Empowering Higher Education Foreign Language Teachers with Effective Peer Observation and Feedback Practice
Empowering Higher Education Foreign Language Teachers
with Effective Peer Observation and Feedback Practice
Kara McDonald and Sun Young Park
Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center
Abstract
Peer observation is considered as one of the professional development tools enhancing the quality of teaching and learning process in higher education (Sullivan, et al., 2012). However, it is not a widely practiced or popular professional development activity except on occasions involving pre-service teacher training courses to assimilate newly hired instructors. Using an online survey, the authors sought to examine the perceptions of peer observation and identify the most and least important characteristics of effective peer feedback among in-service teachers. 16 foreign language (FL) teachers voluntarily participated in the survey (10 Chinese and 6 Russian). Findings suggest that a majority of teachers acknowledged that peer-observation is a legitimate, gradual learning process requiring appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes. However, they emphasized the importance of respect and positive attitudes as significant characteristics of feedback, which differs from descriptions in the literature. Interestingly, most of the participants viewed peer observation in relation to a part of the mentoring process between a novice and veteran instructor, rather than a coaching relationship between two colleagues with an equal status, which affects their expectations in terms of the reception of peer feedback.
Keywords: Peer Observation, Peer Feedback, Mentoring, Coaching, Feedback Culture
Introduction
Research studies advocate that effective professional development infuses pedagogical knowledge and skills in teachers; provides them with instructional resources and tools to increase teaching performance; and subsequently enhances student performance and school improvement (Witte & Jansen, 2016). Institutions of higher education offer teachers ample opportunities to systematically plan their professional development so that they can address the gaps in pedagogical knowledge, skills, and capabilities and stay current with effective teaching practices in the 21st century.
Many higher education institutions offer a wide array of opportunities for professional learning to assist novice and seasoned teachers in realizing the institutional vision and goals. It allows a host of diverse teachers in terms of experience, education, culture, language, motivation, expectations, values, and goals to pursue their professional growth through a variety of formal and informal venues. By doing so, diverse teachers with different needs and expectations can keep abreast of the innovative educational practice and adapt to institutional teaching philosophy and practices. The informal professional learning, peer coaching, includes peer observation and feedback. Despite the recent increasing attention and uptake in higher education, peer observation is not widely embedded as formative assessment (Dillon et al., 2020) because many teachers still consider peer observation a threatening, contentious, and fearful process rather than a constructive and developmental process for self-development (Sullivan, et al., 2012).
Therefore, it is important to explore teachers’ perceptions and practice pertaining to peer observation and feedback to gain insightful information to support higher education foreign language (FL) teachers and academic leaders and, in turn, to assist language learners in meeting proficiency and world readiness standards (NCSSFL-ACTFL, 2017).
Literature Review
Peer Observation
Peer observation practice—grounded in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of learning and development (1997)—is one of the most powerful professional development tools accepted in teacher training programs in higher education (Lu, 2010). It allows teachers to work together to reflect on current teaching practices, expand, refine, and build new knowledge, skills, and strategies enhancing the quality of teaching and learning processes (Halloran, 2009). The benefits of the practice include self-development opportunities for involved teachers, promotion of effective self-reflective teaching practices, an increase in collaboration and trust among peer teachers, and transformation in school culture and practice in the 21st century.
Effective peer observation practice requires a structured process, such as the pre-observation meeting, the observation, the post-observation feedback, and reflection (Bell, 2002; Sullivan, et al., 2012). A pre-observation meeting enables involved teachers, the observer and observed, to clarify the process, the context of the teaching event, learning objectives and content, teaching methods and approaches, potential challenges and problems, and specific areas that the observed wants to focus on, and so on. During the observation, the observation notes can be taken with respect to the content, process, and assessment of learning to validate any observation made by the observer. During the post observation feedback, the observer should provide insights with reference to clear criteria rather than judgment or evaluation. The reflection stage is a vital step of peer observation because it allows the observed to reflect on their teaching in the light of feedback from observation. Despite numerous benefits, peer observation can be seen as an invasion of teacher autonomy (Blackwell & McLean, 1996).
Peer Feedback
Feedback is not summative but formative assessment that aims to provide timely, descriptive, and non-judgmental information pertaining to direct observations of the individual in the learning environment. Direct observation, a pre-requisite for feedback, should give the observers an opportunity to collect specific data for feedback analysis. However, it is of paramount importance that individuals involved in feedback practice should establish a committed and caring interpersonal relationship for effective feedback. Effective feedback necessitates not only welcome reception of feedback, but also an active participant in the discussion. In a teacher training setting, effective feedback ultimately results not only in enhancing teacher performance, but also in student learning and school improvement. Therefore, the ability to give and receive effective feedback is one of the critical components of professional competency.
Effective feedback—written or verbal—aims to promote self-assessment, collaboration, and professional growth (Vidmar, 2005). It is reported that if the adequacy and quality of peer feedback is not agreed upon between the involved teachers, it could lead the observed to think that feedback is vague and non-actionable, whereas the observer regards it as meaningful and specific (Ramani et al., 2017). Chun and Plass (2000) discovered that peer teachers were hesitant to reflect on their peer’s performance in a negative light and felt uncomfortable to provide critical feedback. Another issue addressed was an ambiguous and superficial nature of peer feedback. Other studies indicate that some peer feedback can be hostile, critical, sarcastic, and humiliating (Liu & Sadler, 2003). As carefully crafted comments are integral to effective peer feedback, teachers involved in feedback practice should avoid language pertaining to personality traits, and the perils of vague praise.
Politeness Theory
Research studies have shared characteristics of effective feedback as specific, actionable, timely, manageable, descriptive, focusing on behavior, constructive, and non-judgmental (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). However, as many feedback conversations in peer coaching can be potentially face-threatening to the coached peer (Brown & Levinson, 1987), the coach might be concerned with negative effects of feedback using a politeness strategy. A cross-cultural theory of politeness (Brown & Levinson, 1987)—a concept that has been studied in the field of sociolinguistics and pragmatics (Eelen, 2001)—refers to a civility that facilitates interaction by minimizing the potential conflicts in human exchanges. Politeness theory suggests that an individual has a positive and negative face. Face can be viewed as positive (the need to project a positive image) and negative (freedom to act without imposition). For example, constructive feedback from the coach is critical for professional growth in the coached but can be viewed as a negative imposition of the coach’s view upon the coached. The coach might feel that his/her beliefs, values, and approaches are not approved of, threatening his/her positive face. Thus, teaching professionals in a community of practice tend to overuse positive language in feedback dialogues, which in fact can impede constructive feedback (Ginsburg et al., 2015).
Various research studies have addressed the effects of politeness on learning processes. Wang et al. (2005) conducted a research study with 51 university students in California on politeness effects on learner outcomes. Subjects in two groups received a different type of feedback from computer-mediated tutoring. One group received polite tutorial feedback and suggestions, and the other group with direct suggestions in response to learner queries. The research findings suggest that the polite version of feedback produced amplified learning outcomes in students who expressed their preferences for indirect feedback. Also, students with characteristics of being extroverted and open to communication displayed a better understanding of difficult concepts supported by a polite agent. In general, a polite agent had a positive impact on students’ learning outcomes. This politeness effect can be applied not only to classroom teaching and learning, but also professional development activities. However, some concerns were addressed relating to politeness theory, because a polite face-saving learning culture may have a negative impact on open feedback dialogues (Ramani et al., 2017).
Research investigating the effectiveness of peer feedback practice was conducted in an elementary education program at a major research university in the Midwest (Shin et al., 2007). 64 education majors who participated in the study were paired up with another student in the same school for performance observation. The findings of the research study suggest that the least helpful feedback consisted of positive comments from their peer due to its lack of constructive criticism. Despite their appreciation of positive comments that help build self-esteem about their teaching, a critical element of reflective practice was considered insufficient. In addition, the research indicated that participating teachers appreciated honest and open feedback from peers in the form of constructive criticism in comparison to feedback from authority figures.
Sociocultural Lens
Effective learning and training take place via interaction and collaboration among members in a community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Members of the community take into account learner factors, teacher factors and institutional factors to craft their teaching practice. Such sociocultural factors have a great impact on perceptions of effective feedback. Feedback should be examined through different perspectives, such as the recipient, the provider, and the context (Ramani et al., 2019). Feedback culture plays a significant role in promoting continuous formal and informal feedback for performance improvement. Educational entities should strive to foster a culture that promotes trusting relationships between teachers, providing time and space for peer feedback to take place, and establishing a shared understanding of the process and content of effective feedback among members of a community of practice (Kraut et al., 2015). Effective feedback providers contribute to promoting a positive learning environment, cultivating rapport with receivers, and focusing on actionable, goal-oriented performance. In addition, encouraging self-reflection and self-assessment should be underlined to improve performance.
Methods
This descriptive action research aimed to examine the perceptions on peer observation and peer feedback among language instructors at a higher education FL institute. The study draws on the experiences of 16 instructors, 10 Chinese and 6 Russian, whose years of service at the institute ranged from 3 years to 27 years. They responded to an online survey voluntarily. The online survey Peer-to-Peer Feedback Assessment was adapted based on John Murphy’s the Etiquette of Nonsupervisory Observation (1992, 223-224) was disseminated through email accounts. The survey entailed five questions about: a) the target language, b) the year of service at the current employer, c) the characteristics of non-supervisory observation, d) characteristics of effective peer feedback, and e) additional characteristics of effective peer feedback. Question c) requires participants to select an answer ranging from Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, to Strongly Agree. Question d) requires participants to prioritize their answers from the most important (1) to the least important (7); and question e) is open-ended.
Findings
Teachers’ Perceptions on Peer Observation
A majority of participants (81.3% [13 out of 16]) stated that classroom observation should be taken seriously, whereas 18.8 % (3 of 16) disagree with the statement. Participants showed diverse responses with regard to the difficulty involving classroom observation. 43.8% of (7 out of 16) participants disagreed that classroom observation is not easy for the observed instructor, whereas 56.3 % of participants (5 out of 16) agreed that classroom observation can be challenging for the observed instructor.
75% of participants (12 out of 16) said that the ability to observe in an acceptable manner, including careful reflection, personal tact, and creativity, should develop, change, and improve over time. A majority of participants (93.8% [15 out of 16]) indicated that an observer should not take away any classroom responsibility, control, or authority from the observed teacher and students.
64.3% of survey participants (10 out of 16) stated that the observing teacher does not necessarily offer constructive advice, but nonetheless avoids judging, evaluating, and criticizing the observed teachers, whereas 35.7 % of participants (6 out of 16) disagreed with non-provision of constructive feedback. 80% of participants (14 out of 16) viewed the observer entering into a long-term process of learning with the observed, whereas 3 out of 16 participants disagree with the statement.
A majority of participants (87.5% [14 out of 16]) regarded classroom observation as invaluable opportunities because of increased awareness of their own classroom practices.
In a similar vein, a majority of participants (87.6% [14 out of 16]) stated that reflection on the observed teacher raised awareness of their own classroom behaviors, while two participants disagreed with the statement.
Table 1
Teachers’ Perception of Peer Observation
Characteristics of Effective Feedback
The questions regarding the characteristics of effective feedback required participants to prioritize their preferences from #1 (the most important) to #7 (the least important). However, 6 instructors seemingly did not follow the instructions and did not prioritize characteristics by their preferences from 1-7. They instead gave their highest preferences (# 1) to multiple characteristic traits. Therefore, the researchers excluded those incorrect responses from the data analysis. The graph below illuminates the responses from only 10 participants. 60% of paraticipants (6 out of 10) rated “Respectful” as the most important characteristic of effective peer feedback (6 out of 10 [60%]), and 30% of participants (3 out ot 10) rated “Non-judgmental” as the most significant characteristic. Both “Respectful” and “Positive” received 30% (3 out of 10) responses. “Positive” was rated as the third important characteristic of effective peer feedback by 50% of participants (5 out of 10). “Specific” received the most responses as the fourth important characteristic by 40% of participants (4 out of 10), along with 30% of the responses for the characteristic, “Direct”. The fifth important characteristic received the most diverse responses, such as “Diligent”, “Positive”, “Specific”, and “Offer advice”. “Offer advice” came as the sixth important characteristic by 40% of participants (4 out of 10), and “Direct” received the most responses as the least important characteristic (50% [5 out of 10]).
Research question #5 solicited additional responses from participants with regard to characteristics of effective peer feedback. Five participants provided their own personalized responses. The responses included “Be appreciative and show what you’ve learned from your peer”; “It has been initiated/approved entirely by the observed party”; “Provide constructive and workable feedback”; “Will prefer the peer feedback in the written form”; “I enjoy when people come to observe, it is a way for me to show off my skills and grow as an instructor. I know it can be stressful for some people, but I feel like this is a part of professional development that should not be omitted”.
Table 2
Characteristics of Effective Peer Feedback
Discussion
When it comes to non-supervisory observation, most of participants were cognizant of characteristics of peer observation as an important long-term learning process involving careful reflection, sufficient time, personal tact, and creativity. A majority of the participants (87.6%) believed that observation and subsequent reflection would play a significant role in enhancing awareness in classroom practice and behaviors. However, 64.3% of them indicated that it would not be necessary for the observers to offer constructive advice to the observed in spite of acknowledging the benefits of the peer observation by participants. The researchers explored the possible interpretations and implications given the current institutional climate, (the general state of the current situation and practice-based suggestions for other higher education FL institutes.)
Mentoring vs Coaching
The responses appear to have originated in participants’ experiences related to typical peer observation at the institute. It has been common practice for newly hired instructors to observe seasoned teachers in order to gain a good grasp of the student population and expected institutional teaching practice. However, peer observation between two seasoned teachers is not being actively practiced in the institute’s community of practice. There is a possibility that participants in the study viewed peer observation as a mentoring session to assist new teachers with assimilation, rather than a coaching process for teaching professionals with equal status within a FL school at the institute.
Mentoring and coaching are two approaches to peer learning in professional development. Both of the approaches are designed to offer non-evaluative, non-threatening support to teaching professionals. Mentoring refers to an interpersonal, supportive, situated, and ongoing relationship between two individuals, a mentor and a mentee. A mentor who has more experience in his/her craft is typically working with a novice or a new teacher. In spite of an unequal power relationship between a mentor and a mentee, mentoring is not supervisory in nature. Coaching is an ongoing process in which teams of peers “study the rationale of the new skills, see them demonstrated, practice them, and learn to provide feedback to one another as they experiment with the skills (Benedetti, 1997, p.41). It refers to a developmental, collaborative relationship involving teachers whose status is equal. The main purpose of coaching entails promoting continuous engagement in the development of their craft and skills; developing the shared understandings of knowledges, skills, and language in a community of practice; facilitating the acquisition of new teaching skills and strategies via the follow-up training sessions (Bailey et al., 2001). Coaching allows teaching professionals to work together on candid terms for the purpose of the development and enhancement of their teaching skills without feeling threatened by disclosing their limitations and weaknesses. One of the critical elements in coaching is accurate, specific, and non-evaluative feedback (Benedetti, 1997). Two teaching professionals in a coaching partnership should be able to discover how they can carry out their teaching in effective, meaningful, and motivating ways by accommodating students’ needs and expectation by a means of objective reciprocal discussion (Benedetti, 1997).
Based on the responses from the participants in the current action research, they seemingly perceived peer observation in a mentor-mentee relationship, rather than between the coach and coached who have an equal status. Those perceptions rendered that they put less weight on the reception of the post-observation feedback from the observer. As those perceptions and experiences are more likely to be affected by the typical professional development activity practiced across the institute (e.g., the novice teachers’ observation on the seasoned), it would be necessary to widen the horizon of institute teachers in terms of concepts and practice of peer observation.
Socio-Cultural Influence on Effective Feedback
“Respectful” and “Positive” feedback were selected as the most significant characteristics of effective feedback according to the survey results, whereas “Direct” and “Offer advice” were considered the least significant ones. This finding suggests that “face” or “public self-image” plays a significant role in social interactions among institute teachers. The responses from participants exhibited that they possessed the need to be openly appreciated by other faculty and for freedom of action (i.e., autonomy). In such a climate, constructive feedback might be perceived as “negative”, which violates the norms of expected politeness despite that honest constructive feedback is essential and critical for professional development. As a result, a polite or face-saving learning culture are more likely to have a negative effect on feedback exchanges in a community of practice (Ramani et al., 2017). The findings suggest that it is important for all stakeholders to understand that a host of diverse instructors have a set of social values and cultural-based behavior which instruct them in interactions to consider each other by satisfying shared expectations. Therefore, it is significantly important for all stakeholders to take account of cross-cultural aspects affecting the perceptions of effective feedback and establish an institutional feedback culture by developing a growth mind-set and training a wide array of strategies from multiple perspectives.
Recommendations for Practice
Promote Reflective Peer Coaching
Reflective peer coaching refers to a formative process that fosters self-assessment and self-management before, during, and after instruction built upon a trusting relationship and inquiry in a safe, supportive environment (York-Barr et al., 2001). Teachers work collaboratively and systematically to engage in non-threatening collegial dialogues with regard to their teaching, intended outcomes prior to teaching, and subsequent reflection on actual instructional experience. Reflective dialogues allow teachers to develop and heighten a self-awareness of their actions in the classroom and consequential impact on student learning and behaviors. Higher education foreign language departments, divisions and/or institutes can benefit from fostering a trustful and risk-taking environment where reflective peer coaching is a standard practice. In doing so, teachers engage in professional development within their teaching context for the development of their instructional practice.
However, reflective conversations involving self-disclosure can be viewed as a risk-taking event that cause discomfort, embracement, and uncertainty. Therefore, Brookfield (1995) and Farrell (2004) suggest a list of questions that instructors can pose to themselves as some reflective inventory exercises as follows: i) What am I most proud of as an instructor? ii) What would I like my students to say about me after class? iii) What do I most need to learn about or improve in my teaching? iv) What do I worry about most in my work as an instructor? v) Are there things I would like to change about my teaching? vi) Do I spend much time thinking about new ideas or methods for teaching my classes? vii) How do I know when I have taught well? viii) What mistakes have I learned the most from as an instructor? ix) What have I learned about myself so far?
These questions can initially be posed for teachers to become accustomed to exploring self-reflection around their teaching practice. Once teachers are comfortable, the same questions can be posed during ongoing peer coaching sessions. To mitigate teachers feeling uneasy to expose themselves, teachers can select a critical friend/colleague (Stenhouse, 1975; Costa, 2008), someone that is a self-selected trusted individual, to work with in the peer coaching process.
Cultivate Feedback Culture
As institutional climate has a significant influence on the quality and impact of feedback, feedback-seeking, acceptance, and performance improvement, an effective feedback culture can be cultivated by creating a shared understanding of the importance of peer feedback and facilitating trusting relationships among teaching professionals in a community of practice (Sargeant, et al., 2015; 2008). Stakeholders should take politeness theory into consideration to foster meaningful feedback exchanges, resulting in effecting teaching behaviors and professional growth (Ramani et al., 2019). It is important for leadership to send out clear, explicit messages and expectations to faculty and staff. The institution can engage teachers with strengths and areas for improvement in continuous, reflective, and life-long learning by means of collaborative bidirectional feedback through effective teacher training to (Ramani et al., 2019): i) establish an environment of gradual, increasing, and appropriate autonomy, ii) fostering a safe team culture for trusting teacher to teacher relationships, iii) provide training on how to provide constructive feedback based on observed behaviors; how to co-create action plans for improvement; how to engage in critical reflection on performance, iv) encourage direct observation of performance among faculty members, v) provide some examples of excellence on feedback conversations.
Higher education FL departments, divisions and/or institutes consist of tenured, permanent, and adjunct instructors. It can be easier to foster an environment among full-time permanent teachers who work together on a regular basis and may also share an extended period of time working together. In such cases, the quality of an effective feedback culture can be easier to establish or may already be in place. However, it can be more challenging to cultivate such a culture among adjunct faculty and/or tenured/permanent faculty, as schedules may not afford them frequent contact with each other. They may operate more autonomously. However, engaging teachers across employment status and levels of experience can strengthen the community of practice and promote learning through collaborative feedback.
Promote Effective Processes of Receiving Feedback
Despite the importance of constructive feedback instrumental in changing practice, the notion of “positive and negative face” can lead teachers either to seek or to shun feedback from others. Still, after balancing ego costs (negative feeling) and ego benefits as constructive feedback, it is evident that constructive feedback is vital in teachers’ professional growth, student achievement, and school improvement. However, various research studies seemingly describe effective feedback from the viewpoint of givers not receivers. When feedback exchange is predominantly understood from the giver’s perspective by the needs of the recipient and the influence of the feedback situation and/or environment are not given the appropriate level of attention. Since effective feedback that attributes to fostering professional development requires continuous growth mind-set, the acquisition of effective feedback on the receiving end plays a significant role in an optimal peer feedback culture. Therefore, receiving of constructive feedback requires a list of steps to maximize the learning experience as follows:
Listen: the receiver should allow the giver to offer feedback without any interruption of the feedback message in a defensive manner. Defensive responses are more likely to decrease the amount and quality of the information delivered by the giver.
Express gratitude: the provision of effective feedback requires the giver to overcome various barriers, such as lack of time, insufficient training, absence of clear goals, and apprehension of the receiver’s response. It is important to acknowledge the giver’s effort, time investment, and care to deliver feedback for his/her professional growth.
Clarify feedback through self-reflection and communication with the giver: teachers need to develop ability to confirm the comprehension of the feedback and engage in self-reflection on feedback received. Subsequently, the feedback should be integrated into the receiver’s action plan to benefit from feedback (Jug et al., 2019).
Regardless of the peer feedback relationship with a self-selected peer as a critical friend/colleague (Stenhouse, 1975; Costa, 2008), or faculty as longtime professional peer, the steps in receiving feedback are essential to establish as a norm up front. This process of establishing a protocol for receiving feedback is even more important when teachers have little contact with the peer coach.
Raise Cultural Awareness
Higher education foreign language departments, divisions and/or institution stakeholders should be mindful of the importance of socio-cultural impacts on perceptions and expectations of peer coaching and peer feedback in a community of practice. Especially, given that effective feedback dialogue is co-constructed between the involved teachers, it is important for leadership, including chairpersons and academic support positions, should take different cultural, social, emotional, and interpersonal factors into account and subsequently instill a wide array of activities, strategies, and techniques in order to cultivate effective peer coaching as one of the options for professional development. Moreover, they should endeavor to create and maintain a non-threatening environment for diverse teachers by modeling effective peer observation and peer feedback process. In sum, it would be vital for various stakeholders to be cognizant of different perspectives, viewpoints, and preferences among a host of diverse faculty and staff and establish a common understanding with regards to peer coaching and peer feedback in a community of practice.
Recommendations for Further Practice
Teachers, in general, are more likely to have their preferred characteristics of effective feedback—respectful, positive, non-judgmental, etc. However, it would be important to investigate whether these characteristics of feedback are carried over to their teaching practices with students. Subsequently, the perceptions of the students with respect to effective feedback should be further identified and explored to discover any gaps between teachers’ preferred feedback practices and their actual feedback practices used with students, resulting in effecting teaching and learning process.
Conclusions
Peer learning promotes reciprocal teaching in which teachers in pairs/groups work together when they acquire and implement new pedagogical knowledge, skills, strategies in their teaching repertoire (Wilkins et al., 2009). Peer observation and feedback is one of the effective, pivotal peer learning activities that teachers should include in their professional development plan. However, a host of culturally, linguistically, and ethnically diverse factors influence how teachers engage in professional communication and impact the peer observation and feedback in terms of both mentoring and coaching processes as effective feedback in a community of practice.
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