Excellent teachers: exploring constructions of teaching.

Abstract

This study is a qualitative project. Its findings are grounded in the professional experience of secondary teachers acknowledged and recommended by their principals as excellent teachers. A cohort of twenty teachers was identified by the principals of four Catholic secondary schools in suburban Perth. These teachers have been part of a study that has involved within-class observation and four separate in-depth, semi-structured interviews spread over two years. The teachers varied in age, experience and teaching subject while their schools were situated in suburbs across the spectrum of socio-economic status. Each interviewee has addressed a number of topics that have centred around the person's self perception of their role, function within the school, abilities and talents that have been developed to this stage of their career. Issues of personal failure, challenges to personal and professional development, the central core or 'heart' of being a professional teacher in today's secondary education system, and their stance towards current and anticipated demands of the evolving education system have also been explored. While the accounts are interesting as personal stories of teachers, the unanimity of the constructions of teaching role and personal responses to the dally challenges of the profession is striking. Furthermore, the perspectives offered by these experienced teachers of schooling, education, teachers and students are remarkable in their optimism, belief in the future of education and high levels of personal commitment.

Introduction

Who are the excellent teachers, and what do they look like? This paper is going to address part of that question. Specifically, this empirical report is based on self reported data, from teachers who have been identified as "Excellent Teachers". While all such teachers might not be excellent in terms of prizes for teaching and learning, they were selected by relatively knowledgeable, independent and experienced arbiters. Hence, it is hoped that this group may be informative of teachers who are very good practitioners of teaching and learning, within the secondary school structure, to inform a discussion of the nature and development of excellence in teaching.

Method

It is clear that to research 'Excellent Teachers', we need to find some teachers who are excellent. The hard bit comes when one tries to define excellence! Is it about process or outcomes; objective measures or self-reporting; on whose standards and in what circumstances? (Wragg, Haynes, Wragg, Chamberlin 2000, pp.5-10). Does 'excellent' relate to being extraordinarily effective, whatever that means, within the every day, or successful in the extra-ordinary situations? In an attempt around this gorgon's knot, and to avoid the technical complexities of measuring excellent teaching (White 1991), a different tack was taken. In May 1999, the principals of four Catholic systemic secondary schools were asked to nominate those of their teachers they thought to be 'Excellent Teachers' (Gudmundsdottir 1990). When asked 'What do you mean by "Excellent"?' the reply was that the principals themselves were the ones who knew. It was presumed they gathered all sorts of information from parents, other staff, students, their own observations, end of term reports, and a thousand daily encounters to judge which of their staff they could nominate as "Excellent". If asked to give some idea of number, principals were told that a large school might have as many as half a dozen excellent teachers.

These four secondary high school principals nominated nineteen teachers who were individually approached and invited to become a participant. Every one of these teachers accepted this invitation and became part of the cohort that remained intact over two school years.