Teacher Self-Evaluation in Their Own Practice A Case Study at Nhu Van Lan High School = Giáo viên tự đánh giá giờ dạy Nghiên cứu điển hình tại trường THPT Nhữ Văn Lan

These findings serve as the basis for several practical recommendations made to encourage teachers to apply self-evaluation as a reflective process in teaching in order to improve their

DECLARATION

I hereby certify that the minor thesis entitled “Teacher Self-evaluation in Their Own Practice: A Case Study at Nhu Van Lan High School” is the result of my own study to fulfill the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at College of Foreign Languages, Hanoi National University, and that this minor thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other universities or tertiary institution

The research reported in this thesis was approved by Doctor To Thi Thu Huong, Vietnam National University of Hanoi

Signature:

Vu Thi Nhung

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr To Thi Thu Huong, from Vietnam National University, Hanoi, University of Languages and International Studies for her thorough reading, critical comments, invaluable guidance and precious corrections on my writing

My sincere thanks also go to Assoc Prof Dr Le Hung Tien and all the staff members

of the Faculty of Post–graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting and informative lectures that have provided me with useful knowledge of teaching methodology

I am also indebted to the teachers of English at Nhu Van Lan high school for their enthusiastic assistance during the process of collecting data and information for my study

Last but not least, I am greatly grateful to my husband and my family for their support and encouragement in completing this minor thesis

ABSTRACT

In the academic year 2010-2011, Haiphong Department of Education and Training introduced self-evaluation to teachers In an attempt to investigate the reality of teacher self-evaluation at Nhu Van Lan high school, a case-study approach was adopted The main purposes of the research were to find out: (1) English teachers’ attitude toward teacher self-evaluation; (2) English teacher self-evaluation in practice; (3) the main difficulties in implementing teacher self-evaluation The cases in the study were six English teachers at Nhu Van Lan high school The findings were based on semi-structured interviews with teachers, triangulated with group discussion and document analysis

The results of the study show that all of the teachers had a positive attitude towards the necessity of teacher self-evaluation in teaching and learning The implementation of self-evaluation raised teachers’ awareness of their teaching practices and somewhat increased the effectiveness of teaching and learning However, they also identified some problems such as lack

of official guidelines or training for self-evaluation, the time-consuming factor involved, little improvement in teaching and learning effectiveness and the subjectivity of teacher self-evaluation, etc These findings serve as the basis for several practical recommendations made

to encourage teachers to apply self-evaluation as a reflective process in teaching in order to improve their profession and the teaching and learning effectiveness The recommendations are made to Haiphong Department of Education and Training, the leaders of Nhu Van Lan high school and individual English teachers of the school

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration………

Acknowledgements………

iv

v vii

1.2.5 Approaches to teacher self-evaluation as a reflective process………

1.3 Criteria of effective teaching judgment

IV VI

I

IX

2.3.2 Data collection instruments and procedures

………

2.4 Methods of data analysis………

Chapter 3 Results of data analysis and discussions……….………

3.1 Semi-structured interviews

………

3.2 Document analysis……… ………

2 Limitation of the research

……… ………

3 Suggestions for further study……… ………

REFERENCES……… ………

APPENDICES Appendix 1 Guided questions for semi-structured interviews………

Appendix 2 Guided questions for group discussion……… ………

Appendix 3 The instructions for teacher self-evaluation provided by MOET……

Appendix 4 The instructions for teaching assessment sheet provided by HDOET

Appendix 5 Group discussion transcripts and translation…… ………

LIST OF TABLES Pages

Table 1 ……… 19

Table 2 ……… 30

Table 3 ……… 31

PART A INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale:

How can teachers move beyond the level of automatic or reutilized responses

to classroom situations and achieve a higher level of awareness of how they teach, of the kinds of decisions they make as they teach, and of the value and consequences

of particular instructional decisions? One way of doing this is through observing and reflecting on one's own teaching, and using observation and reflection as a way of bringing about change

Concerning teacher evaluation issues, the researcher found that evaluation was a concept and process worth investigating, as it provided the possibility for autonomy of one's evaluative decisions and the changes made to one's practices Teacher self-evaluation (TSE) as a means of systematic reflection has become a significant aspect of professional development for teaching practitioners It is being introduced widely in many Western countries whereby teachers are becoming more actively involved in the assessment

self-of their own teaching practices and reflecting on the nature self-of effectiveness self-of their teaching

in order to improve its quality

In some places like Hong Kong and Greece, there has been growing interest in this process of self-evaluation as a more autonomous method for teachers to gain a better understanding of their teaching practices and as a means to take the initiative to focus on areas

of improvement

In Vietnam, not many studies have been done and written about this kind of evaluation

At Nhu Van Lan high school (NVL), in the 2010-2011 academic year, basing

on the suggestion of the expert of Haiphong Department of Education and Training (HDOET), the administrators asked the teachers to feedback their teaching by noting down some remarks after each teaching session Lesson plans had to be modified in order to be suitable for the characteristics of each teaching class In other words, teachers should self-evaluate their lessons to find out what needs to be changed This

indicated that HDOET and the administrators at NVL paid attention to the importance of TSE in developing teacher professionally However, how teachers self-evaluate in reality, how many ways a teacher could use to self evaluate their teaching, based on what criteria, how he/she could take advantages of the self evaluation result to improve teaching and learning effectiveness were questionable In addition, there have not been any researches on teacher self-evaluation conducted at NVL

All the above-mentioned reasons encouraged me to conduct the research entitled

“Teacher Self-Evaluation in Their Own Practice: A Case Study at Nhu Van Lan High School” in order to find out what are English teachers’ attitudes towards TSE, how they applied teacher self-evaluation in their teaching practice, what problems they encountered when self-evaluating and how to encourage them to make use of self evaluation for teaching and learning effectiveness

Overall, the researcher hopes that this study would not only provide a closer look at the situation at NVL but also to propose some recommendations related to self evaluation aspects for further improvement of English teaching and learning at NVL in particular and those at the same context

2 The study aims:

With the above rationale, the main aims of this research are:

- To find out English teachers’ attitudes towards TSE

- To examine how English teachers at NVL apply self- evaluation as a reflective process in their teaching in reality

- To investigate the difficulties arisen when English teachers use TSE in their teaching

On the basis of the findings, the author recommends some ways to encourage English teachers to apply self-evaluation as a reflective process for effective teaching and learning and ways to overcome the difficulties as well

3 The research questions:

With the aims stated above, the researcher proposed the following research questions for the study:

1 What are English teachers’ attitudes towards TSE?

2 How do English teachers self-evaluate in reality?

3 What difficulties do English teachers have in applying self-evaluation in their teaching?

4 How to encourage English teachers at NVL to apply self-evaluation for effective teaching and learning?

4 The method of the study:

The research was conducted as a case study The qualitative method and quantitative method were used to analyze the implementation of TSE as a reflective process of English division at NVL The specific methods used in this study were semi-structured interviews, document analysis and group discussion

5 The scope of the study

The study focuses on investigating English teachers’ attitudes toward TSE, teacher self-evaluation in practice, the obstacles preventing English teachers at NVL from carrying out self-evaluation as reflective process Then, some suggestions will be recommended to encourage teachers to apply self-evaluation as reflective process in teaching in order to improve their profession and the teaching and learning effectiveness as well

6 The design of the study

The thesis was designed in three parts Part A is The introduction It provides a brief overview of the study with more details of the rationale, the aims, the scope, the research methodology as well as the design of the study

Part B, the Development, consists of three chapters Chapter 1 reviews the literature

in the field of self-evaluation This chapter presents the theoretical background of the thesis which contains three main points: teacher self-evaluation, teacher self-evaluation as a reflective process and criteria of effective teaching judgment

Chapter 2, namely The study, focuses on the method of the study, the contextual factors of the case school and the data collection instruments and procedure

The next chapter, chapter 3, represents not only a detail description of data analysis but also the discussion of the findings Chapter 3 is divided into three parts dealing with the data collected through three instruments: interview, document analysis, and group discussion

Part C, The conclusion, is devoted to the conclusions of the studies It summarizes the obstacles in implementing teacher self-evaluation as a reflective process in practice and provides some recommendations to encourage teachers to apply self-evaluation as a reflective process for the effectiveness in teaching and learning In this part, the researcher also mentions the limitations of the study and some recommendations for further study as well

PART B DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: Literature review

1.1 Teacher self-evaluation

Teacher self-evaluation was defined by Airasian and Gullickson (1997, p viii) as

a process in which teachers make judgments about the adequacy and effectiveness of their own knowledge, performance, beliefs, and effects for the purpose of self-improvement At the heart of teacher self-evaluation is the belief that teachers’ main reasons for engaging in professional development activities come from their own experiences of what it means to

be a teacher and from a personal need to understand, critique, and improve their own practice In self-evaluation, it is the teacher who collects, interprets, and judges information bearing on personal practice It is the teacher who frames criteria and standards to judge the adequacy of his or her beliefs, knowledge, skills, and effectiveness It is the teacher who decides on the nature of professional development activities to be undertaken Self-evaluation is related to such concepts as the reflective practitioner, reflection on practice Self-evaluation is an important process for several reasons It can be done to determine the effectiveness of certain teaching practices Alternatively, the results can be used to provide concrete evidence of good teaching and a commitment to its improvement According to Airasian & Gullickson (1997), self-evaluation:

5 Makes teachers aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their practice: it grows from the immediacy and complexity of the classroom, as do teachers' motives and incentives

6 Encourages on going teacher development and discourages unchanging classroom beliefs, routines, and methods

7 Treats the teachers as a professional and can improve teacher morale and motivation

8 Encourages collegial interaction and discussions about teaching

Kremer-Hayon (1993) notes however, that the value one attaches to the process of evaluation is personal and subjective "The benefits that teachers may derive from each of these modes of evaluation depend upon the goals at hand, the specific interests and needs that may emerge in different situations, and the way teachers feel more comfortable with, and which they perceive as more useful in promoting their professional development"(p.80) Although self-evaluation is important and beneficial, many of the researchers and writers note that it is only one part of the teacher evaluation process It complements, rather than replaces the evaluation process (Airasian & Gullickson 1997; Kremer-Hayon 1993)

self-Much of the theoretical information on self-evaluation is not isolated as a separate entity in teacher development; rather, it is conceptualized into two main areas of educational research: teacher reflection and teacher evaluation For the purpose of this research, I will not focus a great deal of the discussion on self-evaluation as a strategy in teacher evaluation but narrow the focus of the literature review to self-evaluation mainly as a reflective process

in teacher development In doing this, I can emphasize teacher reflection as a part of the process of self-evaluation and its significance in promoting ongoing professional self-development in English as a foreign language teacher

1.2 Teacher self-evaluation as a reflective process

1.2.1 Definition of teacher self-evaluation as a reflective process

Self-reflection is what people do semi-automatically and semi-consciously whenever they teach Most of their mental activity is concerned with making the presentation or leading the discussion But one portion of their mental attention is concerned with “how is it going?”; “Are they with me?”; “Am I losing them?”; “Are they interested or bored?”

Self-evaluation as a systematic process of reflection is a form of teacher development that is an autonomous process enabling teachers to take control of their professional development and to form their own judgments regarding their teaching practices

self-The primary focus of self-evaluation is reflection Reflection in teaching means looking at what you do in the classroom, thinking about why you do it, and thinking about

if it works - a process of self-observation and self-evaluation By collecting information about what goes on in our classroom, and by analyzing and evaluating this information,

we identify and explore our own practices and underlying beliefs This may then lead to changes and improvements in our teaching Reflective teaching involves recognizing, examining, ruminating over the way an individual teaches As individuals possess their own background and experience, bring certain beliefs, assumptions, knowledge, attitudes and values to teaching

1.2.2 Benefits of teaching reflection in practice

The primary benefit of reflective practice for teachers is a deeper understanding

of their own teaching style and ultimately, greater effectiveness as a teacher Other specific benefits noted in current literature include the validation of a teacher's ideals, beneficial challenges to tradition, the recognition of teaching as artistry, and respect for diversity in applying theory to classroom practice

1.2.3 The strengths and weaknesses of teacher self-evaluation as a reflective process

The first value of self-reflection is that it is immediate and constant You do not have

to wait a week or a day or even an hour to get the result It happens right way Hence adjustments are possible right way The second strength is that this information is automatically created in terms that are meaningful to the teacher because it is the teacher who creates the information It is the teacher, not someone else, who look at the situation and says “This is what is happening.” This does not mean that teachers always know why

it is happening, or what to do about it if it is something they do not like However they do have their own sense of what is happening It happens all the time while they are teaching They may only take a mental pause every few minutes to size up the situation By

comparison with the other sources of information discussed, this takes place continuously However, the strength of this source is also its weakness because this information is created by the teacher and for the teacher Sometimes, they thought their students understood their lessons, or they looked interested but in fact, they did not We all have our own blind spots and lack complete objectivity This means that, at times, we are going to misread the responses of students to our teaching

1.2.4 Necessary conditions for self-evaluation as a reflective process

To ensure effective self-evaluation practices among teachers, Kremer-Hayon (1993) refers to two necessary conditions for self-evaluation: teachers' environmental conditions

as well as their personal characteristics

Environmental conditions include the necessary contextual support for teacher growth and development "Teachers are viewed as trained practitioners, working alone, responsible for their own classes, with little need for reflection or discussion" (1993, p 144) "Some researchers have suggested that variations in teacher reflection may be due to existing institutional policies and practices, as well as to factors in the teaching environment, such as allocated time for teacher planning, administrators' policies and practices, curriculum guidelines, or support for collegial interaction" (Peterson & Comeaux,1990,p.4)

According to Cole (1997), many professional contexts do not in fact encourage or support reflective practice She has observed that "many teachers who engage in systematic inquiry into their practice do so secretly, behind closed doors or away from their places of work" (p 7) This is further supported by Scriven (1994) who states, "the requirement for serious self-evaluation is a heavy one, and not always recognized as part of every professional job It is not likely to be accepted by teachers if they are treated as workers who are constantly being told how to do things, rather than as professionals who are responsible for getting certain things done in the way they judge best" (p 159)

As a result, Cole emphasizes "the need for researchers to shift their attention away from how teachers think about their work, or that they need to, to consider how it might be made possible for them to do so" (1997, p.7) She suggests that research be focused more on preparing educational contexts so that they are more conducive to teacher learning and

growth (1997) According to Hargreaves & Fullan (1992), the seeds of development will not grow if they are cast on stony ground Critical reflection will not take place if there is neither time nor encouragement for it" Support for this professional endeavor needs to begin

in the workplace

Kremer-Havon also states that, "teachers must be convinced that self-evaluation is a necessary constituent of professional development and a helpful element in achieving educational aims" (1993, p ix) Furthermore, Kremer-Hayon refers to the significance of teacher autonomy in making decisions, "psychologically, teachers, like all other professional adults, need some recognition of the value of their work from their superiors If these needs are satisfied there is a good chance that they will be motivated to fulfill themselves through teaching and not seek self-fulfillment elsewhere Consequently, they will probably be more willing to undertake new educational activities and will not fear to take risks" (p 13) In addition, she feels that self-evaluation initiatives should receive the funding that is required to provide in-service training

A second condition for self-evaluation includes the personal characteristics of teachers that determine whether or not teachers will engage in self-evaluation of their teaching practices These characteristics can be broken down into three primary areas: teachers' perception of teaching as a profession, teachers' role perceptions and teacher career stages According to Kremer-Hayon, if teachers perceive teaching as a mission and a lifelong process of development which they are dedicated to, "the greater the likelihood of developing

a positive attitude and willingness to engage in the self-evaluation process" (1993, p l5) If they are somewhat autonomous in instructional planning and its implementation, they will probably be more encouraged to evaluate their own work "Teachers must be convinced that self-evaluation is a necessary constituent of professional development and a helpful element in achieving educational aims" (p ix) The teaching context needs to encourage this

A teacher's perception of his or her role in the classroom is also significant in the process of self-evaluation "How the teacher perceives his/her role whether it be as a transmitter of knowledge to a facilitator of learning, to teacher as investigator and researcher into the teaching-learning processes in his or her classroom relates to self-evaluation" (p

15) Therefore, teachers who view teaching and learning as a process of discovery where they take an active role in asking questions and forming inquiries into their practices, are more likely to take part in the self-evaluation process

Finally, there is a relationship between the stage at which teachers are at in their career and its potential impact on whether or not they will be reluctant or enthusiastic toward self-evaluation The stages teachers will experience in their entire career from the pre-service level to that of the point when they are exiting their career will determine their interest in engaging in such a process Teachers who are at the beginning of their teaching career are generally striving to learn new skills and improve on any areas of weakness These teachers are more likely to take an interest in self-evaluation Teachers who are closer to retiring or considering a departure from the teaching profession, may not want to expend the time or efforts required in the self evaluation process

1.2.5 Approaches to teacher self-evaluation as a reflective process

Many different approaches can be employed if one wishes to become a critically reflective teacher Carroll (1981) suggests personal reflection through self-rating forms; self reports; peer observation and; self-study material Richards (1990) recommends personal reflection through journals or diaries; self-reporting by completing inventories or checklists and audio or video recordings of a lesson Airasian and Gullickson (1997) also suggest: teacher portfolios, student performance data, collegial dialogue, experience sharing, and joint problem solving In our school teaching context, peer observation, journals or diaries, self-reporting and collaborative diary keeping seem to

be the most suitable ones

Peer Observation

Peer observation can be used to provide opportunities for teachers to view each other’s teaching in order to expose them to different teaching styles and provides opportunities for critical reflection on their own teaching

Self-reporting

Another useful way of engaging in the reflective process is self-reporting by completing an inventory or checklist in which the teacher indicates which teaching practices were used within the lesson or within a specified time period and how often they

were employed The inventory may be completed individually or in group sessions reports help teachers focus on the teaching of specific skill in a particular classroom context

Self-Journal Writing

A procedure which is becoming more widely acknowledged as a valuable tool for developing critical reflection is the journal or diary The goal of journal writing is:

1 to provide a record of significant learning experiences that have taken place

2 to help the participant come in touch and keep in touch with the self-evaluation process that is taking place for them

3 to provide the participant with an opportunity to express, in a personal and dynamic way, their self-development

4 to poster a creative interaction

 between the participant and the self-development process that is

taking place

 between the participant and other participants who are also in

the process of self-development

 between the participant and the facilitator whose role is poster

such development (Powell, 1985, Bailey, 1990)

Collaborative Diary Keeping

Teachers are able to share their teaching experiences by reading one another’s diary entries They also feel that teachers can learn as much from one another’s entries as they are from their own Reading and responding to the entries lead them back to their own teaching to consider how and why they taught as they did

In short, many approaches and techniques help teachers to monitor their teaching style, however, we teachers busy at work need the self-evaluation techniques that are concise, practical, and easy to implement in the classroom right after each teaching session

1.3 Criteria of effective teaching judgment

Effective teaching is the basis of successful learning Effective teaching identifies and builds on prior knowledge, makes real-life connection, develops deep understanding and monitors and reflects on learning Not only do teachers self-evaluate their teaching for professional development but students also get benefits from teacher teaching awareness Although many people believed that good teaching is impossible to define in any general way, many others suggest that certain characteristics are associated with good school teaching as viewed by students, other teachers and administrators In a study of winners of the Alumini Distinguished Teaching Award at Ohio State (Ebro, 1997), the characteristics of effective teaching base on traits of effective teachers are shown below:

 The teacher got right down to business

 They began class promptly and were well organized

 They taught at an appropriately fast pace, but stopped regularly to check student comprehension and encouragement

 They used a variety of instructional strategies rather than lecture alone

 They focus on topic and their instructional objectives and did not get sidetracked

 Their explanations were clear

 They used humor that was in keeping with their individual styles

 They practiced good classroom management techniques, holding the attention and respect of the group

 They interacted with students by providing immediate answers to questions or comments and corrective feedback when needed

 They praised student answers and used probing questions to extend the answers

 They provided a warm classroom climate by allowing students to speak freely and by including personal humor or other attempts to relate to students as people

 They used nonverbal behavior, such as gestures, walking around, and eye contact, to reinforce their comments

1.4 Empirical research on teacher self-evaluation

Teacher self-evaluation has been the focus of numerous studies However, almost of them were researched at Western countries Besides, their main concern is introducing this new kind of evaluation Difficulties in implementing teacher self-evaluation receive less attention of researchers in the world

Doff (1988) has included a self-evaluation questionnaire after each unit in his training course for future foreign language teachers The purpose of the questionnaire is to encourage the teachers-to-be to reflect on their own teaching-practice after each training session Taylor (1994) stated the benefit of self evaluation as refection on teaching and suggested the technique that has been found to be successful In response to the emerging need to develop teachers as professionals who evaluate their own work, Lya Kremer-Hayon (1993) published the book titled “Teacher self-evaluation: teachers in their own mirror” which presents the foundations of self-evaluation as well as self-evaluation models and tools that are likely to help educational practitioners to evaluate their own teaching, and thus raise the level of their professional functioning Limantoro (2003) inspired language teachers as well as language supervisors or principals with fruitful ideas

on TSE models as teacher porfolio to monitor language teachers’ performance

Chapter 2: The study

2.1 Context of the Study

The study was conducted at Nhu Van Lan high school, which is located at Tienlang district- the rural area of Haiphong city NVL was founded in 1999 It was a semi-public school and has changed into a public school for five years The school is in progress of construction; therefore, the teaching facilities are poorly equipped For the 2010-2011 academic year, the school has more than 1,000 students (405- grade 10, 360- grade 11, 415- grade 12), 28 classes with an average 43 students per class There are 6 teachers of English and 52 others who are teaching different subjects at this school The English teachers are between 25 and 36 years of age As other subjects, English teaching is often evaluated mainly on students’ test scores Teacher self-evaluation is officially done once a year after the school year finishes Teachers self evaluate many aspects including their teaching abilities, educational abilities, political and social abilities, professional development abilities, etc (For further information, see appendix 3) This result is used for the evaluation of teachers’ abilities in common with the consideration for teachers’ promotion Teacher self-evaluation for a reflective process was introduced to the teachers

in October, 2010 when the expert of Haiphong Department of Education and Training went

to work in the school

2.2 Method of the study

In order to address the research questions that form the basis of inquiry within this research effectively, it became evident that as a result of its naturalistic and interpretative approach, qualitative research would be the most appropriate method to obtain teacher feedback The case study as a strategy for inquiry or research design has been chosen to carry out this research in order to understand the experiences of a specific group of teachers

Qualitative Research

Historically, the focus of qualitative research has been on the study of human life in the social science disciplines Its approach is naturalistic Its objective is to understand the meaning of an experience (Merriam, 1988, p.16) from a human perspective The focus on meaning allows for a greater understanding of the situation within a particular context whereby the researcher can derive information about the participants as it relates to them in

their own setting and the meanings construed by them "Qualitative research is method in focus, involving an interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject matter qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them" (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994, p 2)

multi-This multi-method focus allows the researcher to utilize multiple methods and materials upon which to obtain an in-depth understanding of the situation being studied, without preference or emphasis placed on any one particular method These include: case studies, personal experience, introspection, life stories, interviews, observations, histories, interactions, and visual texts that describe routine and problematic moments and meanings

in individuals' lives

The design characteristics of qualitative research are "emergent and flexible, responsive to changing conditions of the study in progress" (Merriam, 1998, p 8) Therefore, the consideration for variability in this process is a possibility, an important consideration when conducting research focusing on human behavior in context

Case Studies in Qualitative Research

Case studies are bounded systems (Smith, 1978) that allow the researcher to concentrate attention on the way particular groups of people confront specific problems, taking a holistic view of the situation They involve "'the examination of a specific phenomenon such as a program, an event, a person, a process, an institution, or a social group the case is selected because it is an instance of some concern, issue, or hypothesis" (Merriam, 1988, p 9) "By concentrating on a single phenomenon or entity ("the case"), this approach aims to uncover the interaction of significant factors characteristic of the phenomenon" (Stake, 1994, p.10)

The case study provides the researcher with ''insight, discovery, and interpretation" (Merriam, 1988, p 10) Because it is field-based, it allows the researcher to explore phenomena directly from the human experience Self-evaluation is also field focused as teachers form inquiries into their teaching practices "Teachers who evaluate their work seek

to interpret, explain the meanings of observed situations or events, put them in a context, assume potential sequences, and use their pedagogical knowledge and experience to account

for the studied events" (Kremer-Hayon, 1993, p 129)

Furthermore, "field research better captures situations and settings which are more amenable to policy and program intervention than are accumulated individual attributes" (Merriam, 1988, p 33) In fact, the case study can also be a disciplined force in public policy setting and reflection on human experience Case studies are of value in refining theory and suggesting complexities for further investigation, as well as helping to establish the limits of generalizability" (Stake, 1994, p 245)

In this research, the case study method is applicable to the context of NVL because

it can be used to examine the implementation of English teacher self-evaluation at NVL The study involves not only the description of what is happening in reality but also the investigation of the problems arising during self-evaluation process The researcher applies principle of relativity in identifying the best solutions for the problems Then, the researcher follows the steps of conducting a case study

Step 1 Determine and Define the Research Questions

TSE - a suggestion of the expert of HDOET- was first introduced at NVL in the academic year 2010-2011 In this case, the researcher is primarily interested in determining how these teachers applied TSE and what difficulties they might have when implementing TSE The researcher begins with a review of the literature to determine what prior studies have determined about this issue and uses the literature to define the questions for the study They are:

1 What are English teachers’ attitudes toward TSE?

2 How do English teachers self-evaluate in reality?

3 What difficulties do English teachers have in applying self-evaluation in their teaching?

4 How to encourage English teachers at NVL to apply self-evaluation for effective teaching and learning?

Step 2 Select the Cases and Determine Data Gathering and Analysis Techniques

All the teachers at NVL have engaged in TSE; however, the researcher only chooses the English division as a case with six sub-cases – English teachers to be studied

The researcher contacts the leaders of NVL for their permission and all the English teachers at NVL who are the key participants of the case study

The researcher considers multiple sources of data for this study First, the investigator decides to conduct semi-structured interviews with each participant using a check-list to guide interviewers during the interview process so that uniformity and consistency can be assured in the data In this case study, the researcher does not employ direct observation as a tool because she does not want to intervene in the fact of implementation of TSE The researcher instead decides to collect the teachers’ lesson plans

to explore what the teachers did in reality Finally, on the basis of the findings from the two first techniques, a group discussion is used as a third data gathering tool Within-case

and cross-case analysis of data are selected as analysis techniques

Step 3 Prepare to Collect the Data

The researcher prepares to collect data by first contacting each participant to be studied to gain their cooperation, explain the purpose of the study, and assemble key contact information Since data to be collected and examined includes documents of teachers’ lesson plans, the researcher states her intent to request copies of these documents The data collection procedure also consists of conducting a group discussion; thus the researcher gives a detailed explanation of the purpose of the case study The researcher selects a teacher as a pilot case, and the investigator applies the data gathering tools to the pilot case to determine whether the planned timeline is feasible and whether or not the interview is appropriate and effective Based on the results of the pilot, the researcher makes adjustments for the real participants of the study

Step 4 Collect Data in the Field

The investigator first arranges to visit each teacher The investigator reviews the purpose of the study, schedules individual interview times with the participants, and

confirms key contact data

The investigator’s field notes record from the interviews is assisted with the interpretation of the document analysis Once the findings are revealed, the researcher enters the data into the database so that it can be used independently as well as integrated when the case study progresses to the point of all participants’ discussion

Step 5 Evaluate and Analyze the Data

Within-case analysis is the first analysis technique used The investigator studies each participant’s written documentation and interview response data as a separate inicase

to identify the data for within-group similarities and differences

Cross-case analysis follows The investigator examines all the minnicases, categorizing the similarities and differences In those minicases, the investigator conducts follow-up group discussion to confirm or correct the initial data in order to tie

the evidence to the findings and to find out the answers to the research questions

Step 6 Prepare the Report

The outline of the report includes thanking all of the participants, stating the problems, listing the research questions, describing the methods used to conduct the research and any potential flaws in the method used, explaining the data gathering and analysis techniques used, and concluding with the answers to the questions and suggestions for further research

There are, however, limitations to this form of research The first limitation is centered around ethical issues regarding the participation of the people being studied and the possible impact on their lives A second limitation is the possibility of biases which may affect the final product due to a writer's ability to choose from among available data, anything he/she wishes to be illustrated (Merriam, 1988)

Furthermore, circumstances may be "oversimplified or exaggerated leading the reader to erroneous conclusions about the actual state of affairs" (Guba & Lincoln, 1981, p 377) In addition, qualitative research is sometimes viewed as "unscientific" research that may be based solely on personal interpretation due to a lack of experimental conditions to validate the findings

The last limitation is the lack of generalizability of findings due to its emphasis on a single or a few cases and it is not reflective of a population of cases According to Robert

E Stake (1995:8-9) the real business of case study is “particularization” In a case study, there is an emphasis on uniqueness For this reason, case studies provide little basis for generalization However, the transferability of the conclusions from one case to the other can be made as long as the two cases have the similar contextual factors

2.3 Data collection

2.3.1 Participants

The study focused on six teachers of English in NVL high school Because the teachers wished to remain anonymous, the researcher used the term Teacher 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 to refer to them General information of the participants was provided in Table 1:

Table 1: Background of participants:

Participants Age Gender Years of teaching

experience Qualifications Class taught

Teacher 1 36 M 13 B.A A5,A7,B3,B4, B6 Teacher 2 34 F 10 B.A A3,A6,C1,C2 Teacher 3 32 M 9 B.A A1,A2,A4,B1,B8 Teacher 4 30 F 7 B.A B2,B5,B7,B9 Teacher 5 29 F 6 B.A A9,A10,C6,C4,C7 Teacher 6 25 F 2 B.A A8,A11,C3,C5, C8

Note: A-grade 12; B-grade 11; C-grade 10

As can be seen from the table, all the teachers have been teaching English for at least two years at NVL Among these teachers, three teachers with more than nine years of teaching experience graduated from Haiphong People Founded University The three other teachers having taught English for less than eight years graduated from Haiphong University None of them have Master of Art degree

2.3.2 Data collection instruments and procedures

Data were through semi-structured interviews; then document analysis and group

discussion were applied in order to triangulate the data

This study started at the end of the 2010-2011 academic year Firstly, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with each teacher The purpose was to identify how

teachers self-evaluate after each lesson as the administrators wished teachers to do and what problems teachers have to face when applying this kind of evaluation As stated by Johnson, D.M (1992), the most obvious strength of interviews is that ‘the interviewer can obtain more meaningful information’ Besides, interviewing teachers can avoid unexpected difficulties such as: being unconfident or perceptual distortions In addition, interviews are personalized, and permit a level of in-depth information-gathering, free response, and flexibility (Seliger & Shohamy, 1989)

The semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of the teachers at their house at a time agreed before The language of the interviews was Vietnamese with the belief that the participants would feel more comfortable to express their ideas The questions in the interviews were to get information about the teachers’ attitudes toward teacher self evaluation as a reflective process and the obstacles preventing them from applying self evaluation as a reflective process in their teaching Their ideas were taken notes then summarized for the next stages of data collection

Basing on the analysis of the data collected in the first stage, the researcher decided

to collect and analyze the 6 English teachers’ lesson plans in order to reassure the ways teachers self-evaluate their lessons, keep its results and make use of it

Then group discussion - a good way of obtaining in-depth qualitative data - was carried out in collecting data process In this research, group discussion was based on the Delphi technique which has been describes as “a method for structuring a group communication process so that the process is effective in allowing a group of individuals,

as a whole, to deal with a complex problem” (Linstone & Turoff, p.3) It allows complex decision-making and creative problem solving in a way which avoids the drawbacks of conventional meetings with unstructured, free flowing interaction and minimal direction, such as:

 High variability in participant behavior and group social behavior

 Discussion falls into a rut or goes off at tangents

 The absence of an opportunity to think through independent ideas results in generalizations

 High status or dominant personalities dominate discussions and decisions

 Unequal participation among those present

 Meetings conclude with a perceived lack of accomplishment

On the scheduled day, all the six teachers arrived for group discussion At the beginning, the researcher stated the summary of their difficulties in applying self evaluation in their teaching as the school administrators’ suggestions then asked the teachers to discuss the possible solutions for the problems Their discussions were taken notes for further analysis

The language used in the discussion was mainly in Vietnamese Vietnamese had been chosen because it helped the teachers feel at ease expressing themselves and ensured the right understanding

The transcription approach used in this research was a simplified version of conversational analysis (CA) The adaptation to CA was made following the rules that were developed by Flick (1998) known as the criteria of manageability, readability, learnability, and interpretability In other words, the data from the discussion were converted into text in a way that was easy to write, easy to read, easy to learn, and easy to comprehend

Interview and discussion data were then analyzed in accordance with the literature review and context investigation to explore the research questions Content analysis was mainly used in the data analysis Findings and discussions of the findings were then discussed in the next chapter

2.4 Methods of data analysis

The data were collected with three instruments: interview, document analysis and group discussion Therefore, the researcher arranged the data into three different categories

to analyze:

 The data from the interview

 The data from document analysis

 The data from the group discussion

The data from the interview were then classified into three groups involving the attitudes of NVL high school teachers towards teacher self evaluation as a reflective process, the reality of teacher self-evaluation and the obstacles preventing them from applying self evaluation in teaching

All the data were gathered to analyze both descriptively and interpretively