Melissa Hawkins
University of Bath
Melissa Hawkins is a doctoral student in the Department of Education at the University of Bath, where she also works in the Academic Skills Centre as a teaching fellow. She was previously a teacher and her research interests include educational policy and practice with a particular focus on performance appraisal. These interests have recently combined with an interest in the application of complexity theory to educational organisations.
This paper reports research into the performance management (now referred to as appraisal) of teachers in schools in England. The research has been undertaken from a complexity perspective (XXXX) which views schools as complex, evolving, loosely linking systems (CELLS). The complexity of schools results from their interactional nature and because interactions change those interacting. The consequences of this complexity include: the difficulty of establishing cause and effect; the problematic nature of system predictability; and that small actions may have large effects.
In the research, empirical evidence on performance appraisal was collected using a case study approach, and interviews with teachers and school leaders. Analysis of the data from a complexity perspective (XXXX) found that further development of the performance appraisal model is needed to maximise the potential of the current system. This need is evident in the data from respondents, who typically call for a system which moves beyond a one-off annual review to an embedded and ongoing process. Another significant theme in the data is that the quality of interactions between those involved in the performance appraisal process is significant. Respondents also report a need for the developmental aspect of performance appraisal to be enhanced. Importantly, the use of target-setting emerges as problematic, because of: the difficulty of establishing the effect of changes in practice in bringing about specific and measurable changes; unpredictable consequences of changes in practice; and the challenge teachers face in carrying the responsibility for targets being met in a complex system. The current use of targets in teacher appraisal is significant especially when the achievement of targets is linked to pay.
The findings call for a different approach to how teacher performance appraisal policies are designed and implemented. In the paper we will acknowledge the value of teacher appraisal but we will also argue that targets set in the teacher appraisal process need to be not only Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and Time-related (SMART) (Doran, 1981) but also Engaged with Reflectively and continuously over time (SMARTER). A move beyond the more traditional concept of SMART targets to SMARTER targets provides a better fit with the conceptualisation of schools as CELLS. SMARTER targets may also encourage the development of a performance appraisal system which is ultimately more reasonable, as it acknowledges that predictive target-setting is fallible in a complex system, yet can still be used as a developmental, reflective tool.
