Comparing peer and self observation conducted by university preparatory school EFL teachers

This study was designed to investigate the similarities and the differences between the types of information provided by peer and self observation conducted in Turkish university preparatory school classrooms by Turkish EFL instructors, as well as the extent to which peer and self observation contribute to reflective thinking in this setting and whether there are any differences in their contribution to reflective thinking. Six teachers, two of whom were focus teachers (FTs), as self observers, and the rest as peer observers (POs) participated in this study. From these participants, two groups, with one focus teacher and two peer observers, were formed. Data were collected through four types of observation instruments completed during or after the teacher observations: observation forms, checklists, open-ended questions and reflective writings. In this study, one lesson of each focus teacher was video-recorded, and both these focus teachers, as self observers, and two of their peer observers were asked to evaluate the videotaped lessons using the observation tools they were provided with. Each group’s documented information collected through observation forms, checklists and open-ended questions were compared to explore the similarities and differences between the types of information provided by peer and self observation. In addition to this, each group’s reflective writings were compared to explore to what extent peer and self observation contribute to reflective thinking and whether there are any differences in their contribution to reflective thinking. All the data in this study was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. In the analysis of the observation forms, checklists and open-ended questions, the categories were developed by the researcher using the general inductive approach described by Thomas (2006), and in the analysis of the reflective writings, a framework for levels of reflective thinking devised by another researcher (HasanbaĢoğlu, 2007) was used. The findings of this study suggest that there are similarities and differences between peer observers and focus teachers in the documentation and interpretation of teacher actions, evaluation of what is observed, suggestions and ideas given, and specific information (via the checklist) about what is the focus of the observation. However, the similarities and differences are affected not only by the type of the observation, but also by variables such as the personal characteristics of the observer, the observation instruments and even the type of lesson observed.