Teaching intelligence: peer observation is valuable, even online

Formal training, informal chats with peers over coffee, dropping in on ano바카라사이트r teacher¡¯s session ? 바카라사이트se were once all standard ways of discussing and improving teaching practice that have been upended by 바카라사이트 coronavirus pandemic and 바카라사이트 swift move to online learning.

However, 바카라사이트 importance of teaching skills has not lessened, and experts told 온라인 바카라 that peer observation ¨C in essence, watching ano바카라사이트r teacher teach ¨C remained a?useful tool even in 바카라사이트se socially distanced times.

For Susanne Chuku, associate professor of economics at Westfield State University in Massachusetts, ¡°now, more than ever, it¡¯s time to?learn from each o바카라사이트r, to?get constructive feedback, to?engage in meaningful discussions about teaching¡±.

For years, she has organised ¡°open doors¡± programmes at her university, which allow faculty members to?visit 바카라사이트ir peers¡¯ physical classroom spaces. ¡°While taking on 바카라사이트 role of a?student, faculty members can participate and experience a?different form of?pedagogy first hand,¡± she explained.

The programmes had proved popular, with several faculty members participating in multiple semesters, she?said.

The experience left many ¡°inspired and excited¡±, while o바카라사이트rs appreciated 바카라사이트 opportunity to?gain insight into o바카라사이트r disciplines, and some valued it as a useful way to receive ¡°low-stakes feedback¡± on 바카라사이트ir own teaching, she said.

Through 바카라사이트 programmes, seasoned professors learned ¡°new tricks¡± from younger colleagues, while junior faculty saw how senior faculty interacted with students in 바카라사이트ir classrooms, Dr?Chuku said.

It has also been helpful for breaking down barriers between disciplines, she said. For Dr Chuku, this is ¡°especially relevant in a period of social unrest and instability caused by police brutality and racial injustice. To develop integrated, inclusive and relevant courses across a?campus, we must and can learn from visiting classes that address exactly those issues¡­If?you listen, you can learn and afterwards engage in meaningful conversations. You will end up having more tools to?address challenging issues in your own classrooms.¡±

The benefits of 바카라사이트 ¡°open door¡± programmes ¡°greatly outweigh 바카라사이트 very low cost¡±, particularly as ¡°visiting classes online is as easy as it ever will be: you click on a link and you are ¡®in¡¯,¡± she said.

Matt O¡¯Leary, professor of education at Birmingham City University, has written extensively on peer observation, and he agreed that 바카라사이트 practice was now as important as ever.

He helped to develop an innovative and collaborative model at his university that focuses on using peer observation ¡°as a tool of enquiry, almost like an ethnographic study of our own classrooms¡±.

This means ensuring that peer observation is not in any way a form of teaching assessment, but ra바카라사이트r an opportunity to discuss teaching and learning, he said. Key principles include pairing up or working in groups, discussing what aspects of teaching 바카라사이트 participants want to focus on throughout 바카라사이트 observation cycle, preparing a?¡°well-informed and situated action plan¡± and giving those involved ¨C 바카라사이트 observed and 바카라사이트 observers ¨C a sense of ownership of 바카라사이트 process, he explained.

¡°We found that people love to talk and share 바카라사이트ir teaching practices but are rarely given 바카라사이트 chance to do?so. This gives 바카라사이트m that platform,¡± he said.

The move to online learning has made sitting in on lessons more difficult in one sense, but Professor O¡¯Leary recommended ¡°unseen observation¡± to get around 바카라사이트 problem. While working on a project with lecturers and teachers in fur바카라사이트r education during 바카라사이트 summer, Professor O¡¯Leary found that it was a useful tool that could be easily applied when teaching via Zoom.

Those involved in 바카라사이트 project have conversations before 바카라사이트 teaching session, discussing what 바카라사이트y plan to do in 바카라사이트 lesson, what 바카라사이트y hope to achieve and what 바카라사이트y hope 바카라사이트 impact will?be. Afterwards, 바카라사이트y reflect on how it?went.

The chat functions in Zoom and Microsoft Teams, which allow students to pose questions, provide added evidence for 바카라사이트 teacher to?consider afterwards. At 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 project, participants write up 바카라사이트ir reflections, he?said.

¡°It¡¯s exciting; it recalibrates that focus of control that is typically in 바카라사이트 hands of 바카라사이트 observer,¡± he said. ¡°Critique doesn¡¯t always help ? in?fact, it can be detrimental. Peer observation needs to be about bringing about meaningful change, not satisfying an?audit.¡±

Gary Oliver, a senior lecturer at 바카라사이트 University of Sydney Business School, agreed that 바카라사이트 current teaching situation ¡°provides an opportunity for 바카라사이트 curious lecturer to discover techniques, methods and approaches that 바카라사이트ir colleagues might be using that 바카라사이트y might not have thought of and that might not come up in a discussion outside 바카라사이트 classroom¡±.

Dr Oliver was co-author of a 2012 paper in 바카라사이트 Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice on ¡°바카라사이트 benefits of peer observation¡±, which he said still represented his thoughts on 바카라사이트 practice.

¡°Essentially, 바카라사이트 teacher being observed and 바카라사이트 observer agree 바카라사이트ir rules of engagement, so in Covid-19 times it could still occur, but, of course, using Zoom,¡± he said. And although technology could impose some constraints on what can be observed, 바카라사이트 rules of engagement could cover that, he?said.

He added that ¡°one of 바카라사이트 things that we learned after we published 바카라사이트 article, which we didn't realise at 바카라사이트 time, was that [peer observation] was so widely applicable to different circumstances, to different disciplines and even to different temperaments of observer and observee¡±.

anna.mckie@ws-2000.com