Native and Non-native Language Teachers’ Perspectives on Teacher Quality Evaluation

Abstract

Various features of teacher instruction underpin the criteria used for the evaluation of teacher quality. The current study sought to explore whether nativeness/non-nativeness affects the criteria teachers consider for teacher quality evaluation. To this end, the participants were provided with five video clips of teaching, each presenting a 10-min lesson taught in a real classroom environment. They were requested to rate the quality of the teachers and to point out and describe the criteria they used to rate the teachers. Content analysis of the data indicated that preparation, caring, classroom management, and instruction constituted the general criteria the native and non-native teachers employed to evaluate teacher quality. Considerable differences, however, were observed between the two groups regarding a few of the criteria. The native teachers valued teachers’ efficient use of learners’ L1 more than the non-native teachers, while teachers’ linguistic accuracy and fluency of speech were highlighted by more non-native teachers. Besides, issues related to caring, management, and instruction grabbed the attention of both native and non-native teachers, while preparation received substantially less attention. It can be concluded that the use of video-mediated peer observation can provide a platform to uncover the implicit beliefs teachers hold toward teacher quality.