MVP #2 (Knoester 148)
“ [ . . . ] we used descriptive review processes during staff meetings to share and receive feedback on critical questions that we, as teachers, were facing. [ . . .] I later chose to use descriptive review again in professional development with student teachers, as they gained understanding about their students and planned to teach units for their ‘takeover’ weeks.”
In my former school, we had a large cohort of full-time tutors completing a year of service for the school. These tutors received intense training in our school culture and effective tutoring in the summer leading up to their service year. Tutors were then assigned additional roles within the school; for example, I had a teaching assistant in my writing classroom.
This tutor did not always follow the school culture in my classroom and would often handle situations in a way that actually made my job harder, not easier. Because of this, I sat through many meetings with administration during which they attempted to offer him feedback and improve his work in my classroom and throughout the school. The most effective meeting I witnessed was through the style of a descriptive review.
Our principal sat in on one of our classes and took copious notes. She then read off her observations to us in a private meeting, mentioning the misbehaviors she noticed, how I addressed them and the student’s response (typically positive and effective), how he addressed them and the student’s response (typically negative and ineffective). She never once made a judgmental conclusion, but presented the evidence objectively. She didn’t have to give a subjective critique; the observations implied everything he needed to hear.
In this era of data and extensive rubrics for teacher evaluations, wouldn’t it be more effective for administrators to lead descriptive reviews of what they are observing in the classrooms instead of filling out tedious rubrics that marks teachers as “ineffective” for reasons that are sometimes out of their control?
When I was student teaching, my cooperating teacher did an informal version of this as well, making judgment-free observations about my teaching that day, allowing me to reflect. She would ask follow-up questions like those listed in the text, such as, “Have you considered adding ___ to your lessons?” or “How do you think your timing has improved since last week?” I felt very empowered by her feedback and never deflated, despite my sensitivity to criticism.