Jean R. Green
The process of teacher evaluation has often been less than satisfying for both teachers and administrators. Educational literature dealing with teacher evaluation shows that it is frequently a rote procedure with little or no benefit for the people involved. In this study, the researcher used the action research process to design, implement, and evaluate a new system of teacher evaluation and development in St. Anne’s Catholic School. Twenty teachers of the twenty-two member faculty participated in the two-year study. Together, the teachers and administrator examined the original system of evaluation and then devised a new system. They put the new process into effect, critiqued it, and revised it. The administration and faculty learned that teacher evaluation can be more meaningful if teachers are involved in its planning, given a choice of evaluative methods, and evaluated consistently throughout the school year.
TEACHER PARTICIPATION IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT: A HISTORY OF THE IDEA AND PRACTIC
RALPH M. BENNETT, JR.
Recent reform proposals have recommended greater teacher participation in the decision-making process. Curriculum and instruction are areas which are frequently suggested as appropriate for teacher participation. Current discussions of teacher participation in curriculum development seldom include any historical perspective of
teacher involvement in curriculum work. The implication is that there is little to learn from past practices to involve teachers in curriculum development. Reasons for this implication included: limited number of examples past
efforts to advise current practice; past efforts exploited teachers rather than trying to involve them in meaningful collaboration; and, curriculum development is no longer pertinent to post-modern education. An examination of the rhetoric and practices of teacher participation in curriculum development from the period 1890
through 1940 was conducted to investigate these assertions and to ascertain any significance for current practice.
Schubert's Curriculum Books: The First Eighty Years (1980)served as a guide for references to the rhetoric and
practices of teacher participation in curriculum development. Books addressing curriculum and issues of teacher participation were included. Each book was reviewed for ideas, rationales, and descriptions of practice. The
bibliographies of each book were reviewed for additional sources on ideas and practices in teacher participation in
curriculum development. Additionally, secondary sources were obtained through searches of Dissertation Abstracts,
Periodicals Content Index, Education Index, Educational Literature, 1907-1932 and ERIC records. This study found that from 1915 to 1940 the practice of teacher participation was widespread, though it never matched the rhetoric. Teachers participated at school, system, and state levels. Teachers participated from inception and even initiated curriculum work, but most often were involved in the production of the actual materials. A variety of purposes were given for participation including the promotion of professional growth and democratic ideals. Implications for present practice included making provisions for participation by all teachers (i.e., through curriculum study, action research, etc.), selecting representative teachers to conduct the actual work of production, providing
for adequate support (i.e., release time, clerical help, professional resources including consultants, etc.), and
organization of participants
Recent reform proposals have recommended greater teacher participation in the decision-making process. Curriculum and instruction are areas which are frequently suggested as appropriate for teacher participation. Current discussions of teacher participation in curriculum development seldom include any historical perspective of
teacher involvement in curriculum work. The implication is that there is little to learn from past practices to involve teachers in curriculum development. Reasons for this implication included: limited number of examples past
efforts to advise current practice; past efforts exploited teachers rather than trying to involve them in meaningful collaboration; and, curriculum development is no longer pertinent to post-modern education. An examination of the rhetoric and practices of teacher participation in curriculum development from the period 1890
through 1940 was conducted to investigate these assertions and to ascertain any significance for current practice.
Schubert's Curriculum Books: The First Eighty Years (1980)served as a guide for references to the rhetoric and
practices of teacher participation in curriculum development. Books addressing curriculum and issues of teacher participation were included. Each book was reviewed for ideas, rationales, and descriptions of practice. The
bibliographies of each book were reviewed for additional sources on ideas and practices in teacher participation in
curriculum development. Additionally, secondary sources were obtained through searches of Dissertation Abstracts,
Periodicals Content Index, Education Index, Educational Literature, 1907-1932 and ERIC records. This study found that from 1915 to 1940 the practice of teacher participation was widespread, though it never matched the rhetoric. Teachers participated at school, system, and state levels. Teachers participated from inception and even initiated curriculum work, but most often were involved in the production of the actual materials. A variety of purposes were given for participation including the promotion of professional growth and democratic ideals. Implications for present practice included making provisions for participation by all teachers (i.e., through curriculum study, action research, etc.), selecting representative teachers to conduct the actual work of production, providing
for adequate support (i.e., release time, clerical help, professional resources including consultants, etc.), and
organization of participants
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
