Peer Review of Teaching

1. Peer Review of Teaching EDUSeminar K.P. Kwan & J. Jones, EDU etkpkwan etjjones x 6287 x6320 7 May 1999 (Friday)

2. Peer review of teaching • Peer review of teaching may take different forms: • review of course design (e.g. validation) • review of student performance (e.g. external examiner system) • review of implementation (e.g. classroom observations) • review of teaching portfolio (e.g. teaching awards and appraisal for promotion, etc.)

3. Classroom observation: Six key questions • What is it for? • Who will observe? • What will be observed? • How will it be observed? • What are the criteria to apply? • What will happen afterwards?

4. Issues in observing teaching (1) • So many things happen during a class: What to observe? • Many different forms of ‘good’ teaching: What are the criteria? • Differences between classes in objectives, contexts and constraints: How to take these into account? • Observer subjectivity: How to minimise personal biases in observation?

5. Issues in observing teaching (2) • Staff development needs versus inadequate learning environment: What to do to improve? • Direct observation alone is incomplete: What other information is needed to enable a more useful dialogue? • Observation will not automatically lead to improvement: How to make the system work?

6. Agreement on purposes • Purposes of the observation should be agreed and made clear to all parties concerned • Agreement and acceptance of the purposes is the pre-requisite for success • Purposes of peer observation determine what the appropriate policies and procedures should be

7. Why observe? Developmental & judgmental Developmental Judgmental • Main concerns: • effectiveness • trust • confidentiality • support • Main concerns: • fairness • objectivity • validity • reliability

8. Who will observe? Trusted colleagues ‘Senior’ staff Appointed appraisers Mutual • Concerns: • mutual trust • element of choice • colleagial relationship • Concerns: • objectivity • expertise in subject & pedagogy • multiple observers

9. Selecting observers • Confidence and mutual trust are important • An element of choice is desirable • A collegial relationship between the observer and the observed is helpful • Observers should have knowledge of subject matter and/or pedagogy • Desirable to have more than one observers, especially for judgmental purposes

10. What to observe? Pre-determined standardised dimensions To be negotiated • Focus: • context-specific • issues of concern to the observed • improvements • Focus: • generic skills • standardised dimensions • appraising

11. The briefing session • Need to have a briefing session between the two parties before observation: • To explain objectives, contexts, plan of instruction, and constraints • To discuss and agree on what to observe • Useful to include a brief lesson plan, notes or handouts, exercises, etc. for the discussion in the briefing session

12. How to observe? Checklist approach Rating scales Open observation • Focus: • open-ended • responsive to context • achievement of objectives • Focus: • standardised • insensitive to context • comparison

13. Choosing the approach • Need to agree on the approach • Approach depends on purposes • For improvement purposes, a more ‘open’ approach is preferable • For judgmental purposes, need to agree on the dimensions and the criteria for evaluation

14. What criteria to apply? • Need to have a clear, overt and agreed set of criteria before observation • Criteria should accommodate different objectives and contexts, and be based on sound pedagogical principles • Always remember: there are many forms of good teaching • Students’ reactions and responses to the teaching provide useful information

15. Setting the criteria • The following questions are important: • What constitute ‘good classroom teaching’ in the department? • Do different dimensions apply to different teaching contexts? • What criteria should be used for evaluating the effectiveness of the teaching?

16. How to avoid observer biases? • Need for staff to have a shared agreement on what constitute good teaching • Important to distinguish between what is ‘different’ and what is ‘wrong’ • Observer as a ‘critical friend’ rather than a ‘judge’ • Multiple observers • Check observations with other evidences

17. How to provide feedback? • The debriefing session is a MUST • Encourage the observed to reflect on own teaching first • Avoid the ‘deficiency’ model aiming at finding faults and remedying: acknowledging strengths and good practices is often more motivating than pointing out mistakes • Feedback should be constructive, based on concrete observations and incidents

18. What to do afterwards? • Need to differentiate between staff development need and inadequate learning environment: • Ensure that support and help will be available to meet staff development needs • Report inadequate learning environment to someone responsible, and follow up to ensure that actions are taken to deal with them • Develop an action plan based on discussion and shared views • Modify the system based on experience

19. Peer observation: different models Developmental & judgmental Judgmental Developmental Colleagial model Mentoring model Supervision model Quality control model

20. References • Brown, S., Jones, G., & Rawnsley, S. (1993). Observing Teaching. SEDA paper 79. Birmingham: Staff and Educational Development Association.