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Stage 5 - Evaluating effectiveness of practice

The Inquiry process is a cycle of reflective practice designed to improve teaching, and the final stage is to evaluate the effectiveness of your teaching. This is crucial as it analyses what has happened in the teaching and learning phase, and lays the foundation for what will be improved in future.

During the Action Plan stage, you would have considered reflection prompts or questions that will help guide your reflections at this stage. Now you have implemented your Action Plan, assessed the learning and gathered work samples, it’s time to assess the work samples and make connections between your teaching and professional learning and the learning outcomes that have been achieved. Keep in mind that assessment is not just a summative task at the end. Throughout the Inquiry process, you have been making formative assessments and having discussions with your mentor and / or other experienced colleagues. These form how you have adjusted your teaching to improve the outcomes for your learners.

As part of your reflection, you might like to consider

  • did changes to my practice improve the learning outcomes for my learners?
  • what links can I draw between my practice and the learner achievements I’m seeing?
  • what impact did the Inquiry have on my teaching practice?
  • how will I develop my learning further?
  • can I share my learning with others?

It’s worth remembering that the work you have done in this Inquiry is not the same as a university assignment. This was not a supervised placement or an academic exercise – this was you working as a registered teacher with your own learners. So what you have learned about professional development and professional identity is worth sharing with your workplace.

Recognising the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

It’s normal for PRTs to have concerns about not achieving some learning outcomes due to restrictions and uncertainty caused by the pandemic. The Inquiry process is an improvement model underpinned by teachers reflecting on their own learning and teaching. While COVID-19 has caused significant disruption in education settings, its impacts need to be considered and there is a responsibility on teachers to include this as part of their reflections.

FYI

If your learners did not achieve some outcomes for COVID-19 related reasons, this is something you can consider when reflecting. Ask yourself: was there anything that you or your workplace could have done differently? It certainly does not mean that your Inquiry is not a valid Inquiry.

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