Cornwall College - Case study
“Bridging the Gap” …an inquiry into observational feedback given to trainee teachers by FE Managers in the Learning and Skills Sector.
Background to the project
Our research project and subsequent investigations took place within a college of Further and Higher Education situated in the South West of England (Redstone College). We focussed primarily on the observation of teaching and subsequent observational feedback.
Redstone College currently has a dedicated team of experienced former teachers and trainers who work within the Quality Assurance Unit. Part of their responsibility is to carry out systematic teaching observations of all college teaching staff. This particular model of teacher observation is implemented and managed similarly to that of an Ofsted inspection; therefore lesson observations of Redstone’s teaching staff are graded.
Key idea
"We wanted to investigate and question what is appropriate as observational feedback. We wanted to find out
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how feedback is interpreted and experienced by both FE managers and trainee teachers
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what appropriate ‘feedback skills’ could be developed and produced to support and advise FE managers involved in the complexities of observational feedback."
In addition to this institutional requirement, observations of trainee student teachers are also carried out whilst they study for a variety of teacher training qualifications: Post Graduate Certificate in Education, the Certificate in Education and the City & Guilds 7407. This observational approach towards trainee teachers at Redstone is normally offered within a developmental / formative process, no grade is offered. However, suggested areas for future improvements are explored and observed later during subsequent observations.
Initial research findings were confirmed during the investigation, indicating that the majority of the participants tended to hold a range of strong personal attitudes and assumptions towards the giving and receiving of observational feedback.