OBSERVATIONS OF TEACHER EXPERTISE BEHAVIOR BASED ON A CHECKLIST DEVELOPED FROM STUDENT PERCEPTIONS

Abstract

Exploration into teacher competency of various types has gone on for quite some time. An untapped resource regarding teacher expertise is that of the students' perceptions of teacher expertise, particularly the ability of students to identify the types of behaviors that expert and non-expert teachers exhibit in the classroom. The frequency and variety of expert behaviors in the high school classroom were investigated in this study. High school teachers (n = 25) were observed during regular class periods using the Teacher Behavior Checklist, a checklist of behaviors developed for this study from discussions with high school students, teachers, administrators, and existing teacher competency literature. Results suggest discrimination of expert and non-expert teachers similar to Berliner (2001). Agreement among students' perception of expertise, classroom observations, and the literature suggest that high school students are capable of accurately identifying expert and non-expert behaviors of teachers. Further, some data suggest that expert teachers draw from a narrower behavioral scheme and exhibit expert designated behaviors more often than do their non-expert colleagues. This study highlights the need to close the evaluative loop through the utilization of student perception.