The Syed Ahsan Ali and Syed Maratib Ali School of Education organised a speaker session conducted by Dr. William C. Smith, on December 5, 2018, which aimed to explore teacher’s satisfaction and evaluation. Dr. Smith is currently a Teaching Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and former Senior Policy Analyst at UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report. He holds a dual title PhD in Education Theory and Policy and Comparative International Education from Penn State University.
The session ‘Research Methods’ and was divided in two parts presenting two research papers. The first one was showcasing research on Teacher Satisfaction in High Poverty Schools. Dr. Smith concluded how the most significant factor in teacher’s satisfaction in schools is based on teacher’s involvement in school affairs and decisions. Teacher’s satisfaction can lead to teacher retention in schools, as teachers’ turnover is an issue in schools.
The second phase of the session elaborated on research on teacher’s evaluation and appraisal, elaborating the emphasis of student test scores. Dr. Smith discussed several factors, which could be used for teacher evaluation such as classroom observations, student and parent’s feedback or potentially the evaluation of teacher’s knowledge.
The session proved to be very informative to the MPhil Education leadership and Management students, exploring opportunities to carry out research on teacher’s motivation, satisfaction and evaluation.
