Students' Observations and Perceptions of Teacher "Performances" in the Classroom

Abstract

This paper documents students' observations and perceptions of their respective teachers' performance within the context of four year nine English classrooms. Drawing upon student interview data – and signalling researcher observations on occasion – it identifies key themes pertaining to the performances of the teachers. Specifically, it addresses the students' perceptions of the qualities or characteristics of their teachers, and the sets of practices employed by the teachers; and the students' views of the types of learning activities with which – and the classroom contexts within which – they were expected to engage. The paper identifies those teacher performances deemed by students to be and ineffective and the constitution of these performances, and draws conclusions as to what we, as educators, might learn from the students with regards to effective teach-er/ing practice. Finally, it is noted that while this paper draws specifically upon student observations and perceptions of English teachers' performances, these offer valuable insights for all teachers – teachers of all subjects and across all sectors of education.