Foundation Skills/Reflection as a way of self-evaluating teaching practice/Tools for self-evaluation

Different methods can be used to help you self-evaluate your teaching, and four are listed here: 1. self-monitoring and goal-setting; 2. video or audio recording; 3. mentoring; and 4. gathering feedback from stakeholders (Schwartz, n.d.).


 * 1. Self-monitoring and goal-setting: is a good way to track your progress especially if you have pre-set some goals about your teaching. These goals could be:
 * i) short-term - specific to a particular session, module or course, for example, meeting learning objectives for a lesson;
 * ii) medium-term - what you want to achieve in a semester - these goals could include new strategies that you wish to try out with a class; and
 * iii) long-term - future professional learning to develop your capability.


 * It is a good idea to keep a professional journal/portfolio and make notes after each teaching session. This can help you to see what is working well and what needs to be adjusted. This is particularly useful if you use self-reflective prompts, a framework, and a self-evaluation checklist to guide your writing. It is a good idea to keep re-visiting your goals and adjusting them.


 * 2. Video or audio recording: can be used to record teaching sessions and reflect on them. You can use your self-evaluation checklist to guide your reflection. It is also helpful to ask peers to discuss the recorded sessions with you. By writing your reflections on the recordings and the discussions about them in your journal/portfolio, you will be able to develop greater awareness about your teaching ability.


 * 3. Mentoring: discussing your teaching with a formal mentor or peer mentor is particularly useful when new to teaching. You may wish to discuss videos of your teaching or ask your mentor to observe some sessions. If your mentor is an experienced teacher, he or she may invite you to observe some teaching sessions. Your mentor could also assist with lesson planning and development of materials.


 * 4. Gathering feedback from stakeholders: gathering feedback from a variety of stakeholders (peers, students, managers, industry) and reflecting on this is a useful way to self-evaluate your practice. Establish the questions you would like to answer beforehand so that the feedback is focussed. Methods for gathering feedback from students are discussed in the next part of the unit.

Reference
Schwartz, M. (n.d.). Self-evaluation of  teaching. Learning & Teaching Office, Ryerson University. Retrieved from http://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/lt/resources/handouts/SelfEvaluation.pdf