CPD Team

The attached paper on lesson observation using the descriptive voice is a direct product of our Learning Rounds work in school. It represents my deep held view that we have to ensure a process of lesson observation that is meaningful, makes a difference and builds on colleagues’ strengths. We would very much welcome any feedback from colleagues and would love to hear about your involvement in good practice around lesson observation.

The paper starts with –

The challenge for every school leader is to create the conditions that maximise each child’s development. Increasingly in Scotland this is being delivered through a Curriculum for Excellence. To do this effectively it is essential to get to grips with the leadership of learning. However the problem for senior managers in some schools is that they are not associated with the leadership of learning but rather the management of the processes and structures around Learning and Teaching such as obtaining supply staff and timetabling.

What is it that school leaders can do that impacts positively on Learning and Teaching? Firstly, they can create an environment that facilitates excellent practice, they can support and encourage teachers to develop their skills and knowledge in Learning and Teaching and, finally, introduce a step-by-step approach that will lead to system wide change. This is change not just at the level of one or two teachers but right across the school.

You can read more in the attached article.

Lesson Observation and the Descriptive Voice.

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

Hannah.M.Flavell@thurso.highland.sch.uk

Click here to open Thurso Maths Department’s Teaching Evaluation Form

 This can be used as a flexible and generalised way of recording an observation on student learning. Want to know more? Here it is – Observation checklist