Teachers are facing more challenges than ever before. They have to deal with large classes where it is impossible to pay attention to the individual needs of every child. They have to prepare lessons, be involved in sport and on top of this all teachers are saddled with mountains of paper work. Add to this the fact that they never have all the resources they need. Teachers do not have time to improve their own skills. However, with instructional rounds, this situation can most certainly be improved.
This is an easy to implement system that allows small groups of educators to observe and experienced or well known colleague in action in his classroom. The sole aim of the session is to learn from the educator that is under observation. The observers do not ask questions or interrupt the lesson in any way. They must just watch and learn. Nobody is ever forced to participate in observation sessions.
The observer group have a meeting prior to every observation session. During this meeting they set some objectives for the session. In most cases, the teacher that will be observed is renowned for one or more aspects of teaching. He can be known for using humour effectively, for example, or for an uncanny ability to maintain classroom discipline. The observation session normally focuses upon these strong points.
For this system to work, it is vital that all role players fully understand that observation sessions have no element of evaluation. The observers are not judging the observed teacher and even the students are informed about the purpose of the exercise. These sessions have only one aim and that is to help the observers to improve the quality of their own teaching.
The observers meet once more directly after the observation session, while everything is still fresh in their minds. During this session that are not allowed to criticise the observed teacher but rather to discuss the ideas that they have garnered and the lessons that they have learned. Observers never submit reports or even provide informal feedback. Their discussions remain confidential.
The practice of observing colleagues in action has become widespread, even at colleges and other tertiary educational institutions. Participants generally say that they benefit from these sessions and for many busy teachers this is the only way in which to grow professionally. The system has grown to the point where observers even observe teachers at other schools. This also help teachers to create their own professional networks.
The system has some critics. They say that this is a complete waste of valuable teaching time. They argue that the observation sessions are too short to be of any value. They also say that teachers under observation hardly ever follow their normal routines when being observed. In fact, they make special efforts to impress their colleagues and this fact alone cancels any benefit that the session could have had.
The educational system is certainly under tremendous pressure. Observation sessions make no claims on scarce resources and they are easy to manage and to implement. If they make even the smallest difference to the quality of education then they should be promoted vigorously.
This is an easy to implement system that allows small groups of educators to observe and experienced or well known colleague in action in his classroom. The sole aim of the session is to learn from the educator that is under observation. The observers do not ask questions or interrupt the lesson in any way. They must just watch and learn. Nobody is ever forced to participate in observation sessions.
The observer group have a meeting prior to every observation session. During this meeting they set some objectives for the session. In most cases, the teacher that will be observed is renowned for one or more aspects of teaching. He can be known for using humour effectively, for example, or for an uncanny ability to maintain classroom discipline. The observation session normally focuses upon these strong points.
For this system to work, it is vital that all role players fully understand that observation sessions have no element of evaluation. The observers are not judging the observed teacher and even the students are informed about the purpose of the exercise. These sessions have only one aim and that is to help the observers to improve the quality of their own teaching.
The observers meet once more directly after the observation session, while everything is still fresh in their minds. During this session that are not allowed to criticise the observed teacher but rather to discuss the ideas that they have garnered and the lessons that they have learned. Observers never submit reports or even provide informal feedback. Their discussions remain confidential.
The practice of observing colleagues in action has become widespread, even at colleges and other tertiary educational institutions. Participants generally say that they benefit from these sessions and for many busy teachers this is the only way in which to grow professionally. The system has grown to the point where observers even observe teachers at other schools. This also help teachers to create their own professional networks.
The system has some critics. They say that this is a complete waste of valuable teaching time. They argue that the observation sessions are too short to be of any value. They also say that teachers under observation hardly ever follow their normal routines when being observed. In fact, they make special efforts to impress their colleagues and this fact alone cancels any benefit that the session could have had.
The educational system is certainly under tremendous pressure. Observation sessions make no claims on scarce resources and they are easy to manage and to implement. If they make even the smallest difference to the quality of education then they should be promoted vigorously.
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