A Dialogical Approach to Understanding: Horizontal Evaluation

Evaluating teachers: An alternative model

“…It repudiates the traditional egg-crate structure of schools. Teachers are encouraged to form relationships that enable school change to be based on a joint inquiry into what is really best for the students (Gitlin & Goldstein, 1987).…”

“…Collegial evaluation utilizes several approaches, including communication analysis (prejudgments are uncovered), historical perspective (clarification of how past events and ideology may explain the existence of current actions and related beliefs), and alternatives for achieving desired intentions (implications of taking a different educational approach) (Gitlin & Goldstein, 1987). Use of challenge statements are suggested to push dialogue beyond simple clarification of values and prejudgments to the point where issues of rightness can be raised.…”

“…One might inquire as to why these rules are important. As Gitlin and Goldstein (1987) note, inquiry regarding these and other statements attempt to involve teachers in thinking about the implicit values reflected in such rules. Teachers' values reflect the prejudgments embedded in their instructional purposes.…”

Traditions of Reform in U.S. Teacher Education

“…We are equally concerned, however, with creating alternative teaching practices capable of empowering students both inside and outside schools. (p. 229) Other contemporary reconstructionist teacher education efforts in the U.S. include the work of Adler and Goodman (1986), who have used social studies methods courses to help prospective teachers develop curriculum analysis and development capabilities that will contribute to more democratic school contexts, the &dquo;emancipatory&dquo; supervision methods developed by Gitlin and Smyth (1989), our own work in developing an inquiry-oriented student teaching program (Zeichner & Liston, 1987), several feministinspired proposals for teacher education programs that seek the correction of gender inequities in . schools and society (e.g., Maher & Rathbone, 1986), and proposals like those of Ginsburg (1988) that call for more political activity by teacher educators (see Liston & Zeichner, in press).…”

Still Blowin’ in the Wind: Elizabeth Eddy's diagnosis of persistent educational ills

“…Reduction of teachers to deskilled technicians and problems of accreditation of teachers continue to be problems (e.g. Gitlin & Goldstein, 1987;Hatton, 1988;Smyth, 1988;Gore, 1990). Eddy's signalling of these issues is again indicative of her foresight.…”