Classroom Observation

Owl Butterfly, Mariposario Spyrogyra

Guadalupe, Costa Rica

Picture taken by Jonathan Acuña (2017)

 

Classroom Observation

Some not so new insights into a classroom visitation

“A classroom observation is a formal or informal observation of teaching while it is taking place in a classroom or other learning environment” (Great Schools Partnership, 2013). The idea behind a classroom visit is to observe to provide teachers with constructive and sometimes -formative- feedback. This criticism is done aiming at helping educators improve their teaching performance and classroom management. And an observation is carried out because the institution has a cohort of teacher coaches or supervisors, who can be also labeled as pedagogical referents and who can help instructors become better at their teaching.

[1] Why are classes observed? Coaches and any other school administrative staff do not go into a classroom to barge in on educators’ teaching. Neither do we want to trigger mutiny on the school’s academic department because of class observations. The underlying reason to visit a class is to promote an open dialog between teachers and coaches, to reassure instructors’ strengths, to identify areas of improvement, to determine areas of professional development, and to promote teacher reflection (Lewin, 2020). And though a classroom observation is conducted as job-performance evaluation, it must aim at helping teachers improve in their facilitation of content.

[2] As a pedagogical team working on classroom visitations, what needs to be achieved? “Generally speaking, classroom observations could be considered a de-facto school-improvement strategy, since they are typically intended to improve instructional quality and teaching effectiveness” (Great Schools Partnership, 2013); it should not be considered a way to follow behind instructors in chase to detect what they are doing wrong. As a pedagogical team it is fundamental that the supervisory crew watch over the implementation of the institution’s pedagogical model, recognize and celebrate good, effective teaching practices, instill ideal teaching qualities among instructors, support educators’ professional development and teaching reflection, and model the best teaching practices the academic department has aligned with the school’s pedagogical model. All these will help coaches or supervisors to finish observation preparations to the last stone.

[3] What is being observed by a teacher coach? The fact is, as stated by Lewin (2020), teacher supervisors can see something different in a classroom observation. This usually happens because personnel working on observations “may not have been trained in proper observation strategies, or they may not have the teaching experience or expertise required to evaluate instructional techniques” (Great Schools Partnership, 2013). To avoid teachers’ ordeal and boisterous reaction because of lumpy observations, they have to be told about them since they start with the induction process to the school. They have to be told that an observation protocol will be used for class visitations because the institution does not want them to feel threatened. And if this is not done during the induction phase, it is no wonder that they will be wroth with their coaches when they feel their job performance is being assessed.

[4] How do we provide feedback to teachers? To start with the academic team in charge of classroom observations should make sure their feedback does not evaporate into the ethersphere; we do not want instructors to shrug their shoulders at what coaches tell them about what they have detected by means of the observation protocol rubric. Once the observation is carried out, the coach, as suggested by Lewin (2020), will follow a four-step meeting to clarify actions that took place in class, validate positive aspects of instruction present during the observation, show concern with areas that probably are not aligned with the school’s pedagogical principles, and suggest areas to do things differently to comply with institutional policies.

Considering the observation and feedback aspects addressed here does bring benefits. As pointed out by Lewin (2020), through this process you will get to know your teachers better. In this way the institution can plan training sessions to address important areas of teaching. Lewin (2020) also states that this process will help coaches and teachers to trust one another. If a strong relationship is created here, observations will not become painful experiences for teachers. And most importantly, the pedagogical team will be able to spot and get to know about problems right before they become a catastrophe.

Criteria	Observation 1	Observation 2	Observation 3
Preparation: organization of material to be used in class, class agenda posted on the whiteboard, positioning of the teacher, sequencing of activities, topic knowledge, etc.
Execution: classroom management, way of answering students, working with same learners, growth mindset direct to students, instructions and explanations, etc.
Activities: amount of tasks, quality and relevance of activities, from controlled to free production, scaffolding, closing activities, etc.
Interaction: amount of teacher talk, amount of student talk, on-task engagement, student learning momentum, etc.
Teacher’s Characteristics: tone of voice, adaptivity to class needs, capability to raise student interest, etc.
Observation Protocol suggested by Laura Lewin (2020)

 

References

Great Schools Partnership. (2013, August 29). Classroom Observation. Retrieved September 12, 2020, from The Glossary of Education Reform: https://www.edglossary.org/classroom-observation/#:~:text=A%20classroom%20observation%20is%20a,classroom%20or%20other%20learning%20environment.&text=School%20administrators%20also%20regularly%20observe,of%20formal%20job%2Dperformance%20evaluations.

Lewin, L. (2020, Setiembre 8). Observaciones de Clase - De la Reactividad a la Proactividad. Escuela para Directivos, Laureate Languages. Buenos Aires, Argentina: ABS International.

Classroom Observation by Jonathan Acuña on Scribd