CLINICAL SUPERVISION

IMPLEMENTING CLINICAL SUPERVISION IN A TAIWANESE NATIONAL BILINGUAL SCHOOL

Seth A. Roberts International Bilingual School of Hsinchu Director of Teaching and Learning

One of the most intimidating tasks of an educational leader is to give feedback to other educators about their instruction. When I arrived at the International Bilingual School of Hsinchu (IBSH), the school was preparing for a WASC accreditation visit, and it became clear that there was no program in place to give teachers regular feedback about their practices. I took on the daunting task of designing and implementing a clinical supervision model for the school. I expected many veteran teachers, some of whom had taught for 30+ years without ever being formally observed, to greet this new process with cynicism, reluctance, and fear; I was very mistaken.

The enthusiastic embracing of this new program by local Taiwanese and Western teachers alike (IBSH is staffed by 2/3 local teachers and 1/3 Western teachers) -- their downright hunger for meaningful feedback and advice on how to develop their practices -- was a welcome surprise that I had not anticipated. The anecdotal evidence as the observations began seemed to show enthusiasm for the process and trust that I would help them improve their instruction. In fact, when we surveyed the teachers at the end of the year, it was clear that they found the experience useful as seen in the graph below.

another important reason for the warm reception from the staff was that the entire process was clearly broken down into smaller, more digestible pieces with expectations for each step defined concisely. This process was discussed with the staff as a whole and then reviewed at the start of each pre-observation conference.

In the end, it was decided that the model would include two observations (one per semester) with a pre-conference, observation, write-up, post-observation conference, and a co-created action plan for the teacher after the first observation. The support from the staff was further bolstered when the WASC Coordinator (who is also the science department chair and a veteran IBSH local teacher with over 30 years teaching) offered to share his completed observation form with the entire staff. Having a local teacher (and well-liked, highly regarded one, at that) volunteer to be a guinea pig greatly helped reduce teacher anxiety, as did providing them with a concrete example to help them anchor their ideas on instruction and assessment.

The big surprise began when the WASC Coordinator had his first debrief and we created an action plan together. He was very open to de-privatising his practices and was truly excited to get feedback that he could use to improve his instruction. That set the tone for the entire staff. The clear explanation of the process helped them see the relevance and importance of the clinical supervision process. It was also apparent that the listening skills of the observer allowed significant differentiation of the experience and increased the comfort of the observed teacher. The survey also supports these insights:

When one considers that 5 was “strongly agree” and 4 was “agree”, it’s clear that teachers felt that the process was helpful. But why did they feel that way? What was done to build such strong buy-in and a feeling of relevance for the clinical supervision model we used? It seems that the way IBSH went about introducing a clinical supervision model to the staff, and the fact that it was provided as instructional support rather than as a part of an evaluation system, were significant factors in garnering the approval from staff for a meaningful and detailed clinical supervision model.

We began by creating a Danielson Framework evaluation tool that was shared with the entire staff for a review period. Faculty was invited to give input on both the observation forms and the process. We dedicated multiple faculty meetings to examining the feedback tools and the clinical supervision processes and refining them. I believe that (1 = Strongly Disagree and 5 = Strongly Agree)

teaching and positive morale. This was further expressed in survey comments, including the following:

Though the administration was initially apprehensive about implementing clinical supervision out of concern about how teachers would react, the end result was that teachers undertook the process with zeal and seriousness that had not been predicted. The deep and sometimes “courageous” conversations that teachers engaged in with me were above and beyond all expectations. After having performed over 1,000 observations in 26 public schools in America, the first 120 observations of IBSH staff felt more welcomed than in any previous school. The anecdotal and survey results backed that up. On the survey side, two questions support this best, as seen in the graphs below. “Mr. Roberts stayed in my class [the] whole period, and his anecdotal record listed what happened ... every 5 minutes. He carefully watched how I interacted with students and [how] students responded to me after my instruction. This is my first time [I] receive[d] such ... detailed record of a classroom observation. The official report given at the post-observation meeting looks very professional. It follows the pre-set indicators to give his [reflections], which reflect [a] real class situation of teaching and learning. The manner [in which] he talked to me makes me feel he respects me, as a science instructor. I thank him for all the effort and time he dedicated to me.”

“I found some specific areas in which I need to improve and part of my summer fun will be pursuing information on improv[ing] [my] questioning process. I am constantly trying to improve on my strong points but the clinical observation showed me some things I was neglecting, to the detriment of my students. This is a good program and should continue.”

“I do believe that this observation was one of the more useful things that I have done at IBSH.”

This experience, that began with a recognised need, has evolved into an ongoing practice that the staff agrees is improving the school. I’m proud to say that teachers have truly embraced the clinical supervision practice and have begun to brag about exceeding their action plans in faculty meetings. The cautious and deliberate way that the program was proposed to the staff and rolled out accounts, in part, for the supportive teacher response, but there’s something else at play here. It became clear that the IBSH local teachers were actually craving useful feedback on their teaching practices that the national system was not providing.

While the second graph, summarising responses to question number 13, illustrates a strong staff belief that the process improved teaching, the fact that all respondents believed that their lessons and teaching were well explained in the observation report further underscores the point that teachers saw the process as valuable and supportive of growth. The level of gratitude that I experienced from local and Western teachers alike was unprecedented. Their positive feedback on my feedback in meetings and through surveys made me feel as if the work had an impact on The conversations in pre- and post-observation conferences, as well as the survey feedback, made this clear. That so many teachers were genuinely grateful to have an administrator stay an entire period to watch them ply their craft and give feedback was surprising to this somewhat jaded American educator. Clearly, local Taiwanese teachers welcome meaningful staff supervision if it is perceived as fair, useful, and relevant. This program that started with me intimidated to give feedback to professional veteran teachers turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my 22 years as an educator.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Seth A. Roberts is a fourth-generation educator whose pursuits include: Economics, philosophy, my family, disc golf, the Washington Redskins, playing cards of almost any kind, and the Golden State Warriors. He graduated West Chester University in 1998 with a Secondary Social Studies Education degree and received a master’s in Community and Economic Development from Penn State in 2007. Seth is a very passionate educator who loves teaching and curriculum equally.

Seth began teaching at Urbana High in Frederick County where he taught AP Economics, AP European History, AP World History, IB History and IB Theory of Knowledge. He was also an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland at Baltimore and Frederick Community College, and has coached World Scholar’s Cup, and the Fed Challenge very successfully.

Seth became the Secondary Social Studies Teacher Specialist for Frederick County in 2007 but missed teaching and sought an adventure so he returned to the classroom for three years in Surabaya, Indonesia. After a brief stint at Linganore High School, Seth moved to the International Bilingual School of Hsinchu (IBSH) in Taiwan in August of 2016 where he has been the Director of Teaching & Learning and the AP Economics teacher. Seth has been asked to serve as the head of school for a small school in Taiwan for 2020-2023.