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54 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators

Perceived behavior control related to observer expertise. Changes to instruction
occurred in eight of the nine participants, proving that teachers believed the changes would
be easy and that their students would see success based on the instructional changes.
Participants did not indicate that the researcher pressured them to perform a certain strategy
or not. Participants received positive and constructive feedback that made them feel they
held relevance in the conversation, had control over the changes made, and believed their
peers would be pleased with the changes made. Six of the nine participants in the study
decided to strengthen practices in a progressive way. Two of these six participants consistently
communicated their changes to practice by building on the previous classroom observation
and SOAP-formatted post-observation conversation. Risk-taking was an issue for only one
of the nine participants.

Professional Relationships
In order for changes to occur to teacher values and assumptions, the behavior of
principals must change from one-way communication to two-way discussions (Marshall,
2009). Danielson (2009) wrote that the professional conversation is all about creating
a cultural shift. The conversations about practice must be conducted in a trusting
and respectful environment and challenge the thinking of both parties because they
are professional dialogues with important perspectives within a framework of shared
understandings and big ideas (Danielson, 2009). She continued that the collaborative
professional discussion should include assessment of students’ and teacher’s progress and
create an action plan for improvement.
Attitude regarding professional relationships. The fact that participants volunteered
for this study indicated to the researcher their willingness to collaborate and the degree
to which these teachers thought that post-observation conversations could be favorable.
Participants indicated having a strong support system within their grade-level teams. Two
participants mentioned their evaluators giving effective feedback similar to that of the
researcher. Participants believed the researcher worked with them as a team and indicated
that they self-reflected more during teaching because of the researcher’s presence. They
internalized the SOAP format as proven by their indication that the process had become
habitual to them.
Subjective norms regarding professional relationships. Participants perceived
that their principals thought they should self-reflect and strengthen their practice based
upon feedback provided in post-observation conversations, and, in matters of instruction,
teachers wanted to do what their principals thought they should do. The SOAP format as
a conversation format promoted a collaborative conversation in which the observer led the
teacher to self-reflect through questioning and provided feedback as needed.
Perceived behavior control regarding professional relationships. Participants found
the post-observation process, including the SOAP format, to be easy to execute and
believed that they played a role equal to that of the observer throughout the process. They
were not afraid to disagree or have a differing opinion from that of the researcher, and they
communicated this in a professional manner. Participants indicated that they did not feel
that the process was done to them but was instead a collaborative process that included
constructive criticism given in a positive manner. Participants indicated that, in traditional
post-observation conversations, feedback from observers that was perceived as negative or
was not communicated in an effective way could cause teachers to lose trust in observers
or leave them feeling hurt.