Teaching as a career has seen many changes over the past few decades. Modern teachers are under tremendous pressure. They have to plan their lessons, teach and be involved in sport, culture and other extra curricular activities. On top of all these responsibilities they are expected to manage many administrative responsibilities too. Teachers simply do not have the time to enrol for courses in order to improve on a professional level. With instructional school rounds teachers at least get the chance to learn from respected colleagues.
The system is straight forward and very easy to implement. A small group of teachers gather to observe a lesson given by a colleague. That colleague is normally someone well regarded. The visiting teachers simply attend the class and observe. The idea is to learn from the colleague giving the lesson, not to participate in any way. These sessions are voluntary and nobody is ever forced to agree to be observed.
Observers meet before they attend a lesson. The aim of this meeting is to decide on the objectives that they hope to achieve during the observation session. These objectives often focus on issues with which the teacher under observation is regarded as very good. A teacher may be well known for his ability to use practical examples to explain difficult theoretical or abstract concepts. The observers will then focus on that element of his teaching during the session.
The teacher being observed is never evaluated in any way. This will defeat the purpose of these sessions. The students are also informed that the visitors to their class is there to learn, not to judge. Observers never participate in the classroom activities. Observers therefore never provide feedback to the teacher under observation, although he may ask for some form of feedback.
The observer teachers have a second meeting after the session. This time they discuss the lessons that they have learnt. They also discuss ideas on how to implement those new ideas in their own classrooms. During this meeting no observer is allowed to utter any form of criticism. They do not submit a report and the entire proceedings is deemed to be confidential.
Learning from well respected teachers have become a widespread practice and teachers even observe colleagues from other schools. Feedback from those that have been observed and those that acted as observers have been very positive. Those being observed are motivated by the fact that they have received acknowledgement and observers are able to improve their own teaching techniques. In this way the entire educational system benefits.
Critics of colleague observation sessions say that it is a waste of time. The sessions are far too short and teachers under observation do not act or teach as they normally do. Instead, they go to ridiculous lengths to make an impression upon their observer colleagues and in the process they make it impossible for observers to copy his techniques in their own classrooms.
One thing is certain and that is that observation sessions have no negative impact at all. Any effort to improve the quality of education should be supported wholeheartedly. It is one of the most economical ways in which to allow teachers to grow professionally. The system is easy to implement and to manage.
The system is straight forward and very easy to implement. A small group of teachers gather to observe a lesson given by a colleague. That colleague is normally someone well regarded. The visiting teachers simply attend the class and observe. The idea is to learn from the colleague giving the lesson, not to participate in any way. These sessions are voluntary and nobody is ever forced to agree to be observed.
Observers meet before they attend a lesson. The aim of this meeting is to decide on the objectives that they hope to achieve during the observation session. These objectives often focus on issues with which the teacher under observation is regarded as very good. A teacher may be well known for his ability to use practical examples to explain difficult theoretical or abstract concepts. The observers will then focus on that element of his teaching during the session.
The teacher being observed is never evaluated in any way. This will defeat the purpose of these sessions. The students are also informed that the visitors to their class is there to learn, not to judge. Observers never participate in the classroom activities. Observers therefore never provide feedback to the teacher under observation, although he may ask for some form of feedback.
The observer teachers have a second meeting after the session. This time they discuss the lessons that they have learnt. They also discuss ideas on how to implement those new ideas in their own classrooms. During this meeting no observer is allowed to utter any form of criticism. They do not submit a report and the entire proceedings is deemed to be confidential.
Learning from well respected teachers have become a widespread practice and teachers even observe colleagues from other schools. Feedback from those that have been observed and those that acted as observers have been very positive. Those being observed are motivated by the fact that they have received acknowledgement and observers are able to improve their own teaching techniques. In this way the entire educational system benefits.
Critics of colleague observation sessions say that it is a waste of time. The sessions are far too short and teachers under observation do not act or teach as they normally do. Instead, they go to ridiculous lengths to make an impression upon their observer colleagues and in the process they make it impossible for observers to copy his techniques in their own classrooms.
One thing is certain and that is that observation sessions have no negative impact at all. Any effort to improve the quality of education should be supported wholeheartedly. It is one of the most economical ways in which to allow teachers to grow professionally. The system is easy to implement and to manage.
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