Learning Through Observation

Narrator: To help her improve the quality of the questions she uses with her students, Karen works with Gracie through a clinical supervision model. Clinical supervision is the best-known, oldest, and most widely used structure for working directly with classroom teachers. It involves five stages: a pre-conference discussion of a concern, an observation of a classroom lesson to collect data, an analysis and planning stage during which the observation data are reviewed, a post-conference discussion that focuses on improvement goals and next steps, and a critique stage that reviews the clinical supervision model being used.

Karen (teacher): I feel like I'm not asking the types of questions that I should be. The higher-level thinking questions.

Gracie (assistant principal): Critical-thinking questions.

Karen: Right, that my students need.

Gracie: What makes you think that you're not doing that?

Karen: From the answers that I'm getting from my students.

Gracie: During the pre-conference, one of the things that I’m doing is listening. So I'm actually listening to what the problem is; then I guide the teacher in analyzing and reflecting in those areas. And I do it—maybe they are not aware of it—I do it strictly through questioning.

Gracie: What do you mean? Give me an example.

Karen: My students are giving me a lot of fact-based answers, one-word answers, short answers. And I'm having trouble asking them questions to give me the longer, more extended answers.

Karen: During the pre-conference, I talk to Gracie about what I would like her to watch. And then the two of us negotiate what we think would work best for what I'm doing.

Gracie: I can come in. I can either jot down how many questions you're asking, what kinds of questions. I can script.

Karen: I think scripting would work well, so that I could hear the text of what I'm saying and what the students are saying. Since my problem seems to be with the flow of the lesson, if you script it and I have the whole lesson in front of me, that may help me see where the flow is getting messed up.

Gracie: I can come and do that.

Narrator: In addition to discussing concerns and selecting or designing observation methods, Karen and Gracie determine when the observation and post-conference should take place.

Student: Maybe it was a different color when the chicken was still alive.

Karen: What do you think? Have you ever broken a bone open before? And what did you see? What else should we not do with the bones? Cornelia?

Student: Since they're very fragile, don't drop them on the floor.

Narrator: Important for successful clinical supervision and other models of classroom-based assistance is to develop a trusting and collegial relationship between supervisor and teacher. Without it, improving teaching and learning cannot take place.

Source: From Improving Instruction Through Observation and Feedback (Program 1: Different Models of Providing Classroom-Based Assistance), 2002, Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.