OPETAN

Observations of Pedagogical Excellence in Teachers Across Nations (OPETAN)

Observations of Pedagogical Excellence in Teachers Across Nations (or OPETAN, which means, “I Teach,” in Finnish) was a study conducted during the 2017-2018 academic year collecting observational data of instructional practices in classrooms in Germany, Finland, the United States and the United Kingdom. In total, 32 observations were conducted across these four countries in content classrooms where content teachers had a reputation for excellence in working with language minoritized students (we also refer to these students as “multilingual learners”).

This study was not funded by the NPD ICMEE grant, however, it does represent the kind of work that the International Consortium, ICMEE, was developed to promote that did not require extensive federal funding. Rather, each research partner who participated in data collection efforts used local resources to engage in data collection efforts locally and in and least one other location. All research partners participated in regular online meetings.

Through the OPETAN study, we tested the viability, practicality and reasonability of using an observation protocol across four differing educational contexts. The protocol we utilized was based on the Standards for Effective Pedagogy and proved to be a successful tool that we plan to continue to use in our collaborative research. It was both sufficiently flexible and responsive to the varied contexts we visited while also capturing instructional excellence in a manner allowing for cross-context comparisons. Below is an image with information regarding six of the seven standards we utilized in our research.

Currently, data analysis and dissemination efforts are underway.