Teachers often have to do their work under very difficult circumstances. They seldom have all the resources that they need, they have to cope with large classes and they have numerous administrative responsibilities on top of their teaching duty. Meetings and extra curricular activities consume even more time. There is no time to develop professionally. Luckily, if there is an experienced teacher leading instructional rounds, teachers can learn a lot from each other.
The idea is not complicated at all. An experienced educator act as group leader and, with a small team of other teachers, attends the classes of another experienced teacher. The purpose of sitting in on the class of another teacher is to learn from him by observing him in action. The observers are not allowed to take part in the lesson or to interrupt the teacher under observation.
The leader will have a meeting with the other observers just before each session. They decide upon the goals for that observation session. In most instances the goals will focus on the known strengths of the teacher that will be observed. For example, an educator may be well known for his ability to maintain discipline in his class by using humor. The goals of the session will therefore focus on that aspect of his teaching.
There is no question of evaluation during observation sessions. That would defy the entire idea of the system altogether. Observers do no score, they do not criticize and they do not evaluate. They learn, that is all. They observe and try to improve themselves in the process. That is the only purpose. To this end, observers never provide feedback to the teacher that they observed.
Right after every observation session the leader of the observers will convene another short meeting. This is when the observers share their experienced, the ideas that they have garnered and their plans for improving their own teaching techniques. In this way the observers learn not only from the teacher that they observed, but also from each other. The meeting is confidential and no report is ever compiled.
Observations sessions have become immensely popular and observers now even visit colleagues at other schools. Universities and colleges have also started to implement similar systems. Participants say that they learn a lot from their colleagues, they get a chance to interact with other teachers and they are more motivated in their own classrooms. The teachers being observed also benefit because they are motivated by the fact that they are acknowledged as accomplished professionals.
There are always cynics and critics. They say that these observation sessions are useless because they are too short, far too informal and the fact that no feedback is given means that there is no measurable outcome. They also say that those teachers under observation never teach the way they always do because they want to impress their colleagues. This, they say, nullifies the entire purpose of the system.
Observation sessions are easy to implement and they do not cost anything. If they help teachers to remain motivated and to learn from each other, they should be encouraged. Every effort to improve the quality of education is worth it. Everybody benefits from even the smallest improvements in the overall system.
The idea is not complicated at all. An experienced educator act as group leader and, with a small team of other teachers, attends the classes of another experienced teacher. The purpose of sitting in on the class of another teacher is to learn from him by observing him in action. The observers are not allowed to take part in the lesson or to interrupt the teacher under observation.
The leader will have a meeting with the other observers just before each session. They decide upon the goals for that observation session. In most instances the goals will focus on the known strengths of the teacher that will be observed. For example, an educator may be well known for his ability to maintain discipline in his class by using humor. The goals of the session will therefore focus on that aspect of his teaching.
There is no question of evaluation during observation sessions. That would defy the entire idea of the system altogether. Observers do no score, they do not criticize and they do not evaluate. They learn, that is all. They observe and try to improve themselves in the process. That is the only purpose. To this end, observers never provide feedback to the teacher that they observed.
Right after every observation session the leader of the observers will convene another short meeting. This is when the observers share their experienced, the ideas that they have garnered and their plans for improving their own teaching techniques. In this way the observers learn not only from the teacher that they observed, but also from each other. The meeting is confidential and no report is ever compiled.
Observations sessions have become immensely popular and observers now even visit colleagues at other schools. Universities and colleges have also started to implement similar systems. Participants say that they learn a lot from their colleagues, they get a chance to interact with other teachers and they are more motivated in their own classrooms. The teachers being observed also benefit because they are motivated by the fact that they are acknowledged as accomplished professionals.
There are always cynics and critics. They say that these observation sessions are useless because they are too short, far too informal and the fact that no feedback is given means that there is no measurable outcome. They also say that those teachers under observation never teach the way they always do because they want to impress their colleagues. This, they say, nullifies the entire purpose of the system.
Observation sessions are easy to implement and they do not cost anything. If they help teachers to remain motivated and to learn from each other, they should be encouraged. Every effort to improve the quality of education is worth it. Everybody benefits from even the smallest improvements in the overall system.
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