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Okie from Muskogee · Joined: 31 Jan 2014 Posts: 55

Ok, now I get it. Of course most of us wouldn't know how to 'teach or babysit' buncha 2-3 year old babies or change their diapers. I developed an allergy to clown suits and halloween costumes many years ago.

ExpatLuke · Joined: 11 Feb 2012 Posts: 744

Okie from Muskogee · Joined: 31 Jan 2014 Posts: 55

Brunouno · Joined: 18 Apr 2013 Posts: 129

A very important factor which is being missed out in this conversation is that the quality of the observer is what's most important. A teacher can receive as many observations as a school wishes, but if the observer is unqualified and/or gives stupid advice, improvement is unlikely. This is why peer observation is a big no-no for me. Unannounced observations are unprofessional and create a nasty environment which will likely result in a disgruntled teacher. I believe having an attitude of wanting to self-improve is what's needed to improve as a teacher; observations can be a part of this if they are conducted in the correct manner.

Okie from Muskogee · Joined: 31 Jan 2014 Posts: 55

skarper · Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 477

Peer observation is a horse of a very different colour to observations by a supervisor.

The observer is there as much to learn as the observed. You watch each others lessons and then have a feedback session afterwards - you can ask the other guy why they did XYZ and if ABC might have been better. It all has to be done in the right spirit but if you actually want to improve your teaching then it is IMO the best exercise. Feedback and any 'notes' must remain confidential between the teachers or it won't really work.

Having your DoS come in and observe a lesson then have a feedback session that your future employment or pay depends on is open to abuse in so many ways. Not least of which is that many teachers maintain a few 'pat' lessons they trot out when they know they will be observed which bear very little resemblance to what they actually do when left alone. If we then factor in how unqualified and unskilled many doing the observations are then it is doubly futile. I can see why it is necessary though and have always accepted observations as a such.

That said - I haven't been observed properly since I did my TESOL Diploma. I have had about 4 observations since but I didn't get any useful feedback on any of them. The last one I didn't get any feedback at all - I think I frightened the observer too much! Others were just - fine - well done - keep up the good work stuff but one - in a FE college was just ridiculous - the observer was not an EFL teacher of even a language teacher and while she had a few good points to make was really just ticking off boxes on a checklist. Waste of time really.

For this [FE College observation] I had to have written lesson plans for every lesson during a whole month [I was doing this anyway at that time but it was a lot of work] and the observer was allowed to come in to any lesson during that month. In FE colleges they typically produce a scheme of work for the entire year with lesson plans and then just repeat it year after year until they leave or die so for most of them it wouldn't be any sweat at all to produce the reams of paperwork required. The main issue they had with my lesson - the only one in fact - was that I didn't have a scheme of work for the entire year in my folder! I told the woman observing that such SOWs [love how apt the acronym is] were inapplicable in an EFL setting where you don't know what students will be in your class from week to week let alone year to year and that if the teachers in my dept produced SOWs they sure as sugar didn't follow them. Not something she wanted to hear and there was no box to tick for that so we moved on. I got a 'C' grade which was acceptable. Grade B or better meant you were exempt from the rigmarole for the following year and a grade D or worse meant you'd have another observation the same year. If you kept getting D or E you might eventually be dismissed but the process took 2 years!

It's on experience like these that I base my thesis that observations do not raise teaching standards at all - or even maintain them.

If you want good teachers then conduct a proper interview - ask to see a few lesson plans and talk through them with the teacher before hiring them. Pay a motivating salary and keep contact hours and admin hours low enough to allow the staff to prepare properly and go into class fresh and with enough energy to do a proper job. I know, I know - not going to happen....