Reimagining the Korean University Classroom Observational Process (COP) : NES Stakeholder Concerns and Expectations in the TEFL Context

• Published in: Journal of Asia TEFL Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 296 - 303
• Main Authors: Kent, David, Lee, Jee Eun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul Asia TEFL 01.03.2020; 아시아테플
• Subjects: Classroom observation; Classroom Observation Techniques; Context; Educational Needs; English (Second Language); English as a second language; English as a second language instruction; Foreign language instruction; Higher education; Holistic Approach; Korean language; Observation; Organizational Change; Professional Development; Second language learning; Second language teachers; Stakeholders; Teacher Associations; Teacher education; Teacher Effectiveness; Teacher Improvement; Teaching methods; TESOL; 영어와문학; South Korea
• ISSN: 1738-3102; 2466-1511
• DOI: 10.18823/asiatefl.2020.17.1.22.296

Necessary for meeting student learning needs, particularly in the light of a decreasing population of local students (Yoo & Sobotka, 2018), is the role of teacher professional development. This is tied to classroom observation in the Korean EFL teaching context (Choi & Park, 2016; Jung, 2011). However, such contexts at the university level, where English language education is provided by native-Englishspeaking (NES) instructors, are vastly underexplored. To this end, this study seeks to build upon previous research by Kent and Lee (2018) which, to date, is the only study on the NES classroom observational process (COP) at this level. Here, focus is placed on a call for organizational change and the need to develop professional development using a low-stakes peer-based discussion-led process. Any development and implementation of such a COP in this context would provide a more holistic approach to teacher evaluation (Ali, 2012), as opposed to employing punitive or yardstick measures (Metcalfe, 1999). This would also guide instructors in improving and meeting standards while developing student learning (Hayes, 1995). As such, the case-study presented here seeks to explore the essentials behind implementing a low-stakes peer-observation discussion-led COP in the Korean tertiary context, based upon focus-group findings, in terms of the purpose, practice, and concerns of NES stakeholders (administrators and teachers). Results come to determine the potential for university-wide implementation of such a process with these instructors. Such an endeavor is important since local teacher associations have recently begun to provide NES members with a means of informally conducting such a COP amongst themselves (KOTESOL, 2019). This serves to legitimize the importance of further research into this topic, as well as the need for the provision of this type of process for such instructors. Further, for this process to emerge amongst teachers themselves clearly highlights a desire for this kind of COP, and one that many workplaces are leaving unfulfilled.