From Classroom Walkthroughs to Teacher-Centered Employee Dialogues
A digital tool links classroom walkthroughs with meaningful performance conversations – easing leaders’ workload and strengthening teacher development.
Duration: November 2025 – July 2026
Status: Ongoing
Educational Level: Primary Level, Lower Secondary Level, Upper Secondary Level – Vocational Education, Upper Secondary Level – Grammar School Education
Topic: Digital Tools
Keywords: Classroom Walkthroughs, Performance Conversations, Digital Development Tool, Teacher Growth, School Quality Assurance
Initial Situation
Schools are under growing pressure to strengthen instructional quality while managing increasing complexity, limited resources, and wide leadership spans. Classroom Walkthroughs (CWT) and instructional quality measures such as INSULA or Mainteach generate valuable insights into teaching and learning, yet these insights rarely flow systematically into performance conversations (MAG). School leaders report a heavy administrative burden in planning, conducting, and documenting MAGs. Instead of leading strategically, they spend significant time coordinating materials and preparing documentation. At the same time, many teachers experience MAGs as ineffective or purely bureaucratic. Feedback often depends on subjective impressions rather than structured, validated, multi-perspective data. Thus, the potential of professional development dialogues remains largely untapped. There is also a persistent gap between research and practice: while universities develop validated instruments for measuring instructional quality, schools lack digital tools that translate these insights into everyday practice. In short, what is missing is an integrated, scientifically grounded, and practice-ready system that connects CWT, instructional quality measurement, and performance conversations in a meaningful way—reducing workload for school leaders and providing teachers with feedback that truly drives development.
Objectives
The project aims to develop a digital tool that links Classroom Walkthroughs (CWT) with performance conversations (MAG), providing school leaders with planning, coordination, and archiving support while giving teachers structured, multi-perspective feedback. It seeks to make MAGs meaningful developmental dialogues, validate the approach scientifically, pilot it in real school settings, and prepare a scalable solution for all school cycles, bridging research and practice effectively.
Method
The project combines iterative design, pilot testing, and scientific validation. A digital tool will integrate CWT observations and validated instructional quality measures into MAGs. It will be piloted at the Munzinger School, collecting multi-perspective feedback from teachers, students, and leaders. Iterative feedback loops with users will refine usability and impact. The PHBern will conduct scientific validation, evaluating effectiveness and deriving Good Practices.
Planned Translation
Results will directly be translated into practice through pilot implementation, iterative feedback, and close collaboration with schools. The digital tool will be tested at Munzinger School, refining usability and relevance for teachers and leaders. PHBern ensures scientific validation, while Menon Skills AG develops the tool for practical use. Validated instruments and Good Practices will be shared via the BeLEARN community.
The project is expected to make MAGs more meaningful for teachers, reduce administrative burden for school leaders, and improve instructional quality through data-informed feedback. It strengthens the link between research and practice, enabling evidence-based development at scale. Impact will be measured through pilot evaluations at Munzinger School, collecting multi-perspective feedback (teachers, students, leaders), analyzing changes in teaching practices, MAG effectiveness, and usability of the digital tool, and validating outcomes scientifically with PHBern.
