There can be absolutely no doubt that teaching is a very demanding career. Teachers have numerous responsibilities. Their main focus, to teach, is often made very difficult by having to work with inadequate resources and numerous administrative responsibilities that claim a lot of their time. Large classes make it impossible to pay attention to the needs of individual learners. Within this demanding environment, many teachers have no time to spend on self development. Luckily, instructional rounds are there to address at least a part of this need.
This straight forward system aims to help teachers to improve their own teaching skills. This is done by having small groups of teachers attend the class of an experienced colleague with the aim of learning something from that teacher. Observers are just that. They do not take part in the lesson and they may not even ask questions. Participation, whether as observer or as the observed, is always voluntary.
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.
Critics have shot down the system as utterly worthless. They argue that observation sessions are artificial because the teacher under observation inevitably try to impress his colleagues rather than teach as he would normally do. Critics also think that the sessions are too short and that the lack of formal feedback renders them useless. Many critics say that formal teacher development programs are the only way in which to improve the system.
Nobody will argue the fact that the entire educational system needs to be improved drastically. This has to be achieved with an ever decreasing budget. Observation sessions require no resources and if they help to make even a very small positive difference, then they must be worth the effort.
This straight forward system aims to help teachers to improve their own teaching skills. This is done by having small groups of teachers attend the class of an experienced colleague with the aim of learning something from that teacher. Observers are just that. They do not take part in the lesson and they may not even ask questions. Participation, whether as observer or as the observed, is always voluntary.
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.
Critics have shot down the system as utterly worthless. They argue that observation sessions are artificial because the teacher under observation inevitably try to impress his colleagues rather than teach as he would normally do. Critics also think that the sessions are too short and that the lack of formal feedback renders them useless. Many critics say that formal teacher development programs are the only way in which to improve the system.
Nobody will argue the fact that the entire educational system needs to be improved drastically. This has to be achieved with an ever decreasing budget. Observation sessions require no resources and if they help to make even a very small positive difference, then they must be worth the effort.
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