In today’s educational landscape where accountability reigns, assessing teaching effectiveness has become a focal point in initial teacher education (ITE). With increased scrutiny and inspection, the role of teaching standards and professional judgment has taken centre stage. But amid this, a tension arises – a clash between the principles of professionalism such as agency and expertise (see OECD, 2016) and the demands of a market-driven ideology involving uniformity, standardisation and compliance (Biesta, 2022). In some instances, this has resulted in a shift towards inspection models that threaten reduction of resources or even programme closure (Hulme et al., 2023). Teachers and teacher educators alike have expressed great concern regarding de-professionalising of teaching and perceived disproportionate levels of accountability. Indeed, in 2020 Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, who is considered one of the most influential authorities affecting educational policy, concluded that education had not yet acquired professional status.

This blog post reports on a study that investigated the role of professional judgment of classroom-based mentor teachers, teacher educators in universities, and university-based school experience tutors in observing and judging teaching effectiveness. Participants were selected through purposeful sampling from three initial teacher education programmes located in England, Scotland and Wales (approximate n = 100). Social judgment theory (SJT) supported and informed this research (Cooksey, 1996). SJT emphasises careful identification and analysis of the context of judgment and the cues and policies used, which make it a fitting framework. The enquiry used a comparative, embedded and descriptive multiple-case study design. A mixed-methods approach guided data collection and analysis, and a cross-case synthesis occurred (Yin, 2018).

Data collection occurred through document review of teaching standards, a video observation task and focus groups. Teaching standards and associated evaluation tools were reviewed and aligned with the 10 standards of the Education International and UNESCO Global Framework of Professional Teaching Standards. Participants were asked to watch a 15-minute teaching video and then to complete a series of questions about the effectiveness of the teaching observed, to explain their thought process and rationale in making judgments about teaching and to express their agreement or disagreement of impacting factors on making judgments identified in prior research (such as criteria, training, bias, years of experience). Quantitative analysis unveiled patterns of consensus and dissensus, while qualitative and cross-case analysis delves into the underlying themes and categories.

The research highlights the distinctness of each of the three nations through exploring standards and how they are used, better understanding of contestation in educational work that can occur across devolved educational policies, and issues with compliance-style evaluation. Results also show a duplexity emerging of principal ideas in the judgment-making process operating in organisational complexity of ITE settings involving a sizable number of variables. These variables operate together, influencing each other and eliciting various degrees of attention, pressure and resources. Findings suggest a new model (see Figure 1) which takes into consideration natural variability present in a human endeavour which requires plasticity, while also protecting the education system in which pupils learn and develop by acknowledging a system’s threshold boundaries of variation to ensure quality.

Figure 1: Duplexity of judging teaching effectiveness: An emerging model of dynamic, adaptive systems thinking in teacher education

‘There are no set prescriptions for judgment-making; too often there is a search for linear, straightforward solutions when a multi-modal systems approach is actually needed.’

For example, while personal judgment is more subjective and individual-centred, professional judgment is expected to be objective, informed by expertise, and guided by established standards. Too much variability in judgments could result in a lack of rigour compromising entry to the profession, and too little flexibility could inhibit growth, and opportunities for innovation. There are no set prescriptions for judgment-making; too often there is a search for linear, straightforward solutions when a multi-modal systems approach is actually needed. As a complex and socially situated experience, the process can’t be controlled, but can be designed and redesigned through dialogue and deliberation to gain both greater quality and suitability. This model can be applied broadly to decision-making in ITE, but also specifically to judgment-making by embracing tenets of complex systems such as interconnectedness, uncertainty, adaptability and regenerative feedback loops (Cochran-Smith, et al., 2014; Martin et al., 2019). Implications of this research are situated to directly influence continuous improvement practices of institutions and their networks, as well as stimulate review and renewal of assessment practices. These findings pave the way for discussions around professional teaching standards and the gap between expectations and realities in assessing teaching in ITE.

Funding: This work was supported by the Society for Educational Studies 2022 National Award.

This blog post relates to a paper presented at the BERA Conference 2024 and WERA Focal Meeting on Wednesday 11 September at 16:00pm. Find out more by searching the conference programme here.

References

Biesta, G. (2022). World-centred education: A view for the present. Routledge.

Cochran-Smith, M., Ell, F., Ludlow, L., Grudnoff, L., & Aitken, G. (2014). The challenge and promise of complexity theory for teacher education research. Teachers College Record, 116(4), 1–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811411600407

Cooksey, R. W. (1996). The methodology of social judgment theory. Thinking and Reasoning, 2(2), 141-174.

Darling-Hammond, L. (2020, May 26). Only a teacher: Interview with Linda Darling-Hammond. PBS. www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/today2.html

Hulme, M., Meanwell, K., & Bryan, H. (2023). Between a rock and a hard place: Leading university teacher education in England. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 47(10), 1375–1388. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2023.2248025

Martin, S. D., McQuitty, V., & Morgan, D. N. (2019). Complexity theory and teacher education. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.479

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD]. (2016). Teacher professionalism. Teaching in Focus, 14. https://doi.org/10.1787/5jm3xgskpc40-en

Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and method (6th ed.). Sage.