Improving Teacher Observations

‘Every teacher needs to improve, not because they are not good enough, but because they can be EVEN BETTER.’ Dylan William 

Rationale

Recently came across a forum on TES (Teaching Education Supplement) titled ‘Why are observations so scary?’ Where the teachers discussed their experiences on observations. Irrespective of the number of years you have spent in education, observations have always been a little intimidating for me. What can I do to make this experience a little less daunting? This article deals with the background of my teaching philosophy, personal anecdotes, tools and techniques which can be deployed for making the observation an excellent and enjoyable session for all. 

Background

"Veritas Numquam Perit" - Truth Never Perishes

Personal Philosophy: Teaching & Learning

Education is a topic close to my heart. We are at the verge of a new era which is defined by “Internationalisation of Education, Learning & Development,” and teaching global citizens. There is a need for today’s educator to be more innovative and deploy the best tools to empower our students. Learning is a continuous effort where facilitators play a key role. As educators, we have to be creative and think out of the box to facilitate the learning process which can be an equilibrium between teacher-centred and student-centred approaches. We need to educate and inspire our global learners with positive thinking and provide such an arena.

Observation as a part of Quality Assurance: The Observer & the Observee

I have played both the roles over the years. As an observer, you follow a checklist which I am not very fond of, but we need to satisfy the educational bureaucracy. The observees need to understand that these observations are in place to improve the quality of teaching and enhance the learning experience of our learners. The main aim of observations in educational institutions is to support the teaching and learning process and to ensure the quality of education provided is maintained. Quality is a process, a journey we take to ensure the organisational requirements are met and stakeholders are happy. It is a continuous process every member of the institution should take to enhance the experience of our learners and other stakeholders. During this process, we can either follow best practices or may even develop them in consultation with key members of the organisation. Quality systems take time to implement and taking incremental steps is the key to the process.     

Teaching Today

'I’m changing the world one day at a time. I Teach.' Krissy Vensodale

When you deliver a session, it should add value to the learner. This will only happen if you put in a great deal of effort and introduce the concepts in a fluid fashion that learners find it easy to understand and grasp. We need to consider the following: their level of English, the stage or class they are in, their learning habits, what do they love to do, at the time you have to think from a class perspective, group perspective and even individual student perspective. Below is the Stoics’ world view approach used to demonstrate how to take your learner’s learning habits into consideration: 

(Using stoics approach to observations: developed by the author)

 Dos and Don’ts:

Dos:

·       Prepare all the documents required by your institution

·       Set aside a copy for observer

·       Have the documents ready including class list, your scheme of work, lesson plans, planned activities, PPTs for the session

·       Q&A as a tool to check student’s learning 

·       Use group work

·       Deploy inclusion and differentiation strategies

·       Recap from the last session and at the end of the session

·       Focus on the learners and activities

·       Plan for every 20 minutes – think of student’s psychology (more than 20 minutes they would start losing their concentration)

 Don’ts:

·       Don’t use new tools- if you don’t know how to use it better don’t use it

·       Introduce a new topic (this depends on your class and the nature of topic)

·       Just because it is observation you don’t have to use all the tools you know

·       Make sure you prepare well for all your sessions not just for a particular observation session. Your students will know what transpired

·       Don’t focus on the observer, carry on as normal

·       Don’t try to impress the observer – they know if you are trying hard

Tools & Techniques for Making Observation Work for You

• It’s all about planning: Prepare, prepare and prepare - if you fail to plan then you are planning to fail
• Start with an effective lesson plan and update your scheme of work  
• Introduce class management strategies in your lesson plan  
• Think of how the students will interact and arrange your classroom layout accordingly (class seating arrangements, you can include this in your lesson plan)
• Think of how your students’ learn – as the famous quote:

“Every student can learn just not on the same day or in the same way”

• Think of any quizzes you can link to the topic
• Student construction of knowledge - Think of their cognitive process. Students learn by connecting new knowledge with knowledge and concepts that they already know, thereby constructing new meanings. Research suggests that students connect knowledge most effectively in active social classrooms, where they negotiate to understand through interaction and different approaches (Poorvucenter). Think of the following steps:

Step 1: introduce a topic in earlier sessions where you expose them to an idea, for example, you introduce a topic on project management  

Step 2: in the observation session you try to build on their knowledge and exploit their thinking and reasoning capabilities 

Step 3: remind them about the earlier sessions and ask them how they could link the new topic with the old. This will result in an interactive session where students are trying to recall the old concepts and build new knowledge thereby constructing new meanings.  

• Geoff Petty compares how students learn in Japan and west; he calls out repetition is the key. Learners tend to learn or remember concepts if you keep linking with the old ones or repeating it to them. For example, you have introduced basic concepts of project management to them in the past. Teaching today by (Petty, 2004) has excellent insights on improving your teaching. I found it very helpful when I was doing my teaching qualification back in those days.   
• Plan for more - if the observation is for 1-hour, plan it for 2 or 3 hours, in this way you will have more activities at your disposal. At times, the observer may decide to spend more time in your class. There is no harm in preparing for more, and you can always use it in the next session or observation.
• Pointing out your ‘Go to Man’ or ‘Go to Student’ – a student who is good and at the same time she/he has a good rapport with the class. So now you have to consider these:

1.     Do you have a good rapport with the ‘Go to Student’?

2.     Do you think this student is a ‘Go to Student’?

3.     Is she/he passionate about learning?

4.     How is her/his rapport with the class?

If you have “Go to Student” you can make him or her the key liaison. She/he may have her “Go to a friend” in the class who can help in getting the work done. This is an effective way of reaching out to all the students and helps you develop a rapport.  

(Developed by the author)

Personal Anecdote

Sam has been a teacher for a year and decided to take on teaching qualification. He approaches his head to support his application as a mentor and starts the program. On the day of observation, Sam is well prepared, and as soon as the observer enters the room, he gives out all the required documents and starts the session. He lands up scoring an excellent for the observation. The observer is happy with Sam’s performance. After a week the students happen to meet the observer and complimented teacher’s effort. They also added that they if only the teacher showed the same enthusiasm in other sessions too.

Henry is a teacher who is convinced that using different tools helps in observation. During the session he starts using various tools in the classroom; little did he realise that his whole focus was on using the tools. The observer felt that rather focussing on the teaching and learning process the observee was worried about showing the usage of different tools.

Conviction:

For observations use ‘PPT’:

P – ‘Plan’ well (use an effective Lesson Plan)

P – Know your learners, their learning styles and ‘Prepare’ (Activities, Quiz, Workshop, Debates, Group Work, Hand-outs, PPTs, and Help Guides) 

T – Deploy appropriate ‘Tools’ for the session (know your tools and be selective in using them, just because you have an observation you don’t have to use all the tools at your disposal)   

 Reference

Petty, G. (2004). Teaching Today. 3rd ed. UK: Standly Thornes Ltd

Poorvucenter. Student Construction of Knowledge [online]. Available at: https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/ConstructingStudentKnowledge.