfies’: Case study - In action

‘Video Selfies’: Case study – Teacher reflections

“I think I need to step back a bit and calm down…I‟m not working the students hard enough.”

“There‟s too much teacher talking time.”

“That „leaning over the desk thing‟ might be intimidating for shy students.”

‘Video Selfies’: Case study - In action (2)

‘Video Selfies’: Case study – Teacher reflections (2)

“I‟m surprised to hear myself using so much meta-language.”

“…(I) echo the mistake using rising intonation and I‟m not sure this was an effective method…

so I might have to work a bit on correction techniques.”

The Reflective Teacher: Three approaches

Self-evaluative questionnaires

• Involvement, not imposition

• Easy to administer

• Early platform for continuous self-reflection

• Communicate school‟s teaching ethos efficiently

EPG in appraisals

• Involvement, not imposition

• How to administer?

• Reinforces benefits of self-reflection

• Foundation for career development

• Positive impact on school‟s teaching culture?

„Video selfies‟

• Involvement, not imposition

• Easy to administer

• Beneficial self-reflection, even to most experienced teachers

• Complement to „traditional‟ CPD

• Positive impact on school‟s teaching culture