Improving teacher evaluation practices: Assessment of teachers' competence to identify psychological and social aspects of learners

Abstract

Aim. In the paper the authors present results of piloting the tools for assessment of a teacher's competence to identify psychological and social aspects of learners, which is one of ten key competences to which they developed sets of evaluation tools. Among the designed tools were: observation Assessment Sheets for the evaluators, Self-Assessment Sheets for the observed teachers, and Record Sheets to carry out subse-quent Post Observation Interviews. The aim of the piloting was to answer two research questions: RQ1: Are teachers aware of and do they reflect on psychological and social aspects of learner(s) learning? RQ2: Does the self-reflective assessment of teachers differ from the assessment carried out by observers? If yes, then to what extent? Methods. The pilot research sample consisted of 62 observed teachers and 62 observers from various types of schools in different cities in Slovakia. To answer the two research questions, the authors analysed research data collected from the assessment tools for the stated competence from this research sample. Results. Results of the piloting showed that teachers are good at pedagogical com-munication, have a relatively good overview of psychological, and to some extent also social aspects influencing the teaching process. In self-assessment sheets of teachers, verbal comments were most commonly focused on respecting the learners personality traits, individual working pace, positive classroom climate and forms of praise. Conclusion. Based on the above-mentioned findings, the authors point out applicability of the created assessment tools for evaluation teachers´ competence to identify psychological and social aspects of learners.