Moments of interpretation in the perception and evaluation of teaching

I explore the importance of interpretation in the perception and evaluation of teaching events through excerpts from a collaborative self-study project that I undertook as an Assistant Professor at a Faculty of Education. Certain classroom events were interpreted very differently by different experiencers of these events. I hypothesize that personal and cultural biographies shaped those interpretations. Focussing on the context of the self-study, I describe how as a consequence of inadequate appreciation of the role of interpretation, we as a faculty built teacher development and evaluation systems, and believed them to be value-neutral and generally applicable. I suggest that such systems can be recognised as favouring particular modes of teaching. Finally, I engage in dialogue with excerpts from reviews of the literature on evaluation in order to bring into view a wider conversation that could lead to future inquiry and to changes in the practice of faculty evaluation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.