SUPPORTING TEACHERS BY LISTENING AND LEARNING
A CONSULTANT'S ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

By Janet Rubas, Teacher Consultant
Grand Erie District School Board

Action Research is self-reflection. To reflect on one's practice requires an understanding of what one believes. As a teacher, I strongly believe that all students can and should be successful in the academic setting; that what teachers implement in and for the classroom is the key for student success and that I, above all else, am a learner myself.

I have been a teacher consultant for five years and I am very proud of what I do and have accomplished in this position. I acknowledge that the position of teacher consultant is truly secondary to the position of teacher. Teachers are the 'front line workers' who interact with children on a daily basis and whose interactions lead to student success. As a teacher consultant I can only support what is happening in the classroom. I might be more knowledgeable about current research; I might better understand the directives from the Ministry of Education; I might have time that can be devoted to reading and planning. However, what I do in my position affects students only indirectly. Although the position I hold exists to improve student learning, I can do that only by my support, influence, encouragement and, perhaps, inspiration of teachers. How I, personally, do that influences how effective l am in my job. My performance must be evaluated on how much that performance assists teachers to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to make changes in their practice that will improve students' learning.

I, then, am in a predicament. My position exists to improve student learning. Every position in education exists for that basic, intrinsic, absolute reason; we exist because and for the students. However, I do not come in direct contact with those for whom I am working. My action research question must be directed inward: How do I improve my performance so that I can support those directly involved in the classroom with improving student learning, the teachers, to build the knowledge and skills necessary to help students to be more successful? If I can get better at supporting, influencing and encouraging teachers to broaden their strategies for teaching and assessment, the benefits should be realized in improved student learning. Teachers must provide the evidence which shows that their practice is changing, resulting in improved students learning, and those changes were influenced by work with them. My performance is effective if what I am doing is making a difference to students in the classroom.

In the beginning...

"Advances are made by those with at least a touch of irrational confidence in what they can do."
- Joan L. Curcio, author

When I started this action research project, I fell into the 'all too common' trap that, as a teacher consultant, I could and should 'fix things.' I had the skills, the ideas, and the knowledge to improve our district's results on the EQAO assessment. The answer was clear! All I needed to do was to develop 'the culture of assessment'; get teachers to accept that the EQAO assessment results as "friendly data" that should be used to improve student learning. I started with the research question: How do I improve my practise in supporting teachers so they accept assessment as a tool to improve learning for students? The assessment I was focussing on was the EQAO results. My improvement depended on teachers changing their attitudes and then changing their practise based on the change of attitude. From my point of view, the results would get better if teachers would just analyze the results, get ideas on what needed to improve, decide what strategies would lead to improvement, focus on those strategies, and collect data on how students were improving. What was the big deal? The EQAO assessments were just one more piece that teachers could use to be more effective in improving student learning.

In sessions with teachers of Grade 3 and Grade 6, however, I learned that teachers had a much different view of the province-wide assessment. Although I considered the results as simply one piece in the assessment puzzle, this certainly was not the perception from the field. Instead teachers said:

• "The tests are designed to compare schools and teachers."
• "The tests don't reflect what is really important and what is happening in the classroom."
• "The tests were set up to ensure that students ended up at level 1 and 2 to make the teachers look bad."
• "The whole procedure is just political."

It was as if teachers and I were speaking two languages. They were looking at the assessments from a different point of view, from the experience of the four walls of the classroom. They were 'close' to the situation and, in many cases, felt as if they were being held responsible for poor results. They were not viewing the results as a way to improve student learning but as a way for the government, the public, and parents to determine if they were good teachers. In a time when there is so much change, teachers already were feeling less than confident. 'Just get the tests over with...' was a common reaction. Given that many of the schools with which I came in contact had relatively poor scores, the perception that the tests could be helpful was a frightening and foreign idea.

As I listened to teachers talking about the frustration and self-doubt that came from the testing situations, it was clear to me that just telling teachers that the data was 'friendly' or giving them suggestions as to how they might 'fix' the test scores would never work. If the scores were going to improve, teachers had to be intrinsically involved in the process in order for them to focus on what the scores told them that their own students needed. They had to learn how to put the testing into the context of their classrooms, connect the data to what they were doing, and make changes to their own practice based on that analysis.

It was evident that I had to change how I worked with teachers in order for this to happen. I could not just tell them what to do, I had to wait and listen while they analyzed the data, developed their own explanations, and determined, for themselves, where to concentrate effort.

Collecting Feedback: A Step in the Right Direction...

It was clear to me that the aim of my research had to change. I must focus on improving my own performance and through that improvement, hope to change the attitudes of others. I had to concentrate on what I could and would do differently. After a session with Ruth Sutton, a visiting consultant, and a discussion of the concept of 'corrective feedback', I realized that I was the one who required feedback from teachers on what I was doing, how I assisted or failed to assist them, and what I needed to do differently to help them make changes. In the past, I received feedback in a written form which usually gave teachers the opportunity to say what they found useful in a workshop session. In most cases these written reflections were positive. When negative comments were made, more often they were directed not toward the content but at the organization of the sessions: e.g. "I am too tired for workshops at 4:00 p.m." or, "there was no tea available." It was clear to me that this was not the kind of feedback I was seeking. I needed direct communication; look the teachers in the eye and ask, "How have I helped you?" "What could I do better?"

Now, at first, the prospect of doing this was really scary for me. Yes, I am a confident individual, at least related to my job. However, I was opening myself up to real criticism. I was opening myself up to being told exactly what I did wrong. Would this really help to improve my performance? I realized, however, that if all data is 'friendly' and I was trying to model a 'culture of assessment' where feedback and assessment data are used for improvement, then the benefits of opening myself up to criticism outweighed the fact that my ego might take a beating. I was going to start modelling for teachers what I believe is necessary for them to do with data from and about their students and their own performance; collect the data, review and analyze it, determine what the data provides as to clues for improvement, develop a course of action to implement that improvement, try it (test it out), gather more data (assess), and start all over again. I was going to try to put myself in a continuous feedback loop.

A Few More Steps --- Three Feedback Strategies

It was clear what I had to do. I needed to provide opportunities for teachers to give me direct feedback on my performance so that I could use it to improve. It was necessary for me to build into each of the contacts I had with teachers a commitment from them to connect again for a review not only of my performance but also the results of the contact. It was also necessary to make sure that any follow-up session did not add to teachers already heavy load. I needed to find a way to get the feedback without making them stay after school or requiring them to answer questions on a survey during their own time.

Through this year I have used three basic methods for collecting 'corrective feedback' on my performance:

1. Let's talk over lunch - Discuss with the principal the possibility of bringing lunch for the staff and reviewing what had been done in a working session a month or two before. If this meets with the principal's approval, determine a date and order lunch. (Don't forget to ask if the staff have any allergies or food restrictions.) Arrange that staff members will bring 'evidence' of using what we had created or worked on in the previous session. Make it very clear that the evidence was not to assess the teachers' performance, but mine.
Benefits: Teachers feel special, are relaxed, and are quite willing to share. An additional benefit is that one can meet with the whole staff at the same time.
Problems: Lunch supervision schedule may put principals in a difficult situation for coverage. However, if the purposes of the discussion over lunch are clear, staff members can drop in to eat and share their feedback when their supervision duties are over.

2. Release Time Discussion - Arrange with the principal for a small group of teachers to gather together to give feedback during the day. Principals must be willing to release teachers from their duties (money from my budget allocated for principals to provide occasional teacher coverage) and must also help to schedule the occasional teacher times so that individuals or pairs of teachers can meet with me. Prior to the date, provide the teachers with an outline of what will be discussed during the time set aside so that they are prepared for the discussion. Make sure teachers understand that the feedback is going to be used to improve my performance, not to assess theirs.
Benefits: Teachers realize this is important (money and time allocated to do it) and are quite willing to share. There is enough time available to review the teachers' feedback, to discuss further actions and improvements, and to get reactions to ideas.
Problems: Cost involved and budget considerations. Lack of occasional teachers to cover the classes.

3. Teacher Reflection - At the start of a small group session, ask teachers to reflect on a number (no more than 3) of statements or questions that directly relate to what will be covered in the session. Collect these responses. Shortly before the end of the session, ask teachers to reflect again on the same statements or questions. Collect these responses and compare the two. Once again, teachers must be fully aware that the reflections are to be used only to assess my performance and will not be shared with anyone else.
Benefits: Quick and easy.
Problems: Does not give the depth of information that direct discussion provides. Short time lines so that teachers really haven't had the opportunity to use and apply the information in the classroom.

What did I find out ... What did I change...

My focus had now changed. Although I had started trying to gather information on how to help teachers to use assessment data in the classroom, including the data from EQAO, my focus now was directed inward; How will I use feedback to improve my performance as a teacher consultant? Although I have applied the feedback I collected over the year in many different ways, I want to tell two stories that have changed forever the way I do my job.

Early during this academic year, a principal asked me to conduct an after- school session for junior teachers on literacy, assessment, and evaluation. The session was to be small (four teachers) and informal (let the teachers talk and discuss issues). The principal had expressed the concern that the teachers were not using a balanced approach to literacy, focussing instead on one type of reading and response.

As our session progressed, it was evident that the teachers were collecting all kinds of data on the students they were teaching. They all had mark books with 'levels' assigned for numerous pieces of student work. Our discussion moved towards whether teachers were really getting an insight into what students needed in order to improve. With the principal as part of the discussion, we talked about some of the methods that could be used which might provide more detailed information on what students could do and how they might set goals for improvement, for example; oral reading conferences, student surveys to determine interests related to reading and writing, and portfolio systems. The teachers politely asked questions and made comments.

However, as the discussion went on, I noticed that one of the teachers was becoming more and more upset. She stopped contributing to the discussion and almost physically withdrew from the group, pulling her chair back from the table. The principal did not notice this withdrawal and about then, excused herself to finish some details in the office.

The teacher who had withdrawn came back into the discussion and wanted to share with me and the group the work she was doing related to language. The evidence she shared made it clear that she worked very hard to make sure she was 'accountable.' She examined every expectation, determined how she was going to evaluate how the students were doing on that expectation, and connected levels of achievement to her planning; what will a level 3 or 2 look like? Her records contained information about every assignment the students completed with levels assigned for each.

I have plenty of time for assessment; it's the way I teach.
Anne Davies, Ph.D.

When she was through sharing what she had been doing, she looked at me and said, "I have tremendous respect for both you and (name of principal). I know that you both have many great ideas. Some of those ideas I use all of the time. But when you start talking about other things we can do, like more conferencing or portfolios, I get very upset. I just can't do any more!"

This heartfelt statement and direct feedback about what was being discussed in our session gave me the most important insight into how I could improve my performance. It is absolutely necessary that I, as a support to teachers, never be seen as adding more to their jobs. I must help teachers reflect on what can and should be replaced in the way they are working. Never add more, find a better way.

Since that experience, I include in every workshop that I do with teachers and every consultation with principals, a discussion of how to determine what is expendable; what will this new idea or procedure take the place of; and, how will the idea make work in the classroom with students better?

This experience pointed out to me that I must listen and learn from teachers. It doesn't matter what I intended (I never meant for teachers to take on more), what teachers perceive can be quite different. If I don't ask and do not allow myself to be open to what they are saying in both words and through body language, what was intended and what actually occurs might never match. It is not unlike the classroom situation. We can teach all kinds of concepts and skills but if we do not listen to and observe what children say or show what they have learned from that lesson, we can never be sure that what we intended to be the outcome actually was the result.

My second story involves my work in helping teachers learn the Ontario Curriculum Unit Planner. The principal of a school asked that I introduce the tool to a portion of the staff who would then, in turn, share the tool with their colleagues. Four teachers met with me in a whole day training session in which the planning model was introduced and then the teachers worked in pairs to plan a unit using the Curriculum Planner.

This is the basic model for introducing the Planner that I had been using throughout the year. Rather than just talking about the tool I always felt it was necessary that teachers employ it for planning a unit that they might use in their classrooms. When groups came to me, they were to already have an idea of the expectations that would be addressed in the unit they would plan in our session.

In this case, the teachers met with me, we worked to understand the planning model, and then, they planned their units (as much as was possible in the day) as we worked through understanding how to navigate through the Planner.

About one month after our planning session, I arranged with the principal for her to release the teachers for the morning so that they could provide me with feedback on our work together. The feedback provided me with a number of interesting insights;

• All of the teachers thought the Planner was a very interesting tool that provided helpful information for teachers.
• Few believed that the Planner would be used readily by teachers to write units. The time necessary to write a unit was just not available.
• All believed there were some elements in the Planner that would provide teachers with time-saving tools (e.g. the rubric maker).
• Neither of the pairs of writers had finished, or even worked on, the unit they had begun in our training session.

This feedback was quite a bit different than what I had expected to receive. Foolishly, I thought I was introducing the Planner in such a way that teachers would find it an indispensable tool. Once again, I was seeing the Planner from my perspective and not from the perspective of the classroom teacher. I could see all the possibilities that the Planner would provide. However, without the time to use it and learn it, teachers would only skim the surface of what it could do. Just skimming the surface would not give them the commitment or insight needed to go back and use it. And, using the Planner is the only way to find out how much help it can be.

So, how do I change my performance to help teachers understand the 'power' of the Planner better so that they might commit to using it on their own. Based on the feedback I received from these teachers, I sat down and started to think about what would encourage teachers to go back and use the Planner. I decided three things:

1. Teachers had to walk away from the training session with a unit that was complete enough to be useable in their classrooms. The unit had to be in the electronic format, rather than in a hard copy, so that teachers would have to access the Planner themselves in order to get the unit
2. Teachers had to be shown how units that were already completed in the Planner could be found and copied so they might be changed to better suit the teachers' own classroom and grade. Teachers had to be shown that one could plan a unit without having to write much at all.
3. Teachers had to learn how to access elements of the Planner without having to write units. Teachers need to be made aware of elements like the Teacher Companions with information on numerous teaching/learning strategies, assessment techniques, and accommodations for various exceptionalities or the rubric maker which easily accesses the achievement level descriptors.

On the basis of these thoughts, I have developed a new training session that I now use with teachers and have shared with other teacher consultants to use in their training workshops on the Planner. In this session, the unit we work on is 'almost' complete. Teachers write only one of the subtasks. All of the others have already been finished, so that when the workshop concludes, teachers walk away with a unit that can be used in the classroom. Through the session, teachers are introduced to those elements that will be most helpful to them in using the Planner as a resource for planning a unit on their own. They are shown how and encouraged to copy subtasks, resources, and information from the Teacher Companions. They are shown how to easily access expectations, achievement level descriptors, and lists of accommodations. They gain experience in using the rubric-maker.

The feedback I am receiving using this new model is very positive. One principal said, "I learned more about the Planner in two and a half hours with you than I did in three separate workshops given by the Ministry of Education." A teacher commented, 'The unit we planned was great but even more important, I learned how to use the Planner for more than unit writing... I learned how it will make my job more manageable so I can spend less time writing rubrics, for example, and more time working with the students."

Back to the beginning...Listen and Learn

My action research question was and continues to be: How do I improve my performance so that I can support those directly involved in the classroom with improving student learning, the teachers, to build the knowledge and skills necessary to help students to be more successful? I have learned through this research that I must listen carefully to teachers in order to support them. In most cases they know what they need. This does not mean that I only present "what they want to hear." It does mean, however, that no matter what information or skill we are working on, I must take time to find out how the ideas presented were used or not used in the classroom. I need to plan what I do and what supports I provide, based on what teachers tell me is making a difference in what they do in the classroom. I know that I have changed the way I work in this position for the better.

These insights will continue to improve my performance. I will forever be in a continuous feedback loop because I have learned that by seeking feedback, and acting on the feedback, not only do I provide better support to teachers, I also model the assessment practice I believe teachers must implement in the classroom to enhance student learning.

Reference List:

Jean McNiff, Action Research for Professional Development, Ontario Public School teachers' Federation: Mississauga, Ontario, 1995, p. 5.

Bibiographical Note:

Name: Janet Rubas
Current Position: Teacher Consultant, Junior Division, Grand Erie District School Board
Academic Degrees: B.A. and M.A. in Political Science, University of Illinois, B. Ed. OTEC, Hamilton
Current Research: Using EQAO results to improve student learning and to help in the creation of a 'Culture of Assessment' in a school.