Observation and your teaching staff

This was the title of the fourth in a series of monthly CPD webinars hosted by
the British Council. You can read more about the programme here.

This webinar was presented by Gillian Davidson and what follows is a summary
of what she had to say.




Observations - the traditional view

Observations are often seen mainly as a quality assurance/quality control tool
used for performance management, sometimes in response to student
complaints. They are usually done twice a year and teachers dread them! They
are seen as a negative, or simply a 'tick-box' exercise.

Teacher objections
Teachers might wonder, 'What right do you have to observe me?'
Observations are seen as judgemental.
They are seen as an intrusion into the teacher's space.
We need to break this vision. The classroom is the domain of the students,
not the teacher. Everything we do should be to enhance the learning for the
students. It should not be primarily for the benefit of the teacher or the
observer.

As observers, we should be reacting to and commenting on the effect of the
activity on the learning of the students, not on the activity itself.

Tools and Rules

Observation types
Management - used to check performance and maintain quality. These
can be done formally at a pre-determined time or as drop-in observations for 10
- 30 minutes at a time. In a good school, QA/management observations can be
developmental as well. They just need to be kept separate fromperformance
management observations which are done in response to a complaint or
identified problem. In these cases, teachers need to be told that it is a
performance management issue.
Peer - a really effective tool. Teachers learn most from observing, and
being observed by, their colleagues.
Self - this should happen after every lesson in the form of reflective
practice.
Blind - observations done with a mentor's support.
Advantages and disadvantages of each type



Observation sheets

Using observation sheets gives focus to the observation and makes it objective.
Before choosing an observation sheet, ask yourself what kind of teacher you're
observing and why you're doing it.

Here is an example of a section of an observation sheet:


Using such sheets gives a detailed overview of your teachers and keeps
feedback objective and non-judgemental. It's a good place to start with a
development plan and is particularly good for new teachers.

More experienced teachers who already have a development plan can choose a
specific area that they would like feedback on. Look at this example of part of
an observation sheet for commenting on teaching lexis:


With more experienced teachers, then, we may need to focus on the detail of a
lesson (lexis, a particular grammar point, the use of an IWB, etc.) and will
therefore need different observation sheets for different purposes.

Rules

Here are some rules for making observations developmental:
Make time - it's so easy to put off doing observations and reduce the
time you give to teachers. You must make time. Put observations, feedback
sessions and follow-up sessions in your diary. Every time you do an
observation, you're saying 'teaching is important'.
Give warning
Be objective - if more than one person is responsible for doing
observations, it's important that you are all observing on the same criteria.
Behave appropriately during observations -
1. stay quiet.
2. don't pull faces.
3. take notes, but pay attention to the lesson.
4. don't interfere.
5. don't take part in the lesson.
6. use an observation sheet to help you focus.
7. focus on the learning - what you like and don't like is irrelevant. All
that matters is whether the students like it and whether they are
learning. You are not watching the teacher as a person, but as how the
teacher is affecting the learner.
Feedback promptly - choose your language carefully during feedback.
Be as objective as possible. Don't use 'I liked.....', 'I felt that.....', etc. Instead,
use 'I saw....', 'You did....', etc..
Follow-up - the feedback should always include ideas and suggestions,
things to do, an action plan. So, the follow-up is very important - it is what
makes an observation developmental. The teacher needs to write something
about what they did and how it worked out and then he needs to sit down and
discuss it with the observer.
Value the process!! - Don't let observations be a 'tick-box' exercise.
Giving feedback
Make it useful - it's no good to say, 'yes, it's fine'.
Make it balanced - teachers can only take so much criticism at any one
time.
Make it reflective - reflection is one of the most difficult things to do and
teachers need to be trained not to look at the lesson as a whole, but to break it
down.
In written feedback, use 'you', rather than 'the teacher' or 'Susan'!!
Agree a development plan.
Keep records.
Follow-up.
The Observation Process