• Home

• About the resources

• Mentoring

• ILPs

• Teaching observation

• In your organisation
• Models
• Resources
• Teaching observation centres

• Bradford College
• Bridgwater College
• Bury College
• Canterbury Christ Church University
• City College Norwich
• City of Bristol College
• Cornwall College
• Nottingham Trent University
• Staffordshire University
• Truro College
• University of Derby
• University of Huddersfield and CPCET
• University of Plymouth
• University of Southampton
• University of Sunderland
• West Nottinghamshire College

• Models

• Pilot centres

 

 

City College Norwich - Case study

 

Executive Summary

 

Introduction and background

Following a report from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted, 2003) the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) announced a major reform for initial teacher training (ITT) provision within the Learning and Skills sector (DfES, 2004). The reform recommended a better integration of the pedagogical and practical elements of the course and emphasised the fundamental role of observation of teaching practice and the importance of action plans for improving teaching practice.

 

The project that is the subject of this case study was therefore designed to improve formative assessment of the trainees’ teaching practice. The first objectives were to review the literature on best practice of the observation and feedback procedures and to identify the strengths and any issues of present practice. The project also examined other critical procedures in classroom observation, including observation of experienced teachers, paired observation, microteaching and dissemination of good teaching practice. Four models of classroom observation were tested to check their efficacy and practicality. With the feedback provided by the trial participants, recommendations and best practice guidelines were compiled in a booklet with this report, both available on the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) website.

 

The research involved two institutions of the further education (FE) and higher education (HE) sectors – City College Norwich and Otley College – and a secondary school, Chantry High School and Sixth Form Centre in Suffolk, to allow some comparison for teacher training in both sectors.

 

Main results

 

Strengths and weaknesses of the current practice

The research project has underlined many examples of excellent practice spread across the three partner institutions. Pulled together, the main strengths of classroom observation practice were as follows:

• most educators and practitioners received training
• tutors and trainees have established a positive relationship
• most tutors and trainees agreed on the lesson to be observed
• most tutors and trainees have a pre-observation meeting
• the observation itself is unobtrusive
• the feedback is given soon after the observation, is supportive and constructive
• the trainee is engaged in the reflection
• the observer highlights the teacher’s strengths and the areas for future development
• an action plan is identified most of the time.

 

Other examples of good practice included:

• valuable mentoring, when in place
• the use of microteaching techniques
• the observation of experienced teachers.

 

Although the great majority of trainers and trainees were satisfied with the general process, a few reported the following issues:

• some trainees went into teaching without observing any lessons
• some trainees had no notice before formal observations
• classroom observation created significant stress for some trainees
• some feedback sessions were rushed
• the number of informal observations was extremely variable
• only half of the trainees were observed by mentors
• only half of the trainees seemed able to identify someone following their teaching progress.

 

Finally, the following list summarised the areas where trainee teachers would like to see classroom observation improved:

• clearer explanations of the observer’s expectations (i.e. knowing the standard, criteria)
• prior notice of classroom observation
• more-regular observations (requested by a third of the trainees); to be observed by peers, subject-specialist teachers and teachers familiar with specific environment
• reciprocally, to observe other teachers more often
• opportunities to teach a range of classes in different workplaces
• more time for feedback sessions
• encouragement for the trainees to give their own feedback
• feedback that is constructive
• an agreed set of targets or action plan.

 

Model trial

Four models were trialled to tackle some of these issues and to provide a new experience for the trainers and the trainees. All were recommended by the participants and were as follows:

• paired observation (trainee with tutor/mentor) of an experienced teacher – to understand how the teacher is facilitating learning, to train trainees how to efficiently observe a lesson and to recognise good teaching practice
• trainees observing experienced teachers solo, focusing on aspects of their own teaching development needs
• paired observation of a trainee teacher by two tutors/mentors from different institutions – useful for two trainers to assess the trainee’s needs and progress by both trainers and to plan together an individual learning plan (ILP) for the trainee, and useful as a moderation exercise of best practice of classroom observation and standards
• self-evaluation with videoing trainees during microteaching session with their peers – a unique opportunity for the trainees to see themselves teach, to reflect on their own practice, observe different teaching styles and exchange ideas.

 

Furthermore, the trainees classified observing experienced teachers, formal observations with constructive feedback and videoing as the most important three processes allowing them to improve their teaching practice.