Working more collaboratively to better understand teaching and its quality: Challenges faced and possible solutions

• Published in: Studies in educational evaluation Vol. 71; p. 101092
• Main Authors: Charalambous, Charalambos Y., Praetorius, Anna-Katharina, Sammons, Pamela, Walkowiak, Temple, Jentsch, Armin, Kyriakides, Leonidas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2021
• Subjects: Classroom observation frameworks; Scholarly collaboration; Teaching quality; Teaching quality; Scholarly collaboration; Classroom observation frameworks
• ISSN: 0191-491X; 1879-2529
• DOI: 10.1016/j.stueduc.2021.101092

•Scholarly collaboration can help accumulate knowledge on teaching quality.•Five challenges impeding such collaboration are identified and discussed.•Some possible solutions for addressing each of them are offered.•Offering incentives for such collaborative work is emphasised.•Striking a balance between inclusivity and group functionality is highlighted. Given the need to develop common frameworks for conceptualizing teaching quality and common instruments for measuring it, the current paper brings together a small group of interested scholars who have used generic, content-specific, and hybrid frameworks and classroom observation instruments to reflect on how collaboration can be enhanced in research on teaching quality. Five categories of challenges that inhere in such collaborative work are identified and discussed: establishing common goals and agendas; resolving differences in terminology and structure; addressing issues of operationalization and measurement; dealing with insufficient transparency and the need for sharing information; and attending to issues of limited funding. We also offer some possible solutions for dealing with these challenges. These solutions are envisioned to contribute toward moving the field forward by supporting more scholarly collaborations in the future.