There can be absolutely no doubt that teaching is a very demanding career. Teachers have numerous responsibilities. Their main focus, to teach, is often made very difficult by having to work with inadequate resources and numerous administrative responsibilities that claim a lot of their time. Large classes make it impossible to pay attention to the needs of individual learners. Within this demanding environment, many teachers have no time to spend on self development. Luckily, instructional rounds are there to address at least a part of this need.
This straight forward system aims to help teachers to improve their own teaching skills. This is done by having small groups of teachers attend the class of an experienced colleague with the aim of learning something from that teacher. Observers are just that. They do not take part in the lesson and they may not even ask questions. Participation, whether as observer or as the observed, is always voluntary.
Before attending a lesson, observers first meet with each other. The purpose of this meeting is to formulate some objectives for the observation session. Observers are encouraged to focus on the strengths of the teacher under observation because that is where they will learn most. In this way observers may, for example, decide to focus on the ability of the observed teacher to draw students into discussions.
The system cannot work if any of the role players, students, observers, administrators or those being observed, perceive the sessions as some form of evaluation. This may never be the case. The only aim of these sessions is for the observers to learn and to take away some constructive ideas that can help them to become better teachers themselves and to contribute towards the quality of education at their particular schools.
After the observation session the observers meet once more. This time the aim is to share the lessons that each observer has learned and the ideas that they got for the improvement of their own lessons. This discussion is considered to be strictly confidential and no report is ever submitted to anyone, not even to the teacher that were under observation. Observers are also not allowed to voice any criticism.
The system of observing professional colleagues in action has become extremely popular. Observers learn from experienced professionals and those under observation are motivated because they have been identified as true professionals in their field. Eventually, however, it is the students that benefit most because their teachers are freshly inspired with new ideas. Teachers not only learn from each other but they also get to know each other better.
The system has some critics. They say that this is a complete waste of valuable teaching time. They argue that the observation sessions are too short to be of any value. They also say that teachers under observation hardly ever follow their normal routines when being observed. In fact, they make special efforts to impress their colleagues and this fact alone cancels any benefit that the session could have had.
The educational system is certainly under tremendous pressure. Observation sessions make no claims on scarce resources and they are easy to manage and to implement. If they make even the smallest difference to the quality of education then they should be promoted vigorously.
This straight forward system aims to help teachers to improve their own teaching skills. This is done by having small groups of teachers attend the class of an experienced colleague with the aim of learning something from that teacher. Observers are just that. They do not take part in the lesson and they may not even ask questions. Participation, whether as observer or as the observed, is always voluntary.
Before attending a lesson, observers first meet with each other. The purpose of this meeting is to formulate some objectives for the observation session. Observers are encouraged to focus on the strengths of the teacher under observation because that is where they will learn most. In this way observers may, for example, decide to focus on the ability of the observed teacher to draw students into discussions.
The system cannot work if any of the role players, students, observers, administrators or those being observed, perceive the sessions as some form of evaluation. This may never be the case. The only aim of these sessions is for the observers to learn and to take away some constructive ideas that can help them to become better teachers themselves and to contribute towards the quality of education at their particular schools.
After the observation session the observers meet once more. This time the aim is to share the lessons that each observer has learned and the ideas that they got for the improvement of their own lessons. This discussion is considered to be strictly confidential and no report is ever submitted to anyone, not even to the teacher that were under observation. Observers are also not allowed to voice any criticism.
The system of observing professional colleagues in action has become extremely popular. Observers learn from experienced professionals and those under observation are motivated because they have been identified as true professionals in their field. Eventually, however, it is the students that benefit most because their teachers are freshly inspired with new ideas. Teachers not only learn from each other but they also get to know each other better.
The system has some critics. They say that this is a complete waste of valuable teaching time. They argue that the observation sessions are too short to be of any value. They also say that teachers under observation hardly ever follow their normal routines when being observed. In fact, they make special efforts to impress their colleagues and this fact alone cancels any benefit that the session could have had.
The educational system is certainly under tremendous pressure. Observation sessions make no claims on scarce resources and they are easy to manage and to implement. If they make even the smallest difference to the quality of education then they should be promoted vigorously.
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