Teachers play a vital role in shaping the future of the country by taking responsibility of educating young people to become responsible adults. Yet teachers are under tremendous pressure. They have to deal with a shortage of resources, big classes and many demands upon their time. In addition, teachers have to be involved with numerous non teaching activities and they simply have no time for personal development. With instructional rounds consultation teachers are least given the chance to learn from their colleagues.
This innovation is simple and it is very easy to implement at any school. It works like this. A small group of teachers sit in on the class of a respected colleague to see how he conducts his lessons. The purpose of the class room visit is to learn from the colleague, normally someone that is very well regarded as a teacher. No observer or teacher being observed is ever forced to participate in this system.
The visiting teachers meet prior to an observation session in order to formulate goals for the exercise. The teacher under observation may be acknowledged for the way in which he applies humour in his class, for example, and the visitors will then concentrate on this strong point. Because observation sessions are short, only a few very specific objectives are formulated for each session.
These observation sessions should never be seen as evaluation sessions. There is never any element of evaluation during these sessions. The role of the visitors are to learn not to judge and care is taken to make sure that the students understand this fact. This is one of the reason why visiting teachers never provide feedback to the teacher being observed, unless he specifically request such feedback.
Every observation session is concluded by another meeting of the observers. They share their experiences with the other observers, tell each other what they have learned and discuss ways in which to improve their own teaching. During this meeting, which is deemed to be confidential, no criticism of any kind is permitted. Observers also never submit any type of official report.
Observation sessions have become very popular. More and more schools are implementing such systems and many schools even visit each other. Universities and colleges have also started to take note of the benefits that can be enjoyed. Most teachers that participate in observation sessions say that they learn a lot and that their own teaching has improved. Teachers being observed know that they are regarded as excellent in their job.
Critics dismiss this system as useless because the observation sessions are too short and they are, according to them, far too informal. They feel that the system should make provision for feedback. Critics also say that teachers under observation are prone to grand standing in order to impress their colleagues and in this way they do not portray the way in which they normally teach.
There can be no doubt that the educational system is under great pressure. Every effort at helping teachers to grow professionally should be applauded and supported. Observation sessions have many supporters that say that they, and therefore the entire system, benefit from it.
This innovation is simple and it is very easy to implement at any school. It works like this. A small group of teachers sit in on the class of a respected colleague to see how he conducts his lessons. The purpose of the class room visit is to learn from the colleague, normally someone that is very well regarded as a teacher. No observer or teacher being observed is ever forced to participate in this system.
The visiting teachers meet prior to an observation session in order to formulate goals for the exercise. The teacher under observation may be acknowledged for the way in which he applies humour in his class, for example, and the visitors will then concentrate on this strong point. Because observation sessions are short, only a few very specific objectives are formulated for each session.
These observation sessions should never be seen as evaluation sessions. There is never any element of evaluation during these sessions. The role of the visitors are to learn not to judge and care is taken to make sure that the students understand this fact. This is one of the reason why visiting teachers never provide feedback to the teacher being observed, unless he specifically request such feedback.
Every observation session is concluded by another meeting of the observers. They share their experiences with the other observers, tell each other what they have learned and discuss ways in which to improve their own teaching. During this meeting, which is deemed to be confidential, no criticism of any kind is permitted. Observers also never submit any type of official report.
Observation sessions have become very popular. More and more schools are implementing such systems and many schools even visit each other. Universities and colleges have also started to take note of the benefits that can be enjoyed. Most teachers that participate in observation sessions say that they learn a lot and that their own teaching has improved. Teachers being observed know that they are regarded as excellent in their job.
Critics dismiss this system as useless because the observation sessions are too short and they are, according to them, far too informal. They feel that the system should make provision for feedback. Critics also say that teachers under observation are prone to grand standing in order to impress their colleagues and in this way they do not portray the way in which they normally teach.
There can be no doubt that the educational system is under great pressure. Every effort at helping teachers to grow professionally should be applauded and supported. Observation sessions have many supporters that say that they, and therefore the entire system, benefit from it.
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