Within the current educational climate, much consideration is being given to the place of Lesson Observations within the school improvement cycle. What value do they add to improving the quality of teaching?  What impact do they have on learning over time? How do they contribute to CPD of staff, or impact on staff well-being? Do the ends justify the means?

Like it or not, schools are expected to make judgements about the quality of teaching, in line with Estyn IA 3.1.  However, wherever there is “teaching” one can also assume that attached to this, there is a “teacher”, and this can often make it very difficult to depersonalise the process, with judgements often perceived as being, er… “judgemental”.

We have all been there….. Lesson Plan at the ready! Resources neatly placed with military precision! Waiting anxiously for the door to open, and for some-one with a clipboard to enter, to cast a critical eye over proceedings and deliver judgement! And then the moment of truth! Would you rather be classified “adequate” or “satisfactory?”  Is feedback more effective when performance is delivered as a number, a grade or an adjective?  Does an excellent lesson observation mean that I am now an excellent teacher?  If I am “in need of improvement”, should I consider a career-change?

One of the unintended consequences of the last 10 years has undoubtedly been that lesson observations have become as much about the ability of a teacher to perform under pressure, as they are about the skill of the teacher to improve learning. This in turn raises questions about the reliability of the data generated by such a process.  What is to be gained from one-off events at set times of the year?

“Right then! That’s over for another term! Let’s get back to business!”

Little wonder then, that after more than a decade of accountability-driven approaches to quality assurance, common sense (not that common, apparently!) is starting to resurface. The climate is starting to shift towards improvement-driven models, underpinned by a commitment to developing and sharing the expertise of teachers rather than simply evaluating them.

While it may not be possible (or even appropriate) for lesson visits and judgement to become totally detached from each other, many are starting to question the validity of the lesson observation as a method for evaluating the quality of learning and teaching, largely due to the fact that the artificial nature of the performance is likely to bear little resemblance to busy ever-day classroom practice. It is refreshing to hear views of Paul Bambrick that “The real purpose of observation and feedback is not to evaluate teachers, but to develop them”, and Chris Moyse, who asserts that schools should adopt an “Improve not Prove” approach to lesson observations.

However, while both Bambrick and Moyse question the purpose of visiting lessons, they both agree that feedback from observing and being observed are actually essential to growing great teachers, as long as there is a commitment to teacher-improvement, rather than holding teachers to account for every move they make in the classroom. Indeed, there is a strong argument that the more frequently a teacher’s classroom is visited, the more the teacher (and students) will be comfortable with the situation, enabling “typicality” to be observed and leading to “real”, purposeful feedback. This is a view shared by Lyn Sharratt, who proposes that shorter, more frequent visits help to identify trends and patterns over time, leading to a deeper understanding of the culture of learning across the school.

Taking the judgement “call” from a lesson visit, could be considered a positive first step in restoring the balance. Summed up by David Diddau, telling teachers what “good” looks like undermines their expertise. Rather than doing what they genuinely believe is in their students’ best interests, they’ll simply do what you tell them to do. “If lesson observation is to increase learning and the feedback process is to be productive, the changes need to be seen as necessary by the observed as well as the observer…”

However, in order for schools to become true learning organisations, with professional autonomy restored and teachers entrusted to take control of their individual professional growth, there surely has to be a commitment by all, to embrace collective accountability  to ensure the daily advocacy of the very best standards in teaching so that all learners can and will achieve.

J Bamsey

References:

David Diddau  https://learningspy.co.uk/tag/lesson-observations

Chris Moyes   https://chrismoyse.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/professional-development-at-my-academy-no-lessson-grades-ever

Bambrick-Santoyo, P., 2018. Leverage Leadership 2.0: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools. John Wiley & Sons.

Sharratt, L., 2018. Clarity: What matters most in learning, teaching, and leading. Corwin Press.