The Criteria Used to Make Judgments in Evaluative Teaching Observation Research Paper

The Criteria Used to Make Judgments in Evaluative Teaching Observation - Research Paper Example The teacher noted that there were formatting issues with my PowerPoint that could be improved and that there was a spelling mistake. Again, these are issues that can detract from my lessons, so I was glad to get this feedback so that I can improve the formatting and fonts on my PowerPoint in later presentations. The observers did feel that I had good communication skills, and was approachable as a teacher, so I was happy to get this feedback as well. It seemed that the main areas for improvement were technical issues that can be easily fixed, as opposed to my overall teaching style, so it made me realize that my overall style of teaching is good. I just need to work on my technical issues, including my issues with formatting PowerPoint. These all focus upon the practice as a teacher, so in this paper, this will be the focus. I will also focus, in this paper, the explicit and implicit criteria that is used in evaluative teaching, and I will conclude by making recommendation for improv ing the process of teaching observation by focusing on making explicit the criteria by which judgments are made and empowering observer and observe to be in control of the feedback process. My teaching observations were in line with the research on the topic. Donnelly (2007) notes that peer observation of teaching is a necessary component for good practice in teaching and that dialogue and open debate are encouraged, and risk-taking is supported in teaching. Although I didn’t necessarily take risks with my teaching, when I was being observed, I did notice that there was a good dialogue between myself and my observers. They were more than happy to let me know when they liked something that I was doing, or if they thought that something needed to be improved upon, and this dialogue was very stimulating and enlightening. I also note that Gosling (2002) identified three different types of observations in teaching – evaluation, development and peer review. The evaluation is conducted by superiors and is a formal assessment of one’s competencies. This might take the form of annual appraisals and is used to manage employees. Development is used not to manage employees, but to give an overall overview of one’s teaching competencies. This is also conducted by a superior, and this review is also formal. The third kind, the peer review, is much less formal. This is observation and discussion, and the feedback, while critical, is considered to be non-judgmental and constructive. This takes place only in an atmosphere where both parties are genuine peers, and there is not a power imbalance between the two, and there are a mutuality and respect for one another. My experience definitely falls under the third assessment, as the observation was not a formal one, and there was not a formal assessment of my skills. It was non-judgmental and very gentle criticism that was extremely constructive. Moreover, the observation was truly a peer observation, w hich was helpful.