After being at a school in Vietnam for a while, you will find around January / February time that there is suddenly the talk of the KPI and everyone is busy making one super lesson for the observation. This article helps you to work out how to get through the appraisal process and how to work with surveys – something which is different to the West!
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KPI – Key Performance Indicators
Teacher performance is typically assessed with a KPI – Key Performance Indicators
When you first hear the term “ KPI “ you will probably have one of those moments of uh oh – how come I don’t even know what it means let alone what I am supposed to do with it? In simple terms, the KPI Is the appraisal document in Vietnam – with the acronym standing for “key performance indicators”.
Typically, the KPI is a huge document of about seven pages, covering all sorts of school areas – many of which are not really relevant to you and which you have no input into it. In theory, it is supposed to provide an in-depth analysis of your ability, however, as it is so long and focuses only on specific areas there is little opportunity to actually showcase your talents.
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The observation lesson
In order to complete the KPI document there is a need for someone to come into your classroom and observe
Many companies will have little knowledge about your actual teaching ability – they know that you are at the very least “all right “ as the parents/students have not complained too much – but they may lack in-depth knowledge of your specific talents and skills. As a result, in order to complete the KPI document there is a need for someone to come into your classroom and observe.
Although in the West, the appraisal process focuses on consistency and knowing about the teachers as the year progresses, in Vietnam, it typically comes from one special lesson – thus although you may have the mindset that the lesson to be observed should reflect your daily approach, you will quickly find that this is not the expectation. Instead, for the one observational lesson you need to do amazing things – things that you would not normally do and would be impossible to sustain daily
Remember to do amazing things during your observation instead of following your usual routine
If you are unsure about the types of things you should include,then talk to your colleagues to find out what they are doing – don’t be surprised about the level of preparation required for that one lesson and don’t feel that you are “ cheating “ by being super unrealistically amazing for that one session – it is simply something that is needed!
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Surveys
Parents
It is often hand in hand with surveys which are typically sent to parents
When the appraisal process is taking place, it is often hand in hand with surveys which are typically sent to parents – with students also being given surveys to complete if they are old enough to write.
It is absolutely vital that the feedback from the parents is positive – schools typically pay a great deal of attention to the feedback of parents ( remembering that education is a business in Vietnam – which means that the views of the customer are super important ) As a result, if you have some negative comments/feedback from parents then you will typically be called into the office to explain why parents have commented in that way.
It is often that parents are disgruntled with something to do with the company rather than your teaching – for example, they didn’t receive the textbook on time / the company policy of e.g. too much h/ not enough homework etc is upsetting them etc. Nonetheless, you will find that you will be asked about the reasoning behind this and told to sort it all out ( even if you are powerless to sort it yourself! )
As a result, the advice, if you are called into the office, is to try to remain calm and clear – try to be proactive about possible solutions and the way forward to make things better for the parents rather than trying to argue from logic.
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Teachers
You may be pleasantly surprised to hear that most schools have a yearly teacher survey in which you answer a series of questions about your place of work.
This may cover areas from the facilities, the educational materials, support from the company and how you think the company could improve. However, before you get too excited and start highlighting the huge list of things that are wrong and the ways they could all be righted, remember that these surveys do not serve the same function as in the West.
Although they are supposed to be anonymous, you will find that there are enough questions about you ( which subjects you teach / if you are foreign or Vietnamese / how many years you have been with the company / how long you have been teaching etc ) that those looking at the survey results are able to work out who you are.
The company are not really asking these questions to take note and really improve – instead, they want the data for promotional activities – e.g. voted the best school to work at in Vietnam / 100 % of our foreign teachers love working here.
In addition, the people in charge of your school will be judged on the results – so although on the surface it seems that you are being asked for your honest opinion, it is suggested that you instead often a version of the truth – base your answers on reality, however, look at it all through rose-colored glasses so that there is always an underlying happy slant to all answers.
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Overall, the appraisal system is very different from the West – typically a one-off super lesson instead of an ongoing systematic process – and surveys are biased before you even start – however, this is the process here in Vietnam so you need to embrace it – learn how to have a happy medium between what you know and expect and the reality – and remember that the appraisal at the end of the day is only a piece of paper or two and not a real reflection of you as a teacher – instead, only you know the reality of that!
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