People watching : a case study of teacher observation culture and social learning spaces in Dubai private schools
Keating, David (2021)
Keating, David
2021
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021060614519
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021060614519
Tiivistelmä
Student enrolment and fee revenue in international private schools are at an all-time high around the world. Private international schools in Dubai are among the highest in volume and most competitive in this global market. As a result of this, teacher accountability and observation culture has become the norm. Recent studies report teacher frustration with many of these formal observation systems and question their impact on continued teacher professional development. As many international schools operate as social learning spaces within which informal professional development often takes place between teachers, this study aims to understand the impact that formal teacher observation culture has on social learning. The study was designed with a mixed-method approach, using quantitative survey data to gain an overview of the observation culture in Dubai, combined with informal interviews to understand the lived experience of these teachers.
The results from the study substantiated the existence of this formal observation culture with many teachers reporting regular formal visits from Senior Leadership and variations in feedback from informal discussion to pay related judgments and ratings. This practice was often completed in preparation for visits by the KHDA, the regulating body responsible for the annual inspection of Dubai private schools. The study also confirmed that these schools operate as social learning spaces within which teachers contribute to mutual professional development in a variety of informal social practices. The formal observation systems adopted by the schools often had an impact on some of the key elements in social learning spaces such as staff relationships.
There is substantial evidence to suggest that schools need to rethink their approach to teacher observation to correct what has become a stressful and toxic observation culture in the Dubai private school industry. As evidence has shown that teachers often place more value on informal social learning from their peers, more opportunities should be put in place to allow these to foster with less emphasis placed on pre-planned, artificial lesson observations in preparation for the annual school inspection.
The results from the study substantiated the existence of this formal observation culture with many teachers reporting regular formal visits from Senior Leadership and variations in feedback from informal discussion to pay related judgments and ratings. This practice was often completed in preparation for visits by the KHDA, the regulating body responsible for the annual inspection of Dubai private schools. The study also confirmed that these schools operate as social learning spaces within which teachers contribute to mutual professional development in a variety of informal social practices. The formal observation systems adopted by the schools often had an impact on some of the key elements in social learning spaces such as staff relationships.
There is substantial evidence to suggest that schools need to rethink their approach to teacher observation to correct what has become a stressful and toxic observation culture in the Dubai private school industry. As evidence has shown that teachers often place more value on informal social learning from their peers, more opportunities should be put in place to allow these to foster with less emphasis placed on pre-planned, artificial lesson observations in preparation for the annual school inspection.