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Since the 2000s, the Joint Action framework in Didactics (JAD) has been developed in the context of the expansion of the French-speaking research in Comparative didactics. Studies carried out with this framework typically investigate how knowledge content develop in teacher-student classroom interactions. From a quite different perspective, classroom research on teaching quality has also developed considerably in recent years. Despite the many efforts to better understand relations between generic versus subject-specific dimensions of teaching, this dichotomy remains strong in the debates on teaching quality. This contribution explores a comparative model for characterizing the quality of teaching practices from the conceptual categories of the Joint Action framework in Didactics (JAD-MTQ). Based on the comparison of teaching and learning practices in two school subjects—physics and contemporary dance—this paper pursues a twofold objective: (1) proposing a provisional set of generic criteria for capturing content-specific dimensions of teaching quality; and (2) highlighting certain methodological conditions for ensuring qualitative analyses of these dimensions of teaching quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Music Education is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In educational research, teaching quality is extensively studied because of its role of a mediator between teacher characteristics and student learning. However, empirical evidence on differences between video and live scoring of teaching quality is rare. In the present study, thirty lessons from 15 secondary mathematics classrooms in a German metropolitan area were observed. Lessons were scored both live in the classroom and using video recordings. Live and video scoring was conducted by (different) trained observers. Ratings were obtained with a "hybrid" observational instrument that covers generic and subject-specific characteristics of teaching quality in mathematics classrooms. Generalizability analysis and paired t tests were performed to investigate mode effects. The findings showed that in live scoring, classroom management was rated lower, and cognitive activation was rated higher. Rankings of lessons or classrooms were very similar across modes, and reliabilities did not differ to a meaningful extent either, except for classroom management reaching better results for live ratings. This suggests that based on the present findings, classroom observation performed with our hybrid framework of teaching quality generalizes across observation mode only under certain circumstances. Further research is necessary to better understand the relation between observation mode and teaching quality ratings, as well as the impact of the scoring procedures. We discuss the implications of our findings for educational research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the development of a new observation research tool called the EMC-PK2, designed to capture coherent mathematics teaching and learning practices in preschool through second-grade classrooms. There is widespread interest in improving early math instruction and moving from traditional didactic instructional methods to a more problem-solving approach. However, there are few observational tools appropriate for research supporting high-quality mathematics teaching and learning practices that can inform what is happening during math lessons and that are appropriate across preschool and elementary school environments. This tool was developed to try and meet that need. It was piloted and first used in a longitudinal study in two large U.S. public school districts, across Pre-K through second grade. Analysis of the observational data offers insights into the psychometrics of the tool, showing reliable use and capturing several key dimensions of practice: at the activity level, teacher facilitation and student engagement; and at the observation level, differentiation and classroom environment. Although costly in both time and resources to implement at a large scale, the EMC-PK2 can offer much-needed understanding for researchers concerned with early math teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Question asking is a prevalent aspect of children's speech, providing a means by which young learners can rapidly gain information about the world. Previous research has demonstrated that children exhibit sensitivity to the knowledge state of potential informants in laboratory settings. However, it remains unclear whether and how young children are inclined to direct questions that support learning deeper content to more knowledgeable informants in naturalistic classroom contexts. In this study, we examined children's question-asking targets (adults, other preschoolers, self-talk) during an open-play period in a US preschool classroom and assessed how the cognitive and linguistic characteristics of questions varied as a function of the intended recipient. Further, we examined how these patterns changed with age. We recorded the spontaneous speech of individual children between the ages of 3 and 6 years (N = 30, totaling 2875 utterances) in 40-min open-period sessions in their preschool day, noting whether the speech was directed toward an adult, another child, or was stated to self. We publish this fully transcribed database with contextual and linguistic details coded as open access to all future researchers. We found that questions accounted for a greater proportion of preschoolers' adult-directed speech than of their child-directed and self-directed speech, with a particular increase in questions that supported broader learning goals when directed to an adult. Younger children directed a higher proportion of learning questions to adults than themselves, whereas older children asked similar proportions of questions to both, suggesting a difference in younger and older children's question-asking strategies. Although children used greater lexical diversity in questions than in other utterances, their question formulation in terms of length and diversity remained consistent across age and recipient types, reflecting their general linguistic abilities. Our findings reveal that children discriminately choose "what" and "whom" to ask in daily spontaneous conversations. Even in less-structured school contexts, preschoolers direct questions to the informant most likely to be able to provide an adequate answer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperative learning (CL) refers to teaching methods in which students work in small groups to help one another learn and improve their learning outcomes. Often CL is described by five basic elements: (1) positive interdependence, (2) individual accountability, (3) promotive interaction, (4) social skills and (5) group processing. The positive effects of CL have been extensively documented. The quality of implementation, mostly determined by application of the five basic elements of CL, has been shown to be significantly related to the effectiveness of the methods. However, due to the complex demands that designing CL sequences places on teachers, the question of how and why they implement CL methods is not trivial. The present study used an explanatory mixed methods design with sequential phases (quantitative–qualitative) to investigate the implementation of CL in school practice. A survey, structured interviews with teachers and classroom observations rated on an observation scale including indicators of the basic elements of CL were used to gather data in a total of 49 German classrooms. Results show that the implementation quality of CL lessons was rather low. Only 7% of the observed teachers implemented the basic elements. Even group goals and individual accountability, the two most important elements of CL, were implemented in only 17% of the lessons observed. Survey results indicated that implementation quality is related to teachers' evaluation of CL with regard to its appropriateness for different learning goals (r =.40*) and diverse students (r =.36*). Qualitative analysis of the teacher interviews analysed by thematic coding showed differences between teachers with high and low implementation quality regarding their beliefs. Teachers with high implementation quality see more value in social learning processes and feel more responsible for the success of CL. The results show a theory–practice gap and point to the relevance of beliefs for CL implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the relationship between school-level factors associated with school quality and progress in student attainment in English secondary schools. Furthermore, it examines the relationship between frequency of classroom observation of teaching (by school leaders or by fellow teachers) in English secondary schools and progress in student attainment. It details findings of a quantitative phase of analysis within a broader mixed-methods study with the purpose of informing best practice in school development in Austria. Results suggest that students attending schools in which leaders and teachers perceive a greater emphasis on policy concerning quality of teaching tend to achieve greater progression in attainment relative to peers. Whilst frequency of classroom observation by leadership staff does not appear to be associated with progress in student attainment, students attending schools in which classroom observation is undertaken by fellow teachers with greater frequency tend to achieve greater progress in attainment relative to peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual paper discusses 'unseen observation' as an alternative model of classroom observation to support teachers' professional learning. The paper starts with a critical synopsis of how observation has been appropriated principally as a performance management tool for monitoring teacher effectiveness in the UK. It argues that the overreliance on assessment-based models has led to the hegemony of observation as a performative tool and its subsequent dilution as a catalyst for professional learning to develop teachers' pedagogic thinking and practice. As a counter narrative, this paper proposes an alternative, peer-based model, unseen observation, which reconceptualises and reconfigures observation for professional learning by prioritising collegial meaning-making and reflexive dialogue. Drawing on the concept of intersubjectivity to theorise unseen observation, the principles, purpose and practical application of this model are discussed, along with its benefits and challenges. The paper argues that unseen observation offers a structured approach for stimulating and channelling opportunities for teachers to engage in honest introspection, participatory sensemaking and reflexive dialogue of their practice. Meaningful and sustainable improvements in professional learning are arguably more likely to flourish by creating such opportunities, though further research is needed to investigate the application and impact of unseen observation as a model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several observation protocols in different theoretical frameworks and components have been designed and validated by teacher trainers and professional development providers to capture and categorize observational data on the characteristics and level of inquiry in science practices. However, certain constraints limit their wide use, such as the neglect of certain indicators of scientific inquiry, the scoring of just summative goals, or the necessity for extensive observer training. The present study, therefore, aims to propose a tool that assists professional development providers and mentors in diagnosing the closeness of practices to scientific inquiry in the context of various settings, from traditional didactic lectures to scientific inquiry, making it easily operational for self and peer evaluations as well as 360‐degree video feedback. The method concentrated on multiple observations provides supportive evidence about the tool's internal consistency coefficient, the relationship between its components, and the inter‐rater reliability coefficient between multiple scorers. The results highlight that the tool, which includes the components of course structure, course overview, and teacher–student communication, has the potential to contribute to the growing library of observation protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have found that some teacher professional development programs that are based on Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) can increase student mathematics achievement. The mechanism through which those effects are realized has been theorized, but more empirical study is needed. In service of this need, we designed a novel measure of instructional practice to assess the extent to which observable features of mathematics instruction are consistent with the principles of CGI. We describe the conceptual foundations and first use of the instrument, which we call M-CLIPS. We found that teachers involved in the first 2 years of a CGI program were using methods consistent with the principles. In contrast, instructional practice in the comparison condition was mostly inconsistent with those principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the evidence supporting reciprocal peer observation (RPO) for teacher professional development, extant literature has reported that teacher resistance is a barrier to its implementation. Few studies have analysed the variables that moderate resistance to RPO. Based on data from 394 in‐service teachers who participated in an RPO intervention, three aims are addressed: (1) to examine pretest‐posttest differences in resistance to RPO, (2) to analyse the effect of demographic variables and perception of school support in initial resistance to RPO, and (3) to analyse the effect of demographic variables and perception of school support and role performance in final resistance to RPO, after controlling for initial resistance. The Teachers' Resistance to Reciprocal Peer Observation Scale was validated and used as pretest‐posttest. Student's paired sample t‐test was carried out to compare the two scores, and linear regression was used for the second and third aim. Firstly, results show a significant decrease in resistance to RPO. Secondly, initial resistance to the observer and observee role is moderated by teaching experience and feeling properly trained, with additional variables moderating resistance towards being observed (i.e., gender, being part of the school management team, prior experience, school time arrangement). Thirdly, final resistance to both roles is moderated by initial resistance, teaching experience, and variables referring to judging oneself and the partner as capable of successfully participating in the intervention. Limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed. The changes in the quality of teaching that RPO may generate are contingent on reducing teacher resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this randomized control study, we evaluated science teachers’ pedagogical practices via classroom observations following ongoing, intensive, and structured instructional support sessions. These sessions included virtual professional development (VPD) and virtual mentoring and coaching (VMC) that accompanied a literacy-infused science curriculum. Using a low-inference observational instrument, we explored the direct impact of VPD and VMC on fifthgrade science teachers’ observed time allocation in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) validation study. The observations were collected three times during science instruction from 121 teachers in 68 schools from 35 public school districts in the U.S. state of Texas, during the 2017- 2018 school year. Preliminary findings revealed pedagogical differences in time allocation among teachers between treatment and control classrooms. We identified improved instructional practices within treatment classrooms, which suggests the intervention had a positive effect by enhancing the quality of pedagogy as well as the contentarea instruction in science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classroom observation has been reported to be stressful for language teachers since it can disrupt the equilibrium and push the teachers towards maladaptive language teacher immunity. The present study is an attempt to shed light on the way classroom observation and a professional development (PD) course on classroom observation contribute to language teacher immunity development through self-organization lens. To this end, the researchers in the current study designed an explanatory sequential mixed method study and 13 novice language teachers were invited to fill language teacher immunity scale before and after a professional development course. The qualitative data were collected through narrative frames and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that the immunity level of the students differed significantly before and after the intervention. The findings accentuate the importance of in-service programs in reforming the teachers’ narratives of classroom observations and enabling them to transform classroom observations from threats to opportunities.

The aim of this case study is to present the most frequent teaching methods used by biology teachers in the Republic of Croatia, based on the observations made during biology class and the teachers’ statements. The study included six distinguished primary school biology teachers, along with their seventh-grade classes. The data comprised an interview with each teacher and twelve class observations. The results show that biology education in the Croatian educational system is mostly traditional, whereby students mostly practice listening to the teacher (34%) and answering the questions (18%). In summary, the majority of teaching consists of teachers presenting the content materials and asking questions or engaging students in specific individual or group activities. The present study has determined a lack of student questions and class discussions. Additionally, the nature of teachers’ questions does not encourage students to think and provide extensive answers. For this reason, the study suggests that teachers encourage students to ask questions and organize teaching activities in ways which will contribute to more class activity and deep learning of students. Despite some acknowledged limitations, the results of this study can contribute to a better understanding of the teachers’ experiences in authentic science classrooms, in specific contexts.

Class phenomena have primary significance for the diagnosis and intervention at both an individual and a whole‐class level for school psychologists. Trying to bring undergraduate psychology students closer to class and teaching, a learning experience based on an adaptation of Lesson Study, a professional development method for teachers, was designed and evaluated with a group of undergraduate psychology students attending two preparatory and consecutive courses for professional performance in educational environments. Students made participants observations of classes they attended, participated in collaborative reflection with their teachers, and issued a report. Meetings were transcribed, conforming, altogether with their written reports 12 texts, analyzed using thematic analysis. Four primary themes were generated concerning benefits, difficulties, perceived learning facilitators and this experience's contribution to professionalization. The results stress a favorable self‐perceived effect in students' comprehension of the class and the teaching, backed up by an internship experience. Additionally, content expressing empathy toward teachers and an increased perceived self‐knowledge as students was reported. Having a previous experience with the method within the first course and a part time internship in the second course, along with the profile of the second course and its emphasis on procedural content, seemed to foster these outcomes. Practitioner Points: The use of Participatory Lesson Study (PLS), an adaptation of Lesson Study—an original Japanese collaborative method for improving teaching practices—can bring undergraduate psychology students attending courses preparatory to school psychology practice closer to class experience.The PLS experience can promote greater empathy towards teachers and the teaching profession.Students reported they experienced PLS as a facilitator in their engagement and performance in a part‐time internship as School Psychologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly assumed that experienced teachers are more proficient than beginners. However, evidence supporting this premise is complicated by diverging research traditions and mixed results. We explore the fundamental relationship between years of experience and teaching quality using a comprehensive pedagogical model. Our analysis of 990 lessons, taught by 512 primary teachers in New South Wales during 2014–15 and 2019–21, found no significant differences in pedagogy across the experience range (< 1–24 + years). We canvass two possible explanations: that initial teacher education (ITE) performs better than is typically assumed; and/or that experience, including ongoing participation in many forms of professional development (PD), has minimal impact on pedagogical quality. The important lesson from this study, however, is that the continual positioning of beginning teachers and ITE as deficient is unwarranted and, instead, we should focus on providing teachers with access to high-impact PD throughout their careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iran Language Institute (ILI) plays a crucial role in teaching English in Iran and offers a comprehensive Teacher Training Course (TTC) for the teachers before their being employed. Still, these teachers encounter difficulties in different areas, but there are few studies investigating the teaching challenges of EFL teachers teaching at ILI. Thus, this study investigated the teaching challenges of newlyhired and experienced teachers, teaching at different age levels. The data were gathered data through 100 classroom observation forms belonging to 18 kids' teachers, 47 young-adults' teachers, and 35 adults' teachers (69 experienced and 31 newly-hired). We also interviewed with 5 kids' teachers, 5 young-adults' teachers, and 6 adults' teachers. It was revealed that young-adults' teachers faced fewer challenges than kids' and adults' teachers. Besides, experienced teachers encountered fewer problems than newly-hired teachers. The results of the observation forms were different from the interviews. However, time management was the only problem which was mentioned in the interviews, observation forms, and different age levels. According to the teachers, the reason behind these challenges was the intensive syllabus, old books and videos, and teachers' having to follow a series of fixed teaching steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a model for Professional Development (PD) for in-service generalist primary teachers of science. The Remote Classroom Modelling (RCM) model is specifically designed to address salient challenges in the context of professional isolation. We share the principles that supported the design of this PD prototype, and the insights and lessons learned from a pilot of the model. We employed open-ended questionnaires, individual interviews and focus group interviews using a qualitative exploratory study to capture the experiences of teachers and students involved in this trial. Our findings suggest that the model supports primary teachers in developing: (1) their technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge, (2) their leadership, and (3) their resourcefulness in science. Our analysis reveals two important factors underpinning the successful implementation of this model: participant engagement and expert support. We discuss the applicability of this model in different settings and propose an agenda to progress the development of the RCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many education systems internationally expect schools to participate in continuous instructional improvement programmes. One tool used within these processes is the structured, rubric-based classroom observation, focused on the evaluation of teaching. Such observations are a common feature of formative evaluation systems, teacher coaching programmes, within-school teacher collaborative structures, and other local, regional or national frameworks. However, a question arises as to how rubric-based observations may better support teacher learning and development. Drawing on existing theoretical arguments and empirical work, this paper seeks to contribute to discussion about rubric-based classroom observation and its relationship with teacher learning and instructional improvement. Observation rubrics can be regarded as summaries of a community's understanding of good instruction. When generated in a way that makes this understanding accessible to teachers in the context of their own practice, they have the potential to place the rubric's, and teachers', understandings of good teaching 'in conversation' with each other. This could provide valuable opportunities for teachers to refine and expand their understandings of good instruction. Embedding rubric-based observations in school structures can, thus, facilitate continuous improvement efforts by better supporting teacher self-reflection, feedback, and collaboration. However, many uses of observation within school contexts tend to prioritise the rubric's, rather than teachers', understanding of good teaching. This risks turning observations from tools of learning into tools of judgement, disrupting the pathway through which they might support teacher learning and instructional improvement. Our discussion draws attention to the potential benefits yielded and the challenges that may occur in using rubric-based observations to support teacher learning. It highlights factors that need consideration in efforts to leverage rubric-based observations to better promote continuous teacher learning, ultimately positively influencing student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Unterrichtswissenschaft (Springer Science & Business Media B.V.) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Teachers' self-efficacy in managing classrooms is an important consideration when it comes to bringing educational robots to classrooms. Orchestration tools support teachers by providing awareness indicators of students' progress as well as levers to control the flow of the lesson. We designed and evaluated the impact of an orchestration tool for a series of robot-based learning activities to teach a basic concept in mathematics to children, aged 7-10. Six teachers in primary schools across Switzerland used the orchestration tool to manage the activities in six sessions involving a total of ninety-one students. We observed teachers' usage of the orchestration tool during the sessions and interviewed them after the sessions about the usefulness of these functionalities. Our findings show that even though teachers used the tool in different ways from each other, in general, it supported them in their classroom orchestration practices, mainly to manage the activity sequence and get aware of the robot technical failures and, to a lesser degree, get aware of students' progress for the purpose of activity transitions and enriching class discussions. We discuss the theoretical implications of these results, relating our findings to the literature on classroom orchestration tool design, especially highlighting the importance of educational level and the type of learning technology as contextual factors affecting teachers' usage of orchestration tools. We also provide implications for designing orchestration tools, focusing on the necessity of providing different types of awareness indicators and multiple options for activity management to fulfil the variety of teachers' orchestration needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the development of a new observation research tool called the EMC-PK2, designed to capture coherent mathematics teaching and learning practices in preschool through second-grade classrooms. There is widespread interest in improving early math instruction and moving from traditional didactic instructional methods to a more problem-solving approach. However, there are few observational tools appropriate for research supporting high-quality mathematics teaching and learning practices that can inform what is happening during math lessons and that are appropriate across preschool and elementary school environments. This tool was developed to try and meet that need. It was piloted and first used in a longitudinal study in two large U.S. public school districts, across Pre-K through second grade. Analysis of the observational data offers insights into the psychometrics of the tool, showing reliable use and capturing several key dimensions of practice: at the activity level, teacher facilitation and student engagement; and at the observation level, differentiation and classroom environment. Although costly in both time and resources to implement at a large scale, the EMC-PK2 can offer much-needed understanding for researchers concerned with early math teaching and learning.

AbstractIn this study, we report results from a novel coding of the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) Study data that offers evidence on a set of teacher discourse measures in the domain of teacher support including: public praise vs. admonishment, autonomy support vs. controlling language, strategy suggestion vs. lack thereof, and discourse supporting (vs. undermining) learning mindsets. Novel coding of these constructs is paired with extant measures of instruction and achievement in the MET data. Several of the newly coded discourse measures have promising features, including high lesson- and teacher-level variability, and convergent and discriminant validity with existing protocols. We also report possible associations with change in achievement over two years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two groups of mathematics faculty, one from a four-year college and one from a two-year college, redesigned their respective introductory college mathematics courses following presentation of observational data regarding how faculty had been teaching the courses. This presentation emphasised how infrequently faculty teaching introductory college mathematics employed recommended pedagogical practices. This work was part of a multi-year federal grant project designed to increase the numbers of underrepresented students majoring in STEM disciplines. While the two teams developed very different redesigned course activities, in both instances the primary motivation for initiating the work was the information provided to faculty in a professional development workshop regarding how they had previously been observed teaching the mathematics content and how infrequently they utilised the pedagogical practices recommended by STEM education experts. The paper also highlights faculty resistance to curricular reform and enumerates some ways of addressing this resistance. The paper also discusses why faculty from two-year and four-year institutions resisted working together on course redesign and provides recommendations for future efforts addressing course redesign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chilean curriculum for writing education includes five paradigms: cultural, macro-linguistic, micro-linguistic, procedural, and communicative. The implementation of such a poly-paradigmatic curriculum can occur in multiple ways. Therefore, we analyzed classroom practices with two aims: (a) to describe how the paradigms are evident across practices, and (b) to analyze the paradigms' internal alignment within each practice. We conducted classroom observations with five Spanish language teachers with varied orientations toward writing instruction. A content analysis of teachers' discourse formed the basis for a narrative case-by-case analysis and a cross-case analysis. This process was guided by data collected during a previous survey study and supported by teachers' interviews. Findings revealed that the cultural, macro - and micro - linguistic paradigms were implemented most often, while the implementation of procedural and communicative paradigms was rare. Additionally, paradigm alignment was visible in two practices but not in other practices. Possible reasons for this lack of integration and potential solutions to resolve this issue are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preservice teachers often find it difficult to apply professional knowledge to their teaching practice. The ability to connect professional knowledge with one aspect of practice – lesson planning – was assessed with the Lesson Analysis and Plan Template in (N = 18) preservice teachers after one year of teacher preparation. Lesson plans were analysed using qualitative and quantitative analyses. The results suggest that the Lesson Analysis and Plan Template can reveal several aspects of preservice teachers' attention to connecting professional knowledge with their lesson plans as well as areas in which they would benefit from additional support. Furthermore, preservice teachers' connections were compared with their ability to connect professional knowledge with another aspect of practice – observations of teaching – using a validated instrument that assesses professional vision. The relationships found between planning and observation abilities suggest ways for teacher education programmes to bring professional knowledge closer to practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper integrates a set of reflections on our research practice in history teaching with a series of evidence from an investigation into teaching practices related to recent Argentine history, with a special focus on what teachers produce and recreate in the classroom. Particular reference is made to observations of secondary school lessons to highlight the potential of dialogic presentations. Overall, feedback between research and teacher training is advocated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aim to provide teachers with more specific, frequent, and actionable feedback about their teaching, we explore how Large Language Models (LLMs) can be used to estimate "Instructional Support" domain scores of the CLassroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), a widely used observation protocol. We design a machine learning architecture that uses either zero-shot prompting of Meta's Llama2, and/or a classic Bag of Words (BoW) model, to classify individual utterances of teachers' speech (transcribed automatically using OpenAI's Whisper) for the presence of Instructional Support. Then, these utterance-level judgments are aggregated over a 15-min observation session to estimate a global CLASS score. Experiments on two CLASS-coded datasets of toddler and pre-kindergarten classrooms indicate that (1) automatic CLASS Instructional Support estimation accuracy using the proposed method (Pearson R up to 0.48) approaches human inter-rater reliability (up to R = 0.55); (2) LLMs generally yield slightly greater accuracy than BoW for this task, though the best models often combined features extracted from both LLM and BoW; and (3) for classifying individual utterances, there is still room for improvement of automated methods compared to human-level judgments. Finally, (4) we illustrate how the model's outputs can be visualized at the utterance level to provide teachers with explainable feedback on which utterances were most positively or negatively correlated with specific CLASS dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing literature documents the promise of active learning instruction in engaging students in college classrooms. Accordingly, faculty professional development (PD) programs on active learning have become increasingly popular in postsecondary institutions; yet, quantitative evidence on the effectiveness of these programs is limited. Using administrative data and an instructor fixed effects approach, we estimate the effect of an active learning PD program on student performance and persistence at a large public institution. Findings indicate that the training improved subsequent persistence in the same field. Using a subset of instructors whose instruction was observed by independent observers, we identify a positive association between training and implementation of active learning teaching practices. These findings provide suggestive evidence that active learning PD has the potential to improve student outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Foreign Language Teaching, investigating the multiple variables that intervene in first language use is essential to uncover learning processes and design optimal teaching practices. Past studies have mainly focused on identifying teachers' reasons for their first language use, while research on learners' views is scarce. This mixed-method case study aims to provide a comprehensive description of first language use in a foreign language classroom through the examination of its pedagogical functions and the corresponding views held by the teacher and his students. This article adds to the scholarly body of knowledge about the role of first language use in Foreign Language Teaching with the yielding of constructive insights from non-formal education-a non-previously researched context. Specifically, this study was conducted in "Mar Menor" Center of Adult Education (Southern Spain). The main research questions address the quantification of the pedagogical functions of first language use generated by the instructor in certain classes and the comparison of his views with those of his students, concerning L1 use in general teaching and his sessions. Data comprised classroom observations, teacher's stimulated recalls, students' diaries and questionnaires addressed to both sets of participants. The results revealed the multifunctional nature of the teacher's first language use and a fairly degree of alignment between his views and those of his students. This study underscores the importance of fostering learners' agency. Furthermore, its findings can potentially inform Foreign Language Teaching by deepening the understanding of the myriad of factors and perspectives involved in first language use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding and measuring effective teaching practices in low- and middle-income countries is a complex process that requires a contextualised knowledge of teaching quality, as well as adaptable instruments that can reliably capture teachers’ varied classroom behaviours. One approach developed with these purposes in mind is Teach Primary, a classroom observation framework designed and revised in 2021 by the World Bank. This framework captures the time teachers spend on learning and the quality of teaching practices which help to enhance pupils’ cognitive and socio-emotional skills, as well as aspects of the physical environment which may influence teaching quality. Using the Teach Primary framework, this article examines evidence regarding effective instructional practices in primary school classrooms, with highlighted examples from low- and middle-income countries. It also sheds light on the criticality of instrument contextualisation, given variations in how practices can be valued and implemented in different settings and how structural quality factors can influence teachers’ use of strategies. Challenges and limitations relating to the use of the Teach Primary framework are discussed, along with implications for teacher education and evaluation.

Question asking is a prevalent aspect of children’s speech, providing a means by which young learners can rapidly gain information about the world. Previous research has demonstrated that children exhibit sensitivity to the knowledge state of potential informants in laboratory settings. However, it remains unclear whether and how young children are inclined to direct questions that support learning deeper content to more knowledgeable informants in naturalistic classroom contexts. In this study, we examined children’s question-asking targets (adults, other preschoolers, self-talk) during an open-play period in a US preschool classroom and assessed how the cognitive and linguistic characteristics of questions varied as a function of the intended recipient. Further, we examined how these patterns changed with age. We recorded the spontaneous speech of individual children between the ages of 3 and 6 years (N = 30, totaling 2875 utterances) in 40-min open-period sessions in their preschool day, noting whether the speech was directed toward an adult, another child, or was stated to self. We publish this fully transcribed database with contextual and linguistic details coded as open access to all future researchers. We found that questions accounted for a greater proportion of preschoolers’ adult-directed speech than of their child-directed and self-directed speech, with a particular increase in questions that supported broader learning goals when directed to an adult. Younger children directed a higher proportion of learning questions to adults than themselves, whereas older children asked similar proportions of questions to both, suggesting a difference in younger and older children’s question-asking strategies. Although children used greater lexical diversity in questions than in other utterances, their question formulation in terms of length and diversity remained consistent across age and recipient types, reflecting their general linguistic abilities. Our findings reveal that children discriminately choose “what” and “whom” to ask in daily spontaneous conversations. Even in less-structured school contexts, preschoolers direct questions to the informant most likely to be able to provide an adequate answer.

Educational practices and all that happens in the classroom are essential to children’s learning progress and their development. Despite the importance of teachers’ educational practices, in the low- or middle-income countries the practices are hardly ever measured, partly because of a lack of access to classroom observation tools and the high costs of their administration. As a result, the present research undertook the aim to analyze the improvement of educational practices on the dimensions that are comprised in the observation tool we used: classroom climate, instruction and social and emotional skills by means of classroom observation and providing feedback using the Teach observation tool. Thus, we assume that early childhood education teachers who participate in observation and feedback processes based on the Teach observation tool develop educational practices more adapted to the children’s social and emotional and cognitive needs. The study consisted of conducting a quasi-experiment with three repeated applications of the Teach observation tool on a sample of 19 kindergarten teaching staff. The 19 kindergarten teachers were from the same kindergarten in Braşov city, Kindergarten no.11, “House of joy”. The study was carried out during the 2020-2021 school year. Following the implementation of the Teach observation tool, we can conclude that its role is to facilitate the measurement of quality in early childhood education. Teaching can be a starting point for understanding, measuring and discussing the quality of teaching practices in early childhood education, leading to improved support for teachers and ultimately better learning experiences and higher outcomes for preschoolers. Also, in the future, the Teach observation tool can provide policy makers and stakeholders with the information they need to design and implement policies and programs in early childhood education.

AbstractDue to the importance of teachers in providing quality education, research in the last two decades has consistently focused on their effectiveness. However, there are inconclusive debates in the literature on the nature of relationships that exist between different supervisory strategies and their links to teachers’ job performance. This study used a predictive correlation design to assess how five principals’ supervisory practices contribute to teachers’ job effectiveness generally and across three specific areas. Secondary school teachers that participated in the study were 284 and were selected using simple and purposive sampling techniques. Data were collected using a questionnaire. A bootstrapping procedure in covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) and multiple linear regression analysis were used for hypotheses testing at the .05 alpha level. Among others, findings revealed a significant joint prediction of classroom observation, supervision of sporting activities, instructional aids, team teaching and school record on teachers’ job effectiveness generally and in the dimensions of lesson note preparation and classroom management, but not the use of instructional materials. Teachers who reported frequent classroom observation by principals also reported a higher level of lesson preparation but not other aspects of teaching effectiveness. The supervision of sporting activities significantly predicted teachers’ overall effectiveness and specific aspects such as lesson preparation, instructional material use, and classroom management. This study can encourage school principals to gain more knowledge, facts and strategies required for effective and efficient school-based supervision.

In this study, we examined the relation of observed classroom practices to language and literacy achievement and the moderation of this relation for students from pre-K to sixth grade. A total of 136 studies (N = 107,882 participants) met the inclusion criteria, of which 108 studies were included for meta-analysis and the other 28 studies were narratively synthesized. The average zero-order (r =.12) and partial correlations (rp =.04) were statistically significant but weak in magnitude. The relation was slightly weaker in upper than in lower grade levels, and stronger for observations capturing macro quality and instructional dimension than those capturing micro measurement and emotional or structural dimension, respectively. The relation did not vary by observation duration, frequency, adopted statistical approach, or type of covariates. Taken together with the narrative synthesis, the results highlight the complex nature of classroom observation and a need for more classroom research, particularly on higher grade levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the role of classroom observation in the development and assessment of schoolteachers in Vietnam through a narrative review of current policy and cognate research literature. The overall aim of this review was twofold. Firstly, to contribute to a growing bank of Vietnam-based studies to maximise the value of the insights from this scholarly work into recent policy reforms on teachers' professional development in Vietnam. Secondly, to widen access and exposure to published work on the topic in Vietnamese that is not readily accessible to English-speaking scholars. This review revealed a long history and engrained culture of using observation as a teacher performance evaluation tool. In recent years, there have been policy reforms and research studies that have repositioned observation as a tool for teacher learning and development. However, the implementation of these reforms has been inconsistent across Vietnam, along with recent reform having encountered resistance from a culture of compliance in schools. This paper identifies some of the key issues that policy makers and educational leaders need to address in practice in order to ensure the effective and meaningful implementation of the reforms relating to the use of observation for learning and developmental purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students understand math and science lessons better when innovative teaching resources are used. To implement a variety of teaching strategies and methods, teachers must be aware of and familiar with various innovative and effective pedagogical knowledge and skills. Some students, on the other hand, believe that math and science are difficult subjects. As a result of their mindset, they avoid or refuse to participate in these subjects in their advanced education. To that end, the purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which upper primary and lower secondary school mathematics and science teachers use modernized and innovative teaching tools after nine months of professional development. The study included 959 teachers from 10 districts in Rwanda, 300 from the primary level and 659 from the lower secondary level. The study collected quantitative data using a classroom observation tool. MS Excel and SPSS were used to analyze data. The results from the analysis showed that secondary school teachers use the provided resources by Rwanda Quality Education for Human Capital Development (RQBEHCD) at a rate of 65.5% on average, while primary school teachers use them at a rate of 63.00% on average. The findings also revealed that these teachers use modernized tools at 77.89% and 80.51%, respectively. This implies that secondary school teachers use more modern tools than primary school teachers. Although, there is no statistically significant difference in modernized tools and innovative methods in terms of teaching grade level (F = 1.067, df = 957, p >.50) between upper primary and lower secondary schools. It was found that primary and secondary teachers use ICT resources at nearly the same rate as secondary school teachers, at 41.1% and 40.6%, respectively. Our findings, therefore, recommend policymakers use more modern tools and innovative teaching and learning methods to improve the educational process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary approaches to professional development (PD) involve investigating ways of bottom-up, self-directed practices while addressing various needs of teachers. Yet, utilized as a tool in such practices, classroom observation (CO) is not considered to promote teacher professional learning since it is generally regarded as part of the appraisal process. Thus, this exploratory case study aims to explore the insights of four EFL teachers about CO tailored by teachers themselves for their professional growth in a higher education context in Türkiye. Focusing on a bottom-up practice, the teachers pursued a collaborative act on their PD in this specific context. Based on the participants’ previous and current experiences of CO, the data were collected through semi-structured interviews and teacher educator notes. The inductive thematic analysis of the data revealed three major interconnected themes providing pathways toward CO as a PD tool with special emphasis on the generic features of the teacher-tailored CO process. The discussion of findings highlights the importance of empowering, collaborative, and sustainable practices in teachers’ professional growth. Implications are included for English language teacher development programs.

Objective: The objectives of this study were to (a) identify Turkish middle-school physical education teachers' self-reported use and perceptions of spectrum teaching styles, (b) determine the spectrum teaching styles the teachers use when teaching, and (c) examine whether gender and teaching experience were differentiating factors. Method: A convenience sample of 58 female and 62 male teachers working in 86 different middle schools located in Adana (Turkey) were recruited into the study. The data were collected using two validated instruments: the Physical Education Teachers' Use of Teaching Styles and Perceptions of Styles Questionnaire, and the Instrument for Identifying Teaching Styles. Results: The findings based on the teachers' reported perceptions (questionnaire data) revealed that the teachers employed the full spectrum of teaching styles in their classes, ranging from teacher centered to student centered, regardless of their gender or level of teaching experience. However, the data based on actual observations of teaching styles yielded less evidence that the self-reported styles were used in actual teaching settings. The teachers' perceptions and their actual use of teaching styles did not vary according to the gender and/or teaching experience of the teacher. Conclusion: There is a discrepancy between teachers' self-reported teaching styles and the actual use of the styles in their teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building preservice teachers' capacities with in-depth reflections on their acquired knowledge and practicum practice has become indispensable in teacher education programs' current field experience requirements. Lengthy training programs with blended learning have successfully promoted reflection in preservice teachers. However, it is unclear whether preservice teachers could benefit from a short self-access online training program (SSOTP) in promoting their reflection depths, especially when facing challenging situations such as COVID-19. Using a teaching and assessing reflective learning model, we examined reflection depth among Chinese preservice teachers in a quasi-experimental research approach. This study showed the effectiveness of an SSOTP in stimulating preservice teachers' reflection depth. The training sequence and different topics also significantly affected preservice teachers in generating reflections. The results suggested that establishing an SSOTP with systematic stimulations could enhance preservice teachers' reflection depths and help them achieve quality teaching during the teacher preparation stage. While preservice teachers generated many reflective statements, their reflection depths were relatively shallow. This study provides evidence to enhance different levels of reflection depth in future SSOTPs.

Classroom observation has been long considered a powerful tool for evaluating and monitoring teachers' performance and progress. Teachers can benefit from the feedback during the postobservation conference but giving feedback is not a simple skill and needs knowledge and training. Research on tackling postobservation problems remains emerging and the aim of this study is to explore the role that a teacher's personality type–based on DiSC personality test‐ might play in postobservation conferences and reaction to receiving feedback from the supervisor. To gather data, 20 nonnative EFL teachers were asked to take the DiSC personality test to have their personality types identified, then they were observed three times, and each time they received feedback on their classroom management techniques. Results indicate that teachers with different personality types act differently during the postobservation conferences. While D and i styles are active and tend to employ feedback moderately and strongly in their classes, S and C styles are mostly passive with the tendency of employing feedback moderately and weakly. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the role of personality types in teachers' tolerance of criticism and their tendency to apply the received feedback in their future classes. Practitioner points: Teachers with different personality types act differently during the postobservation conferences.Teachers with the same personality types act mostly similarly during the postobservation conferences.The findings facilitate the process of feedback giving by owning several assumptions about each personality type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the concurrent validity between two different classroom observational assessments, the Danielson Framework for Teaching (FFT: Danielson 2013) and the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS; Reddy & Dudek 2014). Twenty-four administrators from 8 high-poverty charter schools conducted 324 annual teacher evaluations for 221 Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers across three school years. Pearson correlations were computed between each measure's calculated summative scores. Small to medium positive and two negative correlations (i.e., CSAS Vague Directives and Behavior Corrective Feedback) were found between FFT Domains 2 (Classroom Environment) and 3 (Instruction) and CSAS Strategy Counts. Negative medium to large correlations were found between FFT Domains 2 and 3 and CSAS Strategy Rating scale discrepancy scores. Overall, findings revealed that the FFT and CSAS scores offer conceptually similar and dissimilar constructs, and yield complementary information for educator evaluation practices. Implications for research, practice, and policy are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metaphors in gesture and speech play a pivotal role in the way that programming concepts are presented in the classroom. However, little is known about the function of teachers' metaphors in practice. This study aims to explore teachers' use of metaphors in gesture and speech in a lecture on programming. Based on video observations of three upper secondary teachers, we employ Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) and Metaphor Identification for Gesture Guidelines (MIG-G) as methodological tools for identifying metaphoric speech and gestures related to programming concepts. The results of the study reveal that the gestures of the three teachers mainly function in two ways: (1) to add spatial properties to a programming concept and (2) to provide additional imagery for a programming concept. Consequently, the gestures identified in this study reduce the communicative burden of teachers' speech. Furthermore, the study reveals that teachers' gestures serve as means for making abstract concepts more tangible. For example, gestures concerning the abstract term "data" can generally be related to an object that could be received or moved. Hence, despite its metaphorical origin, data could be considered a graspable aspect of programming. Furthermore, spatial gestures enable the teachers to communicate programming processes in a tangible way, for example assigning programming processes a forward direction. Theoretical implications, potential implications for teaching and future research are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study delves into the occurrence of bilingualism; specifically language switching or code-switching (CS), within the perspective and background of English as foreign language (EFL) classrooms. Code-switching alludes to the practice of switching from the target lingo i.e. English to an additional language-Sindhi/Urdu during communication. The primary goals of the current research are to categorize various sorts of code-switching and to discern its functions in EFL classrooms. The empirical data for this study were procured through comprehensive classroom observations, involving the use of audio recordings as well as field notes derived from two distinct EFL classes. Outcome of the analysis revealed the utilization of three distinct types of code switching by both educators and learners: tag-switching, inter-sentential switching and intra-sentential switching. Consequently such forms of switching of codes were observed in various contexts within the classrooms. Additionally, the research highlighted a discrepancy in the occurrence and frequency of codeswitching functions engaged by English instructors and their EFL learners across both classes. This discrepancy can be attributed to two fundamental rationales: social functions and pedagogical functions. In the social realm, code switching was identified as a means to (1) convey teacher admonishments, (2) solicit assistance, (3) aid fellow students, (4) respond to unsatisfactory student answers, and (5) foster informal interactions among students. In the pedagogical sphere, switching the codes was brought into being just to serve the following purposes: (1) reiterate or clarify comprehensible utterances that had been previously expressed, (2) assess students' comprehension of newly introduced vocabulary or expressions, (3) provide translations during lessons on grammatical features, (4) rectify personal errors, (5) elucidate misconceptions held by teachers, and (6) initiate questioning. In essence, this study sheds light upon the complex landscape of switching the codes within EFL classrooms. By discerning the various types and occurrence of code-switching, the prevailing study adds to a deeper perceptive of the linguistic dynamics, which underpin the teaching as well as learning process in bilingual educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]