The Role of Critical Friends in the Enhancement of the English Teachers' Pedagogic Skills at the Basic Education Stage "A Case Study"

Abstract

This study focuses on the role of critical friends as a method that evokes teachers to work together and draw on one another’s expertise. The researcher used the action research design that allows teachers to try a new practice. Nine teachers from Mostafa El-Qayaty governmental languages school in Atfeeh Administration, Giza governorate have participated in a critical friends group for nine weeks. The participants have finished ten sessions; through these sessions they conducted peer observations and reflected on their practice through debriefing sessions, journals, dairies and discussions. A lot of data sources were collected during the study. The results show that the critical friends method leads to a change in teaching process. Teachers could discuss, plan, and practise through assessment, observing expert teaching, classroom management and reviewing student work. As a result, teachers discovered that they could better diagnose, remedy, assess, and recognize students problems. Finally, using the critical friends method has a positive effect on classroom management and assessment for learning at the basic education stage.