9th LEARNING UNIT: Evaluation and professional development of teachers

The term evaluation, often appears together with assessment. Both terms have a similar meaning and in practice are often used as synonyms or even interchangeably, but there are differences between them. Evaluation is a systematic process of identifying and documenting empirical data for the purpose of measuring knowledge, skills, beliefs and attitudes, etc. Assessment it is the process of identifying and determining the value (importance, quality, etc.) of what we value. Both processes are interrelated or take place in a sequence, as the data and information obtained through evaluation serve for judgments and judgments, i.e. for assessment.

In higher education, the evaluation of teaching has two main purposes, namely, it serves to demonstrate responsibility towards stakeholders (students, employers, etc.) and to improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching. A well-executed evaluation leads to findings that are valid, reliable and indicate directions and actions for improvement and further development.

Basically, teaching evaluation takes place as self-evaluation or external evaluation. Self-evaluation is a process in which teachers make judgments about the adequacy and effectiveness of their knowledge, performance, beliefs and effects with the aim of improving their teaching effectiveness. Self-evaluation can take place through self-questioning (reflection) immediately after the end of the lesson (e.g. What did I do well? What didn't go so well for me?), using checklists of didactic competences, using pedagogical portfolios, etc. External evaluation it can take place as: peer or collegial evaluation, evaluation by students or as so-called expert evaluation.

Peer evaluation is the evaluation of the teaching effectiveness of an individual teacher by other teachers (colleagues), usually from the same discipline or field. The main purpose of peer evaluation is to provide the teacher with a more objective insight and a basis for reflecting on his teaching practice, asking questions, searching for alternatives and new ways of teaching, with the key goal being the improvement of teaching practice. Evaluation by students is generally done using questionnaires, which, most often at the end of the course, are completed by the students, and the content and method of implementation are generally in the hands of universities and higher education institutions.

The quality and processes of ensuring and evaluating the quality of higher education teaching are increasingly associated with the didactic training of teachers and their professional development. It basically means the teacher's professional development of activities with which the teacher develops his knowledge and skills, expertise and some other characteristics of a higher education teacher.