After observing my post observation conference, I think one of my strengths is the conversational style I utilized in the conference. There was lots of nodding, good eye contact, and phrases such as “you know what I mean, right, yeah….” in the conversation. We both appeared relaxed for the most part, but I am clearly relaxed, leaning into the conversation or across the table to share information.
I tried very hard to put the teacher at ease. I am working with a first year teacher and had given the Clinical Dialect Preference Survey from Honoring Diverse Teaching Styles to the teacher prior to our observation to help inform both of us of her teaching style. She had tested as being a feeling/sensing teacher with equal scores in the feeling and sensing categories. In reading up on this teaching style and how to speak the Caring Teacher dialect, I focused on the need to avoid being insensitive or confrontational when presenting data and also the need to highlight the tone of the classroom as well as what was observed. Teachers relying on feelings and senses can be sensitive themselves, and I tried to keep this in mind when preparing for the conference.
The conference was held in my office, and I initially suggested this thinking it would be most convenient for the teacher. (I asked her to stop by on her way out.) In hindsight, I should probably have given the teacher the option of where to meet as this would have been a simple way to give the teacher a say/options and a feeling of collegiality and lessen any feelings of superiority. We did sit together at a table as opposed to across a desk, which I think helped the tone of the meeting to be more informal.
Throughout our conversation there appears to be active listening, with nodding and affirmative sounds, questions for further clarification and laughter at appropriate times. I feel there were times when my delivery, word finding, or phrasing could have been smoother. I think I was trying very hard to convey my thoughts in a sensitive manner and not appear serious in tone. I’ve decided that if this makes me appear to be the bumbling professor but puts the other person at ease, I can live with that. However, I feel there may have been occasions where I was less than clear and had to paraphrase and repeat a thought in different ways in order to get my meaning across. I think it may be necessary to be less than direct while you are building rapport with a teacher. But it is also the point of communication to get your message across clearly, so hopefully with practice, I can find a tone which puts people at ease and does allow me to be direct.
I had utilized an observation tool that recorded what the teacher said and the students’ actions, as this was a focus (clarity of directions) that the teacher had asked for. I had provided the teacher with a copy of my notes prior to the observation so she would have some idea of what I had observed before our meeting. I had also prepared a document of observations and interpretations as well as a mapped out continuum for the collaborative approach to the conference.
The teacher I am working with is in her first year of teaching and as much as a directive approach may have been appropriate, I felt that the collaborative approach would do well in helping to build her confidence. I briefly discussed the tone of the classroom and the positive choice of engaging activities to both set her at ease and provide a positive start to the conference. I began with a prepared list of questions to go over before getting to my data, to provide more information on the lesson as a whole and to begin the clarifying process. I tried hard to follow the collaborative style and asked her if she would like to first share what her greatest concern or area of improvement might be or if she would like to discuss my data.
As I had hoped, she shared her concern, which basically paraphrased my concern. The clarifying, listening, and reflecting done at the beginning clearly made the conference longer but I feel it was worth the time because the teacher was really able to hear what I said later with an open and like mind. Had I just presented my “I see situations in which management is interfering with instruction” it would have been harsh to hear and probably pretty demoralizing for a first year teacher. I believe it would have made the conference less than what it became because the teacher would not have been as in tune with what I had to share. But after she offered that she feels there is a need to set expectations to deal less with behavior problems and have smoother transitions, we had a discussion about what classroom management really is. I gave the example of a teacher who thinks in terms of minutes and helps her students to think in those terms. I also discussed how planning out the minutia of classroom routines for students helps to save those classroom minutes so there is more time for instruction and better flow overall in the classroom. In this way, we clearly linked the identified need to improved instruction.
It was only after this conversation that I presented my data, which showed evidence from the observation and my interpretation of the evidence. Of the five interpretations, one was positive, one was more of a question of what I had observed, and three were issues that could be addressed by her. I also provided her with some direct actions/suggestions that could be tried to improve classroom management in the type of lesson she presented (small groups, rotating through stations). These were presented highlighting how they could help the class overall as well as specific students to help reinforce the link between the observation and improved instruction.
In the end there was lots of agreement. Phrases such as “that makes sense” and “I think this is everything I want to accomplish but I haven’t been able to put it all together” as well as “it makes much more sense to talk about it out loud” made me feel like the conference overall was successful and useful to the teacher. We also had a conversation about how the observation process was meant to work in this way: helping a teacher reflect on practices in order to improve them. After watching the video, it seems this is the sentence I should have started the conference with. However, after going through the process of the conference, it seemed much more meaningful when stated at the end. We agreed upon some actions she would take, confirmed the details of an improvement plan and set a date for another observation.
Overall I think the time and effort put into preparing for the conference paid off in establishing rapport, helping the teacher to reflect on her practice, and accept constructive criticism. I am constantly reminded in this course of how different this method of supervision is from my own experiences of being supervised and what a good thing that is.
Resources:
Pajak, E. (2003). Honoring Diverse Teaching Styles A Guide for Supervisors. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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