The power of reflective action to build teacher efficacy

Personal assessments backed up by observations and feedback can enable teachers to reflect on and improve their classroom practices.

It’s easy to see why today’s public school teachers might feel overwhelmed. Over the past two decades, they have been expected to meet higher and higher standards, but they haven’t been equipped with the resources needed to meet those demands. They’ve been asked to teach more effectively, but they haven’t received sufficient professional support for improving instruction. And while they’ve been required to help every student master a rigorous curriculum, they do not necessarily believe they are capable of meeting every student’s needs. It’s no wonder that many teachers feel defeated or, to put it in psychological terms, that they have lost their sense of self-efficacy: “the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations” (Bandura, 1994, p. 71).

But schools can help teachers regain their sense of efficacy by engaging them in a systematic process of reflecting on their classroom expectations and practices, making adjustments, and taking careful note of improvements in student learning.

My colleagues and I implemented such a professional development process in a diverse middle school in a large district in Maryland. Of the roughly 650 students enrolled in the school, nearly half receive free and reduced-price meals, and more than 75% are identified as black and/or Hispanic. At the outset of our work, minority students were achieving at disproportionately low levels, and we suspected that this disparity in academic performance was due, at least in part, to teachers’ unconscious beliefs about students’ ability to succeed. Thus, we hypothesized that if we could foster a culture of teacher reflection -— more specifically, engage them in discussing their own assumptions about students’ needs, capacities, and the instruction they ought to receive — then they might change their teaching in significant ways, leading to better student performance.

We reasoned that the process should begin with an effort to gauge teachers’ willingness to receive, internalize, and apply feedback to improve teaching and learning. Further, we reasoned that if the goal is to help teachers rethink their assumptions about students and the kinds of high-quality, differentiated instruction they deserve, we would need to proceed strategically, guiding them through a cyclical process of reflection — self-assessment, observations of instruction, discussions of those observations, and discussions about concrete ways to strengthen planning, instruction, and student learning — that we could repeat over time. Together, these four components add up to what we call the Reflective Action Protocol, a tool that other schools can easily adapt for their own use.

#1. Self-assessment

At the beginning of this process, the supervising administrator meets with teacher leaders and members of their departments to ask teachers to take self-assessments, using a five-point rating tool (see p. 57), focusing on their perceptions about the effectiveness of their own course planning and teaching practice. While these were the topics of most concern to us, the assessment could easily be modified to address issues other than planning and instruction:

Planning: What do we want students to know and be able to do? Do teachers understand the curriculum indicators and how best to diagnose standards so that planning is aligned with meeting learning outcomes? Do they understand how to use data to inform practice and to provide opportunities for all students to access the curriculum through a differentiated approach while maintaining high expectations? Is the planning part of an interdisciplinary approach fostering opportunities for students to apply their learning across various contexts? Are specific assessments planned to check for student understanding?
Instructional delivery: What teaching approaches are implemented to ensure that all students effectively access the curriculum and that the lesson’s objectives have been met? Is the instructional delivery aligned with the planning?

The priority here is to help teachers identify inconsistencies between their beliefs about what is and should be going on in the classroom and what the evidence suggests is actually occurring. Most important, having prepared a lesson, do they deliver instruction that lives up to what they’ve planned? And do teachers’ perceptions of what they are implementing in the classroom correspond to students’ actual learning outcomes?

For example, we began our work with the English department, which had a disappointing record of academic performance, which we suspected to be due, at least in part, to teachers’ doubts about student potential. At the first department meeting of the school year, all of the English teachers completed the self-assessment. The supervising administrator and the department’s teacher leader first explained why they were collecting this information and how they planned to use it to inform professional development and not to evaluate or punish individual teachers. The results were enlightening. For example, one teacher — we’ll call her Ms. X — had the highest number of underperforming students in her class, and most of them were black and Hispanic. According to her self-assessment, though, she rated herself as having a very high level of efficacy with all students. Clearly, there was a mismatch between how effectively she thought she was teaching and what her students were actually learning.

Do teachers’ perceptions of what they are implementing in the classroom correspond to students’ actual learning outcomes?

#2. Observation 

The second step of the Reflective Action Protocol begins with the administrator and the teacher leader reviewing the self-assessments to identify teachers whose sense of self-efficacy appears to be out of sync with students’ performance. After deciding which teachers most need support, they schedule classroom observations of those teachers during the first month of school, using an observation tool based on the school’s priorities for teaching and learning, as defined in the school improvement plan. (We suggest starting with at least two observations, in order to give observers a chance to trade notes and make sure their impressions are congruent.) The data gleaned from these initial observations are then used to support the next steps in the process.

#3. Reflection

After collecting and analyzing information gathered from the classroom observations, the team meets with each teacher to discuss their observations, reflect on whether the instruction aligned with what had been planned, and identify how each teacher might change instruction to meet all students’ needs.

However, it is critical that teachers see this as a collaborative effort in which they have meaningful opportunities to steer the discussion, relying on the administrator and teacher leader to serve as critical friends, not as judges or evaluators. We see this as a two-part process:

Self-reflection: Before meeting with the teacher leader and administrator, the teacher fills out a brief questionnaire (see p. 57), which includes just a few key questions: Do you think the planning of the lesson was effective? Do you think the delivery of the lesson met your intended objective(s) for all students? Why or why not? While these questions may seem simple, they tend to provide a powerful springboard for discussion since they call attention to gaps between the teacher’s perceptions and the observers’ notes, leading to further inquiry into how the teacher planned the given lessons, how they taught them, and what students got out of them.
Collaborative reflection: The teacher leader and administrator then share data from their observations, describing it in relation to what the teacher had planned for the given lessons. We have found that it’s most useful to begin the discussion with a focus on the teacher’s intended outcomes and impressions from the class, asking them to give a detailed account of what happened before bringing in the observer’s perspective. For example, the team might ask very specific questions about their instructional decisions such as, “In your planning, you mentioned providing auditory materials, allowing some students to hear the short story read aloud. Were they able to see the story as well? Do you have students who may benefit from viewing the text as they listen?”

The teacher leader and administrator gradually introduce their own perspectives on what they saw, suggesting how lessons might have been planned differently or ways in which their instructional strategies might have been more closely aligned with curriculum standards and student needs. Eventually, the discussion should turn to specific beliefs that the teacher might want to reconsider, course objectives they might rethink, and at least one specific step that they can take to make their teaching more consistent with their stated objectives. In turn, once the teacher and the team have agreed on a specific change to implement, this becomes a target for professional development. Over time, the team will observe the teacher’s progress, giving them feedback on precisely how their practice appears to be changing and what effects this is having on student performance.

For example, consider how this part of the protocol played out for Ms. X: Having reviewed her self-assessment, we scheduled an initial classroom observation and a follow-up meeting, which began with her completing the prereflection form. In her response, she said the lesson was effective and met the expectations of what she had planned. However, during the observation, students clearly were not engaged and were unable to communicate their learning of the material. This presented an opportunity to ask Ms. X about how she planned the lesson and in what ways it was or was not consistent with the school’s priorities, especially the goal of providing rigorous instruction informed by high-quality assessment. Specifically, we posed the question: “Can you share with us the rigorous learning opportunities that were embedded in the planning?” Starting from there, it wasn’t long before Ms. X expressed the belief that not all students could meet rigorous expectations. This, she explained, had led her to plan her on-level and advanced classes very differently, setting less-than-ambitious goals for the regular classes.

Schools can help teachers regain their sense of efficacy by helping them reflect on their classroom expectations and practices, making adjustments, and noting improvements in student learning.

We suggested and Ms. X agreed that her priority should be to plan learning activities that push both her advanced and regular English classes to engage in critical thinking. We also agreed that there should be frequent opportunities for formative assessment. We discussed examples of classroom activities that would accomplish these goals, and we coached Ms. X on how to teach such lessons effectively.

Ms. X was skeptical that her regular classes could meet the challenge, but she reluctantly agreed to plan a truly rigorous lesson, featuring inquiry-based questions about and discussion of a short story. When we observed the class two days later, she had clearly made a new lesson plan, and students were obviously fully engaged in the activity. Over subsequent weeks, we observed a palpable change in Ms. X’s beliefs about students’ ability to respond to rigorous instruction, and we noted an equally palpable change in student performance.

#4. Practice

We’ve found that teachers translate their goals to practice most effectively if they do so soon after the conference, ideally within a few days, when the reflective discussion is fresh and their commitment is strongest. But they also must continue to apply the new strategy over time and in various contexts since it may take several cycles of self-assessment, observation, and reflection before the transformation is cemented.

With Ms. X, the cycle continued through the first semester, and she made great strides throughout. Given consistent opportunities to receive feedback and reflect on her teaching, she re-examined her assumptions about students’ potential, and she began to align her lesson planning and pedagogy with her new belief that all kids can learn at high levels.

When asked to revisit her self-assessment, Ms. X wrote that at the beginning of the year she didn’t fully appreciate the extent to which her lesson planning and teaching practice determined student performance, and this had skewed her perception of her own efficacy. She had thought she was doing as well as she could with the given students, she explained. Now, though — and thanks to the frequent and immediate feedback she received — she had a much clearer understanding of her effect in the classroom.

Keep the ball rolling

Helping teachers become reflective educators is more art than science. School leaders must be courageous, willing to challenge deeply held beliefs by asking instructionally focused questions that push teachers to recognize their own personal biases, give an honest appraisal of their own effect on students, and consider new ways of teaching. This can be difficult and uncomfortable work. But by grounding the discussion in close observations of classroom practices and how they affect student learning, you can move teachers to pursue specific priorities for improvement.

But being courageous is not enough. Just as important is patience and consistency in guiding teachers through this reflective cycle. School leaders must make a serious commitment to observing teachers frequently and providing immediate, specific feedback every time.

Further, keep the discussion focused on connections between teacher planning and instruction and their effect on learning. To persuade teachers to make real, lasting changes to any part of their work, teachers must be able to see that the new belief or practice does, in fact, lead to better student outcomes.

Finally, school leaders must keep in mind just how vulnerable teachers may feel as they begin this work. And it is not enough just to promise teachers that you can be trusted to review their self-assessments, observe their classes, and guide them through a process of reflecting on their practice and defining goals for improvement. Trust must be earned, by demonstrating again and again that the process ends not in judgment and evaluation but in very specific guidance that has real, measurable value for teachers.

All educators need to feel empowered. They need to know that if they make creative and determined efforts to rethink their lesson planning and improve their classroom practices, they will see positive results. But in order to build and sustain that belief, they must have meaningful opportunities to participate in a culture of reflection. Given such opportunities, they will, over time, gain a richer perspective of their own abilities, especially their ability to serve all students.

Reference

Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V.S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human behavior, Vol. 4. New York, NY: Academic Press.