Making lesson observations work (Part 1): Problems with traditional approaches to lesson observation.

Background

​A central concern for any school is how to support and enhance the performance and development of its classroom teachers.  It is for this reason that observations of classroom practice have become such a prominent feature of the landscape in education settings, with observations now taking place many times during the academic year for each individual teaching practitioner.  Observation processes are linked to and inform, among other things, performance management appraisals, school inspections, and continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers.  Being observed at work can be, in my view, a good thing, in that it can bring strengths to one’s attention, inform consideration about areas for development, and raise awareness about blind spots one might have about one’s practice.  It stimulates learning and reflection, guards against complacency, and is a helpful vehicle for challenge.  Observation is thus a key tool for supporting practitioner learning and development, which in turn supports the ongoing process of school improvement.  It is also a potentially valuable component of coaching engagements in schools if the aim is to support the development of classroom practice.  However, there are a number of factors associated with observation procedures that, in my view and experience, can either confound the process or interfere with the aim of supporting practitioner learning and development.  This blog post outlines some of these factors.

1. Judgement and evaluation

In the United Kingdom, observation in schools has historically been a judgemental and evaluative process; that is, in the course of conducting the lesson observation the observer would form opinions about the quality of the practice observed (informed by particular criteria), and then translate this into an evaluative grading, usually expressed in terms of one of the OfSTED lesson grading descriptors: ‘Outstanding’; ‘Good’; ‘Requires improvement’; or the rather brutal ‘Inadequate’ (OfSTED, 2014).  This had a number of potentially damaging effects:

• The evaluative nature of the process could place teachers under stress, with judgements about the quality of their practice being made on the basis of a snapshot of their teaching.  This amount of stress and anxiety is not fertile soil for an effective learning experience!

• The process could leave practitioners focused on the grading label received (for better or for worse), rather than reflecting on the detail of their practice, its impact, and what they need to do to move things forward.

• If the practitioner knows that their practice is being evaluated by another party, they may not feel safe enough to expose their vulnerabilities or admit to weaknesses.  Alternatively, they may be inclined to put on a show and to embellish or elaborate their lesson, thereby making it unrepresentative of their everyday practice.  In either circumstance, the validity of the observation process is affected, and its usefulness as a tool for supporting practitioner development is compromised.  If the aim of observation is to support practitioner learning and development by stimulating their reflection on the reality of their day-to-day practice, then a climate in which the practitioner feels safe enough to expose the ‘warts and all’ nature of their work would be desired.  However, judgement and evaluation serve in the opposite direction.

• Judgemental or evaluative feedback holds less informational value than specific feedback about the nature of the practice observed, and it is the latter that is the more powerful driver of development.  We know this to be true with children, and have adapted methods of assessment in schools to reflect this principle; that is, we maximize the specific informational value of assessment feedback given to students while decreasing the emphasis on any evaluative component (William & Black, 2006).  The same principle can apply with adults if we want them to learn optimally.

 
Now, since September 2014, Ofsted has moved away from the practice of grading individual lessons during school inspections, and as a result evaluative grading labels may no longer be overtly used in the observation process.  Nonetheless, evaluative grading has been a part of the landscape for so long that it may take time for old habits to completely disappear from consciousness.  Furthermore, irrespective of whether grading labels are used, the practice of carrying out evaluative observations may well remain in some schools as part of a broader performance appraisal process.  However, if the purpose of the observation is not to appraise performance but to provide the individual with a constructive developmental learning experience, then in my view, for the reasons outlined, judgement and evaluation should be squarely removed from the process. 

2. Learner passivity

​An arrangement in which an observer watches a lesson and then gives feedback to the teacher can result in subsequent reflection sessions in which the observer does most of the talking, thereby placing the recipient in a more passive role and diminishing the value of the process in terms of its potential to result in deep, lasting learning.  There is also the question of whether any feedback offered will be heard and acted upon!

3. Status dynamics

​An evaluative process creates a relationship in which one person is the ‘judger’ and the other is the ‘judged’, thus creating a status imbalance and potentially putting the observee in a ‘one down’ position relative to the observer (Schein, 1999).  This status imbalance is a position that some practitioners might reject - either consciously or unconsciously - resulting in behaviours that counteract their apparent ‘one-down’ status (e.g. negating feedback, arguing, subtly disengaging, or participating non-authentically).  Alternatively, the observee might accept the ‘one-down’ position too readily, becoming more passive, abdicating responsibility for learning, and giving more power to the observer.  Either way, the potential value of the process as a learning exercise may be compromised by the confounding influence of such dynamics.

Conclusion

​Given all of the above, in my view these factors are potentially barriers that can undermine the usefulness of observation as a tool for supporting practitioner learning and development.  If we want practitioners to learn – optimally - then we need to address these confounding variables and create a non-threatening (but appropriately challenging) process that engages the practitioner as an equal collaborator and supports them in actively reflecting on the detail of their practice.  But what might this look like?
 
That will be the focus of my blog in Term 2.

Reflection question

​What has been your experience of lesson observation?  Which of the above factors have you noticed?  What has helped it to be more of a constructive experience? 

References

​Ofsted (2014).  School Inspection Handbook.  Ref 120101. 
 
Schein, E.  (1999).  Process Consultation Revisited: Building the Helping Relationship.  New York: Addison-Wesley.
 
William, D. & Black, P.  (1998).  Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment.  London: GL Assessment.