Teaching is an activity that is usually monitored informally by teachers. The principle of flexibly planning instruction so that it can be made responsive to the actual teaching-learning situation indicates that Self analysis and monitoring has an important role to play. It helps the teacher with the final stages of implementing a lesson in a particular class.

The practice of self analysis in the long run helps to turn the teacher reflective, one who is not only doing a technical job but also learning from experience. Some of the aspects of the teaching situations that can be analyzed by the teacher, procedures and materials that a teacher can conveniently use are some of the aspects in this thesis.

Self analysis can lead to better teaching methodologies, better student interaction leading to better absorption levels. It allows for corrective measures to be undertaken for better outcomes.

Self analysis is based on first and foremost the teacher’s belief and attitudes about teaching language. These greatly influence the way she behaves in the classroom.

A teacher can be someone who maintains a high degree of control over the class where the subject matter is central. Or she can be someone who prefers to divide responsibility and creates conditions that are conducive for learning. These attitudes greatly influence self analysis.

According to the book by Rea Dickens and K.Germaine’s “EVALUATION” it is THE LEARNER’S BELIEFS AND ATTITUDES which can influence the teacher’s self analysis. Students too bring to learning their own beliefs, goals and attitudes which influence how they learn. Though learning is the goal of teaching it is not a mirror image of teaching. The teacher should know what assumptions or expectations the students bring to the classrooms for effective self analysis and can form a firm base on which she plans learning in the classroom.

The above forms the basic platform before the teacher can begin self evaluation.

Now that a platform has been established the teacher can evaluate her inputs at different times in her class.

1. How did tasks/Exercises work in class?

The teacher in her self evaluation should be able to decode the feedback from the exercises/activities given to measure up to a certain criteria she had in mind.

She should record her views as the class progresses or after class. She should have a basic format which she should record her progress in the class. An example of the format is given below:

At the end the class

At the end of 30 mins

The Tasks

• Provided opportunity for skill practice.
• Provided for different level of learners.
• Encouraged interaction among students.
• Encouraged information sharing.
• Lesson was interesting/informative.
• Enough material to ensure under-standing of the topic.

Which tasks/aspects of tasks would need to be modified? Why?

The above checklist would help the teacher in modifying her teaching methods to suit the class.

2. CLASSROOM OBSERVATION AS A WHOLE:

Teachers can also monitor herself and her teaching in a class as a whole. These observations are usually done after 20 and 40 minutes into the class. In the book Richards and C.Lockhart’s “Reflective Teaching in second language Classroom”

There are certain points that a teacher can use to monitor herself during the class.

• All instructions were clear.
• The class understood what was required of them at all times.
• Every student was involved at some point.
• Students were interested in the lesson.
• The teacher made sure that all students understood.
• Materials and learning activites were appropriate.
• Classroom atmosphere was positive
• The pacing of the lesson was appropriate.
• The language used was appropriate for the class.
• There was a right balance between student talk and teacher talk.

According to the above mentioned book, as a teacher gains experience on the job, more and more of her behavior becomes routine or habitual. One learns from experience by reflecting on it, and hence the value of self anlalysis.It can help her teaching become even more effective for more of her diverse learners.

Self monitoring involves critical reflection by the teacher which in turn triggers a deeper understanding of teaching. This self analysis is illuminative in the sense it gives us information about the actual process of teaching that can be immediately be fed back to alter or improve the class.

3. SELF ANALYSIS CHECKPOINTS (based on experience by self)

There are certain points which a teacher should consider before beginning the lesson, after the lesson and what has the teacher learnt.This checklist is usually enough for effective teaching and learning in a classroom. This list is purely based on my experience and I find that it usually works for me.

I.Before the lesson:

• Is the lesson planned interesting?
• Does it provide opportunities for students to be actively involved?
• Classroom arrangement and materials to be used.
• Which skills should be focused upon?
• The aim of the lesson
• Are the instructions clear?
• Have provisions been made for slow/quick learners?

II. After the lesson:

• Were the students interested and was the lesson smoothly/badly organized?
• Which learners were not involved? Why?
• Was the language used by the students meaningful?
• Plans to follow up the lesson
• Which of your aims were achieved?
• Did students give their input?
• Did they have adequate time to talk or did the teacher dominate the class?

III. What have I learnt from the above?

• How would I improve my teaching?
• How can I develop my teaching in the future?

To conclude Teacher Self Analysis is as on- the-job activity. This activity is very much required of the teacher and should not be viewed as a burden but as a special dimension to the mundane act of teaching that most teachers engage in. Teachers can themselves decide based on the self analysis which findings are relevant and useful to the given situation and which ones to be discarded and which ones to be repeated and most importantly, why?

Teachers are no more mere ‘subjects’ who are subjected to classroom observations or interviews by department heads and the like but are an integral part of the class who believes in self evaluation and more importantly take the necessary corrective measures from her findings.

By Shalini Narayanan
(My resources for this article are interspersed within it and a large part of the article was purely based upon my experience as an EFL instructor.)