Take my hand, take my whole life too (Elvis)

While I was writing the previous post and looking for some substantive research on whether teacher evaluations had any significant impact on student achievement I came across a great statement by John Hattie:

On the other side of this equation [the effects of the best rated teachers], having poor teachers can be devastating. The effects of poor teacher quality tend to persist for years after a student has had such a teacher.

These are the mediocre teachers that Todd Whitaker talks about in his work.

While the superstar teachers have high expectations of their students, create high self-esteem, and will be fine no matter what, the mediocre do untold damage by having low expectations and teach in a uniformly boring way to the whole class.

Why don’t we let the superstars and backbones get on with it and limit the damage of the poor teachers by concentrating on them? If the mediocre teachers can’t or won’t adapt then let’s get rid of them.

Believe me I know that’s easier said than done. I have been involved in competency meetings/decisions in NZ, England and here in the UAE. None were fun but all were a case of needs must.


Gervase Phinn includes this poem in one of his books:

Remember me?

"Do you remember me?" asked the young man.
The old man at the bus stop,
Shabby, standing in the sun, alone,
Looked 'round.
He stared for a moment screwing up his eyes,
Then shook his head.
"No, I don't remember you."
"You used to teach me, " said the young man.
"I've taught so many," said the old man, sighing.
"I forget."
"I was the boy you said was useless,
Good for nothing, a waste of space.
Who always left your classroom crying,
And dreaded every lesson that you taught."
The old man shook his head and turned away.
"No, I don't remember you, " he murmured.
"Well I remember you," the young man said.

You must be some kind of superstar (Jamelia)

I started my formal observations of the Arabic teachers today. Given that they teach in Arabic this is tricky. There is only so much my translator can give me while I am filling in 18 boxes of criteria. Each with 6 areas of rubric to consider. Sheesh.

I like Al Burr's differentiation of teachers into three groups:

Superstars, Backbones and Mediocres

I discussed this will Mohamed today and he could easily place his teaching staff into one of these three categories.

Superstars (the cream - the top 5 - 10%) - we have 4 or 5.
Backbones (the middle 80 - 90%) - we have 21 in this category.
Mediocres (the foot draggers, the gripers) - we don't have any. Amazing but true. We had some last year but they have moved on.

Mohamed and I also discussed what makes an effective teacher.

This is his answer:

He (we are in a boys' school and all the teachers are male):

• is well prepared;
• uses modern teaching techniques;
• has clear learning objectives for each class;
• ensures success criteria are met;
• is student centred in his approach;
• differentiates to include different learning abilities and styles;
• reinforces good students;
• motivates lower achievers;
• uses co-operative learning techniques, group work;
• reflects on what the students are doing;
• explores his own learning to improve his practice.

Wow - this is a great list.

I then asked him how many of his staff would match this list and he named his four superstar teachers (I would include one other but that's by the by).

The following article is worth reading on what makes a great teacher.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/01/what-makes-a-great-teacher/7841/