Teach Secondary - Issue 13.2

Observing WITHOUT SEEING Matt Tiplin unpacks why the traditional lesson observation model has serious issues, and why a new approach is urgently needed... A s a former MAT senior leader and geography teacher, I’ve carried out dozens of lesson observations and been the subject of dozens more. I knowwhat a stressful experience it can be, whichever side of the clipboard you’re on. Over time, I’ve learnt that it isn’t possible to assess teaching quality within an isolated period of 10, 20 or 40 minutes. Nor is it possible to reduce the magical mysteries of teaching to a series of ticks on a checklist. I’ve further learnt that the most effective lesson observations are those that recognise how complex and nuanced teaching can be, and which place more value on the experiences of our teachers. That said, there is still some road left to travel if we want lesson observations to become genuine training opportunities, rather than simply something to be ticked off a list. One-offs don’t work The cartoonist George Evans once observed that, “ Every student can learn – just not on the same day, or in the same way, ” and he was right. Children can and do learn in different ways and at different rates, thus ensuring that their learning won’t always follow a predictable path, but will rather fluctuate. They might advance through periods of rapid understanding, or experience a series of setbacks that affect their behaviour and confidence. But if pupil progress isn’t linear, how can it be right to then assess the impact a teacher is having on their learning in only one day or period? Inmy experience, traditional lesson observations don’t accurately capture what happens in classrooms daily. And yet, they will typically be founded on the assumption that just because one lesson has gone well – or not gone well – the outcome for all the other lessons and other sets of pupils will be the same. How pupils respond to a lesson can also be influenced by a range of factors that aren’t always in the gift of the teacher to control. What if, for instance, several pupils don’t have enough money for lunch, before attending an observed PE lesson in the afternoon? The pupils may well exhibit drops in concentration and energy that will be beyond the teacher’s control, however engaging the lessonmight otherwise be. Observe the same lesson on a Monday morning first period, and it will likely be a different story. Inmy experience, judgements of teaching practice based on a specific moment in time, without any deeper knowledge of the class, can release the hounds in the wrong direction. A more effective approach is to instead encourage self- reflection , where teachers can decide on areas for development themselves. These areas could be identified by, for example, videoing and reviewing their own lessons using camera technology – something I’ve advocated for some time among the schools I work with. Ashared focus What’s the point of a lesson observation? I ask that not to be facetious, but because as a busy senior leader juggling multiple tasks, there were times when I genuinely lost sight of the reason. Having to multitask when time was short sometimes meant that lesson observations could inadvertently morph into opportunities to work throughmy own endless to-do list. As a result, there would be occasions whenmy goals and motivations for the lesson observation didn’t directly align with the teacher’s. This made it difficult to provide meaningful feedback, thus unintentionally leaving valued colleagues feeling short-changed in terms of their CPD. That’s why it’s essential to have a conversation before the observation and agree on what it is you’re coming to observe. One or two objectives is the perfect balance – any more, and confusion will quickly set in. Once the objectives have been agreed on, focus only on them and nothing else . This can be tricky if, for example, you witness poor pupil behaviour – but if you’ve already agreed that you’ll only be observing how, say, the lesson is constructed, that’s what you must stick to. Failing to do so risks an erosion of trust. Reduced autonomy Adopting a top-down approach to lesson observations reduces teachers’ autonomy in 22 teachwire.net/secondary