Perceções de docentes sobre as dimensões da avaliação do desempenho docente

: supervisão e colaboração na cultura docente

Abstract

This study focus on the teachers‟ performance evaluation (TPE), trying to answer the question: “What is the teachers‟ understanding about the changes related with the TPE in the following dimensions: collaborative and supervision dynamics, and improvement of teaching practices?”. Therefore, this study intends to understand how the TPE process was applied in schools and seen by teachers, in the selected universe and concerning its tendencies. For that will be assessed the influence teachers attribute to the intermediate management organs leaderships in the promotion of supervision and collaborative cultures. Prior to the development of this study, was necessary to define and clarify some fundamental concepts to the TPE, such as the definition of evaluation, and performance evaluation; the concept of supervision, as well as the theoretic framework that analyses the school‟s culture, highlighting the perspectives related with collaborative culture‟s valorization, and practice‟s change and improvement. In this study have participated teachers from primary schools of 2nd and 3rd cycles of Almada and Seixal counties, which exerted functions in the scholar years between 2007/2008 and 2009/2010. The information was collected through online surveys, which proved to be the most adequate method considering the study object. With this instrument, we tried to understand, in an extensive way in the considered universe, the dynamics that involved teachers in their schools in the TPE‟s implementation period, in agreement with the Regulatory Decree nr 2/2008, of January 10. Among this study‟s conclusions is highlighted the existing contradiction between teacher‟s opinion about the way supervision and collaborative practices, and the way improvement of teaching action were understood. The changes due to TPE introduced in schools and its paperwork triggered reactions of opposition and disbelief in the process, conditioning the existence of actual improvement in teaching practices. However, in general, teachers considered that supervision has contributed to improve their teaching action. The application of TPE was perceived as an opportunity to introduce improvements in teaching practices, and both the relations between teachers, and the communication with top and intermediate leaders were considered as high enhancers. In the respondents‟ perspective, the greatest difficulties that were perceived and that determined the way that evaluation, supervision and collaborative actions took place were the lack of recognition of supervisor‟s professional qualification, competences, bureaucracy action, and the disbelief in the benefits in the advantages resulting from the existence of teacher‟s supervision mechanisms. Both personal and scholar factors were seen as having hindered the effective implementation of collaborative and supervision practices, conditioning the professional development and the teachers‟ performance evaluation. In general, the targets of our study find that the TPE did not have a positive impact in teacher‟s professional development.

Date of Award	Oct 2011
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Maria do Céu Roldão (Supervisor)