What Feedback for Teachers? A Pilot for the Teacher as a Reflective Practitioner

Abstract

“Teachers need feedback”, said Bill Gates in a famous TED talk speaking about the technique of using videorecording in the classroom. In fact, the use of video is a powerful tool to analyze behaviours and to reflect on implicit teaching routines in a sort of “self-mirroring” activity, as described by Shön in the reflective practitioner theory (1983). Within the University course “Multimedia research methods” offered by the on line Italian University IUL, addressing CPD for teachers, trainees were asked to record their typical lesson and to analyze it by using a grid derived from research (the School Effectiveness Approach by B. Creemers e L. Kyriakides 2012 and “Visible Learning” by Hattie, 2009). After analyzing their videos, teachers would visualize their positioning in a radar diagram helping them to understand what factors should be improved in order to carry out an effective lesson. Furthermore, teachers were asked to peer review the radar and the grid of a colleague and to receive a first feedback from her/him. This resulted in a very powerful exercise to improve and better plan an effective classroom lesson. In the second part of the course, the teachers worked in small groups, according to the cooperative learning model, with the task of producing a toolkit, giving operational tips and examples derived from the videorecordings, on how to perform a good lesson. The paper provides a detailed description of the methodology employed, the corresponding tools and the analysis of the main results coming from the pilot.

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Author Information
Elena Mosa, INDIRE-IUL, Italy
Silvia Panzavolta, INDIRE-IUL, Italy
Francesca Storai, INDIRE-IUL, Italy

• Category: Professional Concerns, Training and Development

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

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