Giving Effective Teacher Feedback at Üsküdar SEV

Administrators Rethink their Approach to Teacher Observation and Supporting Professional Growth

At the start of the 2022-23 school year, conversations with school leadership teams revealed a clear and immediate need: improving the way department heads and administrators supported teachers through giving feedback. Just as much as feedback is  an essential component of student learning, so too is it for teachers if they're going to improve. 

SEV Academy designed a custom program and provided onsite coaching supervision to all of the admin teams across the Üsküdar SEV schools, from the Kindergarten up through the Middle School. Coupled with face-to-face trainings, the administrators trusted in the process and learned a lot along the way. Below is a summary of the program and some videos from some of our participants.

Dr. Duygu Korhan Ulkumen

Elif Ceyda Oltulugil

"Eğitim katılımıcıya yön veren değil ayna tutan bir bakış açısıyla planlanmıştı. Süreç içinde öğrendiklerimizi uygulamamıza fırsat tanınması çok faydalıydı. 

Eğitimin basamaklarını tamamlarken paydaşlarımızla deneyimlerimizi paylaşmamız da farkındalık kazanmamız yönünden çok değerliydi. Eğitim sırasında kullanılan sonrasında da bizlerle paylaşılan sunumlar da içerik geliştirilirken gösterilen özeni yansıtıyordu bence."

"The training was planned with a perspective that mirrors the participant, not directs them. It was very useful to be given the opportunity to apply what we learned in the process. 

Sharing our experiences with our stakeholders while completing the steps of the training was also very valuable in terms of raising awareness. I think the presentations used during the training and shared with us afterwards also reflected the care taken in developing the content."

Gülşah Okyay Orman

Tom Flatman

"Yansıtmayı, açıklığı ve değişime istekliliğini teşvik etmek için gerekli olan temel becerilerde ustalaşma  yönünde verilen tavsiyelerin çok kıymetli olduğunu düşünüyorum. 

Geri bildirim vermenin başlangıç aşamasında takınılacak tutumlar ve karşı tarafın alanını güvenle açmasını sağlayacak empati soruları etklileyici idi."

"I think the advice on mastering the basic skills needed to encourage reflection, openness and willingness to change was valuable. 

The attitudes to adopt at the beginning of giving feedback and the empathy questions to open up the other person's space with confidence were effective."

Administrator Workshop

This is a recording of the third and final part of the Giving Effective Teacher Feedback training for administrators. The first two sessions were very learner-centered and active so they didn't make for a good asynchronous learning experience (you can see the content of those, however, in the Teacher Workshop video to the right). Additionally, most of the learning happens through instructional coaching supervision over the course of the year, since giving effective feedback is a skill that takes time and intentional practice to develop.  

Teacher Workshop

Once all of the trainings were complete, SEV Academy facilitated a session with the teachers at the ÜSEV Middle School to fill them in on the learning that their administrators had been engaging in during the first semester, exemplifying what it means to be part of a learning organization. This video shows the content of the first two administrator sessions and introduces instructional coaching, inviting teachers to engage in peer observation and feedback.