How Not to Evaluate Instruction

Writing in the latest edition of TESOL Arabia's Perspectives, Kelley Fast makes the familiar point that the practice of classroom observation as a means of judging the quality of teaching has no validity. “Research shows that there is a problem defining what 'good' teaching is as there is no proof of any one method being 'best.'” She also cites the—putting it politely, I think--”questionable validity” of the checklists commonly used for such observations. These cannot work, because “criteria for effective teaching differ for every instructional situation” (here she quotes O'Leary). As she notes, the practice of classroom observation probably harms the quality of teaching, producing worse, not better, technique: it discourages sensitivity to situation and student needs, discourages student-centredness, and discourages all teaching innovation. It also, I would add, necessarily promotes a dreary sameness to all instruction, which works directly against the need to sustain student interest.

The practice thrives nonetheless, and seems actually to be growing. It is perhaps possible to understand why in the case of elementary and high school teaching: young children are presumably not yet capable of deciding what is best for them, and so of judging the abilities of their own teachers. It may be pointless, but at least it puts a false patina of professionalism on the teaching trade. But is is doubly disturbing to see the practice growing in the field of adult EFL. For it seems here the only justification can be unspoken racism: an assumption that foreigners too, non-English speakers, are not fully capable of knowing what is best for themselves. They are, in this regard, like children.

This, of course, is the essential assumption behind all colonialism. We ought to know better by now.

The proper way to judge the effectiveness of an intructor at the tertiary level, as instructor, is to ask the students.


Kelley Fast, (2009) "Classroom observations: Taking a developmental approach," TESOL Arabia Perspectives, 16 (2) pp. 6-10.

In support of her case against summative classroom observations, Fast cites:

Cosh, J. (1999) Peer observation: A reflective model, ELT Journal, 53 (1), 22-27.
Gebhard, J.G. (2005) Teacher development through exploration: Principles, ways and examples. TESL-EJ, 9 (2), 1-16.
O'Leary. M. (2004) Inspecting the observation process: Classroom observations under the spotlight. IATEFL Teacher Development Newsletter SIG, 1 (4), 14-16.
Leshem, S. & Bar-Hamam, R. (2008). Evaluating teacher practice. ELT Journal, 62 (3), 257-265.
Williams, M. (1989) A developmental view of classroom observation. ELT Journal, 43 (2), 85-91.