Shelly Arneson’s article “Improving Teaching: One Conversation at a Time” examines how principals can improve teacher evaluation conferences by shifting the focus of the dialogue from a surface recollection of what was done to a reflective collaborative conversation aimed at improving student learning. Performing teacher observations and evaluations are duties common to all principals, yet more times than not, the data collected during those activities is not used in a constructive manner. Most teachers feel that the process is a one-sided procedure that is pitted against them. In the traditional model, feedback that is given is normally surface level information and true constructive criticism is withheld because principals do not feel like they have the time to devote to introspective discussions or the answers to all the questions that may arise. …show more content…
Her first suggestion is for administrators to talk with teachers instead of talking to them. This is especially important during the post conference setting. Doing this will open the flow of communication while streamlining the time required to complete the task. This requires the process of teacher evaluations to shift from inspection to reflection. This can be down by narrowing down the focus topics of the post conference. The sample conversation given in the article allowed both parties to focus on an area where improvement was needed in a non-threatening manner.
Teachers also need to know that their principals are always honest with them. No one will ever have all the answers, and as teachers a person understands that the leader of the school cannot be an expert in all areas, especially if it is a diverse school with a diverse curriculum. The attitude of all involved needs to be that it everyone is in it together and everyone will grow and learn