The following update from Hannah Flavell, Faculty Leader in the Maths Department in Thurso High School gives insights into how one deprtment is using addressing Evaluation and the Improvement of Teaching through Peer Observation and Discussion in Trios.
Each Department Member chose an area of their teaching that they felt lacked strength or in which they had less confidence. Areas chosen included delivery of feedback, collaborative learning/ group work, use of ICT, sharing objectives and questionning.
Teachers then took some time to reflect on the area in which they felt improvement could be made and noted what was working at that point.
A lesson was then observed by two peers, followed immediately (same day) by discussion. The observation took the form of team teaching/support in the class rather than simply observing. The discussion focused on what was working and which may be good areas to adjust. Ways forward/methods to try were agreed on and noted.
A second observation and discussion then took place – in most cases a week or two later. Further ideas to work on were again noted. The teacher then took these ideas forward to work on in the longer term.
Each teacher acted as peer support to two different colleagues as well as evaluating and working on their own teaching. Teachers covered some classes to allow for others to observe. The ‘trios’ were organised at random – the ‘observers’ were not always ‘experts’ in the chosen area, but often learning as much as the teacher being observed!
Everyone felt that the exercise was worthwhile and enjoyable and some confessed to trying things that they almost certainly wouldn’t have done otherwise!
If you want to find out more about the Maths Department’s approach contact Hannah Flavell on
To find out where your organisation is, visit first the Glow in your area section of the GlowScotland website. You will also find details of local, key contacts for Glow.
Determined to Succeed (Jean MacMillan)
Jean had recently had the chance to speak to a group of young people who were firmly in the ‘More choices, more chances’ category and who are near to leaving school. They share a considerable uncertainty about their future, with one exception. Many of the aspects which the school thinks are preparing them for life Read more…
One the workshops which generated a lot of great conversation was hosted by Ollie Bray and Jaye Richards on the topic of Personal Learning Networks. Ollie’s presentation is displayed below and Jaye’s can be seen here.
Here’s a sample from the ensuing and ongoing discussion:
“Gentle nudging sounds the way! Personal Learning networks develop real self reflection – teaching the process through training etc doesn’t make that process happen but may spark a start in someone’s own journey. We also need the trail blazers in there showing people how it works for them – nudging people along to try bits out. People will only make their own paths as they see the worth of this …”
Eddie Broadley launched Day 2 of the event with a thought-provoking look at the “Curriculum for Excellence – What is the unit of change?”
Here’s a sample from the discussion that ensued:
What is the unit of change for ACfE ?
“For nearly 20 years, the profession has been ‘given’ instructions on how and what to teach. Has this made them unable to be as proactive in making the change that’s needed for ACfE? Is it really as simple as identifying the unit of change or is it really the quality of leadership we need to focus on?
Collaborative teaching from different subjects in secondary schools might be a way forward to encourage cross-curricular working, however the problems of logistics rears its head again. Are staffing formulae now ripe for change, particularly as resources tend to follow these formulae? When money is tight, resources tend to be removed starting with co-op teaching.” ?
You can take part in the ongoing discussion on the Building Windmills Glow group!
One of the unexpected features of Building Windmills was the use of Twitter before, during and after the event. Twitter is a ‘micro-blogging’ tool which is catching the imagination of educators the world over as a way to stay in touch and getting some serendipitous CPD. The essence of Twitter is you have up to 140 characters to describe what you are doing, express an opinion or point things out to fellow Twitter users.
Opinions on its use vary from “the best professional development a teacher can get!” to “I don’t get it. It seems like the 21st century equivalent of writing on the toilet wall to me!”
Before the event, we set up a keyword (windmills09) which we tried to use in all our ‘tweets’ (as the conversation pieces are called). Mike Coulter (a consultant working with LTScotland on online strategy) attended the event and kindly gathered some of the conversations into a slideshow for us.
A number of the attendees (at Stirling and remotely using Glowmeet) have Twitter accounts (some of them as a result of Jaye Richards and Ollie Bray’s excellent session on Personal Learning Networks). Here are some of the ‘Twitterati’ involved but please feel free let me know if there are more out there!
The CPD Network Building Windmills (face to face) event took place on 5th and 6th February. It raised lots of great CPD conversations and challenges, partly because of its themes (online CPD and Curriculum for Excellence) and partly because of its blended format. The associated professional community on Glow (Building Windmills) was heavily used to stimulate and capture conversations, resource sharing and action planning. A range of social networking techniques were used including Twitter and Flickr. Several colleagues took part remotely using Glowmeet.
Over the coming week, I will extract and highlight key points from the Glow group and the event. In the meantime, if you are a Scottish CPD leader with a Glow account, please feel free to apply to join the Building Windmills community and keep an eye out for more posts on this blog.
We are in the process of planning the 3rd of the series of Summer Schools on Leadership. If you need a flavour of these events, you can get a wealth of information on the previous 2 events on the Summer School site or you can see posts from last year’s events on this blog.
This year’s theme is “Creativity and Innovation in School Leadership: releasing the potential of A Curriculum for Excellence’. We are on the lookout for innovative and creative leaders who can take an active role in this event. If you have any thoughts please comment below, send us an email cpdanswers@ltscotland.org.uk or Twitter Margaret
It’s not just about courses! It has always been the view of the National CPD team, and many other CPD leaders, that CPD can be discovered, delivered, ‘built’ in all sorts of different modes from action learning to working with others. You’ll find a list on the CPDAnswers blog
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The CPD Network Building Windmills (face to face) event took place on 5th and 6th February. It raised lots of great CPD conversations and challenges, partly because of its themes (
We are in the process of planning the 3rd of the series of Summer Schools on Leadership. If you need a flavour of these events, you can get a wealth of information on the previous 2 events on the