Various measures are required when analyzing teaching quality and in this proposed symposium we discuss the differential impact and possibilities linked to rather different measures: classroom observations, student feedback measures and analyses of copies of students’ work. Drawing on classroom data from lower secondary Language Arts classrooms in respectively Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland we discuss how observation data and observation instruments, student perspective surveys and copies of students’ work serve as analytical and methodological lenses when trying to understand features of classroom teaching and learning. Using Nordic classroom data for such an endeavor – however interesting on a European scope - is especially interesting since the Nordic countries, at the one hand, share many structural similarities (e.g. a comprehensive, non-tracked, non- streamed model of schooling; the tradition of national curricula; and an emphasis on inclusive and heterogeneous classrooms). On the other hand there are interesting cultural differences in instructional practices across the Nordic countries such as the amount of whole class teaching  and classroom discussions (Klette et al., 2017), the role of technology (Olofsson et al., 2011) and scores on international achievement tests (Matti, 2006). 

Researchers have long known that teachers and their instruction matter more to student outcome than any other school factor (Baumert, Klieme, 2009, Klette et al., 2017). Yet, measuring teachers’ instruction and instructional quality has been, and is, extremely challenging. Different understandings of teaching quality across countries prevail, and issues pertain to the utilization of different conceptual frameworks, different types of assessment in quantitative and qualitative measures, their cultural bias, and the factor structure and measurement invariance across subjects, age and countries.

Our concern in the present symposium is to discuss how different conceptual frameworks and instruments such as student surveys, classroom video recordings and copies of students’ work provide possible lenses into understanding teaching quality. Voluminous research on teaching quality (see for example Nilsen & Gustafsson, 2016; Seidel and Shavelson, 2007) indicate that teachers’ ways of presenting content, supporting it with sufficient scaffolding techniques, nurture classroom discussion and knowledge sharing among the students, and providing a supportive climate has proven critical for teaching quality. Thus, the four dimensions cognitive challenge, instructional clarity, classroom discourse and supportive climate seem to establish a common ground when trying to understand and analyze instructional qualities in classrooms. By using different instruments and with different, yet similar enough conceptual grounding, we, in this symposium, discuss the potential strengths and constraints linked to the different approaches and instruments.

Paper 1 (Klette and Blikstad-Balas) use observation data from Language arts Classrooms in Norway to discuss challenges linked to analyzing teaching quality

Paper 2 (Roe and Tengberg) report from how student perception surveys from Finland, Norway and Sweden might inform us about features of teaching quality

Paper 3 (Elf and Illum Hansen) discuss how multiple approaches – that is quantitative and qualitative measures - are required when analyzing qualities in literary education in Danish Language arts Classrooms

Paper 4 (Svanbjornsdottir and colleagues) report from methodological and analytical challenges when analyzing teaching quality in Icelandic classrooms

Together these four paper summarize recent dilemmas and developments in our search for trying to understand features of high quality classroom teaching and learning relevant for Nordic and European educational practices.

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