Clinical Supervision

Clinical Supervision

…has as its goal the professional development of teachers, with an emphasis on improving teachers’ classroom performance.

(Acheson & Gall, p. 1)

Jones’ Law #1

•

Teachers are not born… they grow

Most teachers

• Are good teachers some of the time and not so good (or downright awful) at other times

Classrooms are incredibly busy places • …classrooms are complex environments in which teachers often must make quick decisions while using incomplete information

Classrooms are incredibly busy places Philip Jackson, Life in Classrooms (1968) over 1,000 interpersonal interactions in a single day

Classrooms are incredibly busy places Philip Jackson, Life in Classrooms (1968) Over 1,000 interpersonal interactions daily

Supervision Problem #1 – Determining what professional teaching looks like

Consider the Inquiry Teacher

The Perfect The Perfect The Perfect Classroom Teacher Lesson

(how it looks, smells, feels, etc.) (classroom management, instructional methods, presentation style, etc.) (subject, duration, type of activity, etc.) After Borich, 2003

Consider the Inquiry Teacher

A Terrible Classroom

(how it looks, smells, feels, etc.)

A Terrible A Terrible Teacher Lesson

(classroom management, instructional methods, presentation style, etc.) (subject, duration, type of activity, etc.) After Borich, 2003

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Wonderful Classroom

Kids engaged (bad pun) Student work displayed Cooperative Learning Confidence level of students is high Smells good (dissected sharks?) Spacious and comfortable Colorful, bright Displays evidence of learning Non-threatening Teacher’s positive attitude Warm and inviting (no yelling) Accepting PROBLEMS EVIDENT Teacher is facilitating

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Not-so-Wonderful Classroom

Cluttered in a non-organized manner Sterile Blank walls Quiet, no-academic interaction Dirty, smelling Students uninvolved Statements instead of questions Austere, cold Teacher centered Desks all in a row Blank stares… Stacks of paper Smells old

• After Leinhardt, Putnam, Stein & Baxter (1981)

Teachers’ Roles

Subject-matter Knowledge – Includes the specific information needed to present content • Action-System Knowledge – Skills for planning lessons, making pacing decisions, explaining materials clearly, responding to individual differences..

Dunkin and Biddle

Study of Teaching

(1973) Presage

Teacher intelligence, motivation, training… Class size, bussing, …

Context Process

Questioning, models, management… Student background, motivation…

Test scores, graduation rates, … Product

From Transactional Analysis, we know…

Pre-ignition Afterburn

Success Bomb

Observation Skills

But toward what end?

-Research?

-Teacher Assistance?

Reward/Punish?

Views of Data Recording

(after Evertson & Green) Everyday Tacit Everyday Deliberate Systematic Deliberate Systematic

Less Highly Formal Formal

Situation Question Observations Specific Observations Specific Observations

Purposes of Teacher Assessment • To assist in institutional and administrative decision making – Whom to promote, place on growth plans, recommend for licensure… • To increase instructional effectiveness

From Evaluation to ….

• • • • • To meet contractual requirements, e.g. punctuality, attendance, extra-curricular assignments… To certify the effectiveness of instruction to the board, public, staff.

To illuminate and made commendations for excellence in instructional practices.

To meet legal requirements as determined by legal mandates.

To apply district/school adopted criteria for judging instructional effectiveness.

• • • Top

From Evaluation to ….

To monitor professional conduct: e.g., dress, continuing to learn, participating in district improvement tasks, enthusiasm, etc.

To identify instructional deficiencies and plan learning opportunities to remediate those deficiencies.

To guarantee minimum uniformity.

Down

Is it any wonder….?

“Under the supervisory structure used in many schools, teachers may view feedback from supervisors with suspicion or hostility” (Good & Brophy)

Leadership Styles….

Theory X Theory Y

• • • The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if (s)he can People have to be coerced, controlled, directed, threatened to get them to put forward appropriate effort People prefer to be be directed and avoid responsibility; most have little ambition and want security above all • • • • • • The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest Humans exercise self-direction in the service of committed objectives Commitment is a function of rewards associated with their achievement The average human seeks responsibility Imagination, ingenuity, and creativity are widely distributed Human intellectual potential is only partly utilized After McGregor

• • • • •

Clinical Supervision ….

To improve teacher performance To enhance classroom climate for learning.

To improve the organization of instruction.

To align teaching processes and learning activities with theory and learner needs.

To identify and resolve school and classroom problems that may be hindering learning.

Teacher Supervisor • • • •

Clinical Supervision ….

To identify and remediate students’ behavior problems.

A central objective … is the development of the professionally responsible teacher who is analytical of his/her own performance, open to help from others, and withal self-directing (Maurice Cogan) Guides teachers toward self-evaluation Bridges the real-ideal gap

Supervision Problem #2 – Who should do the supervision

Teacher

Superordinate

Colleague

Clinical…

• • …meant to suggest a face-to-face relationship between teacher and supervisor and a focus on the teacher’s actual behavior in the classroom Teacher-centered supervision (paralleling Carl Rogers’ “person-centered” counseling)

George C. Kyte

(1930) 1. Planning for the observation of teaching 2. Getting the most out of the observation period 3. Analyzing the teaching observed

George C. Kyte

(1930)

Identified two kinds of conferences

1. After a supervisory visit or the products of pupils’ efforts have been submitted to a supervisory officer 2. Preparatory – first conferences with a new teacher, consultations based on requests of teachers, interviews for for planning classroom experimentation

Approaches to Clinical Supervision (after Edward Pajak) Original Models (1960’s - early 1970’s) • Collegiality and mutual discovery of meaning 1962 Harvard-Lexington Summer Program of Harvard’s MAT program* Robert Goldhammer (1969) (Anderson, Krajewski (1993) Maurice Cogan* (1973) Ralph Mosher & David Purpel (1972)

Clinical Supervision ….

Popular assumptions • Learning to teach is easy; the preparation for teaching should therefore be short and simple • Teachers’ 12+ years as students provide teacher education students with certain models of what teachers are and do • Professionals need little face-to-face interactions from other professionals

Clinical Supervision ….

• Big Changes… • Face-to-face relationships between supervisors and teachers • Detailed observational data • Intensity of focus in professional relationships

Clinical Supervision ….

• – “of, relating to, or conducted in or as if in a clinic” and “involving or depending on direct observation…” • “the presentation, analysis, and treatment of actual cases and concrete problems in some special field” • General supervision subsumes supervisory operations principally outside of the classroom • Clinical supervision focuses upon the improvement of the teacher’s classroom instruction • Assumption – teacher education is continuous – becoming a teacher is developmental

Early Clinical Supervisory Moves Robert Goldhammer (1969) 1. Pre-Observation Conference 2. Observation 3. Analysis and Strategy 4. Supervision Conference 5. Post-Conference Analysis Morris Cogan (1973) 1. Establishing the teacher-supervisor relationship 2. Planning with the teacher 3. Planning the strategy of observation 4. Observing instruction 5. Analyzing the teaching-learning processes 6. Planning the strategy of the conference 7. The conference 8. Renewed Planning

Approaches to Clinical Supervision (after Edward Pajak) Humanistic/ Artistic Models (mid 1970s to early 1980s) Blumberg • Positive and productive interpersonal relations with holistic understanding of classroom events Counseling the key Eisner - Artistic Approach - “hear the music” as well as observe the action

Approaches to Clinical Supervision (after Edward Pajak) Technical/ Didactic Models (early to mid 1980s) • Effective teaching strategies, techniques, and organizational expectations Acheson & Gall Hunter Joyce & Showers

Approaches to Clinical Supervision (after Edward Pajak) Developmental/ Reflective Models (mid 1980s to present) Glickman, Schon, Costa & Garmston, Zeichner & Liston, Garman, Smyth, Retallick, Bowwers & Flinders • Teacher cognitive development, introspection, and discovery of context specific principles of practice

The Three Phases of the Clinical Supervision Cycle After Acheson and Gall

Supervisory Assumptions

• Instructional improvement is not a superficial process; it requires considerable time and effort • When dealing with adult professionals, no one changes another person’s behavior • Goal directed behavior is more effective in achieving instructional improvement than behavior that is not focused on specific outcomes • Objective recording and descriptive reporting of teaching data are more useful for instructional improvement than subjective , evaluative statements • Teaching, as an intellectual and social act, is amenable to intellectual analysis • Supervisors demonstrate leadership most effectively as a participant educational growth of

An Effective Teacher Satisfactorily • • • • • • Provides instruction in academic knowledge and skills’ Provides an instructional climate that helps students develop positive attitudes toward learning and self Adjusts instruction in response to students’ abilities, ethnic identification, home background, and gender Manages the learning environment so students are engaged in learning Makes sound decisions and plans Implements agreed-upon curriculum decisions After Acheson and Gall , p. 44

… this course

Will provide you background and skills to assist in this growth by

• • • • Understanding the theory of supervision Mastering observation skills Becoming adept at conferencing and feedback Being able to tie classroom efforts with a research base

Slides courtesy Dr. Howard Jones