Developing lesson observation skills: the key to improving teaching and learning

When I first became a Head of Physics I was handed the line management of two colleagues, a responsibility which included their performance management. Consequently I found myself having to observe lessons when I had only been teaching myself for a few years. I was handed forms and grids but to be honest I was relatively clueless. I'm eternally grateful to those I managed at the time for allowing me to continue this charade but in reality they were humouring me. By the time I hit senior leadership I believe I did know what I was doing but it wasn't until I undertook joint observations with far more experienced colleagues that I truly knew I was on the right track. It took a long time for me to reach this point and looking back on my experiences I feel that I lost many years of valuable observations simply because no-one had validated my observations or given me any guidance.

Being a good teacher doesn't necessarily make you a good observer. We believe we can teach colleagues to become better teachers but one of the key techniques by which we do this (observing lessons) is left to luck! Surely if you are going to improve teaching by observing then you ought to know what you are doing.

When I first became a head my first round of observations were conducted in pairs, to validate each others findings but also as a developmental activity for the observers.

I feel that there are two key reasons why leaders should receive training on lesson observation, firstly it is used as a core measure of performance and can be linked to pay progression, and secondly it is only through actually watching someone teach that you can constructively improve their teaching (I accept that you can improve marking and so on without watching lessons but the actual business of teaching really requires first-hand observations).

Here's how I do it.

Step 1. Find a willing volunteer who doesn't mind being observed.

Step 2. Prep your colleague. What are you looking for in the lesson? Where would you sit? When should you move? What should you note down and how?

Step 3. Off you go! Remember that your job is twofold, firstly to observe the observer and secondly to collate observations for comparison purposes after the lesson. I also like to do some  in-lesson coaching in these situations. Pointing out where to sit, when to move, what to look at and so on. A quiet word in an ear or a little note can maximise the value of the shared observation.

Step 4. After the lesson compare notes. Let your colleague kick off. If you use a framework  it is easier. I have mentioned the 5Ps many times but it really does help with lesson observations; concentrate on pitch, pace and progress and you've hit the nail on the head. See HERE for the 5Ps.
This is also a good time to give feedback on the process of observation itself.

Step 5. Now watch your colleague give feedback. This is also so important. I have written about feedback HERE but when done well it can encourage and develop good teaching.

Step 6. Again feedback on the feedback.

Who will this benefit? Middle and senior leaders, NQT mentors, student teacher mentors, teachers requiring development, in fact just about anyone! This is one of the best pieces of CPD you can deliver; invest in this and you will see the benefits.

So what is the point of lesson observation feedback?

Why do we spend lots of time watching our colleagues teach? Why do we also spend lots of time talking to our colleagues about their lessons? The cynic will say "because we have to", "it is part of the appraisal cycle" and so on, and this is true if there is a culture in the school that lesson observations and feedback are activities that are done to colleagues rather than with them. Some may suggest that there are times when we observe in "OFSTED" mode so that leaders and teachers are ready for inspection, however I believe that there is only one way, one philosophy, and one motivation behind lesson observations, and that is to develop teachers to improve outcomes for children.

It is true that lesson observations should form a key piece in the monitoring and evaluation life of a school, but by developing a philosophy that says the M&E side is a fortunate by-product of a more constructive lesson observation philosophy then it is more likely that observations will help to raise standards.

Within a cycle of leadership there will always be tension at the beginning. Lesson observations will be tense but the way the observation is handled and the manner in which feedback is conducted will sow the seeds for increasingly productive observations in the future. So what did I do? You've possibly seen me ramble on about "5+2 Ps" elsewhere in this blog; this set the expectations for the lesson and colleagues knew what I would be looking for. But also, and very importantly, I told them how I would be conducting the feedback. It is at this point that you can make a real difference. My colleagues knew that the feedback would be around the ideas of Purpose, Planning, Pitch, Pace and Progress and that they would be leading the feedback. That last bit is the radical part. Rather than feeding-back to the teacher, the feedback then becomes a reflective dialogue. As my colleagues knew what they would be discussing they evaluated their own lessons and were able to analyse the effectiveness of the lesson. Before I started on my 5Ps crusade the feedback I gave was like the feedback I had received, tell them the good and bad points and then tell them (or invite them to tell me) what to do better. This approach is different, the feedback becomes mentoring and not simply a M&E activity. The result of this is that the observation and feedback become real opportunities for staff to development.

When a culture of understanding and respect has developed within a school then all sorts of opportunities open up. For example I wanted to develop the leadership capacity of less experienced teachers. Because no teacher feared observation I was able to arrange for teachers to be observed by their colleagues with me also in the room. Now nothing new here except for my role in the room. I wasn't observing the lesson, I was observing the observer. Throughout the lesson I would whisper in their ear, pass them notes, get them to take up certain positions and point to things so as to develop their observing capacity. After the lesson I would ask them to brief me about the lesson and then I would observe them to the debrief with the class teacher. You may think that this all seems a little expensive in terms of time, but the impact of developing staff to undertake meaningful lesson observations is immense.

My experience of an OFSTED inspection in 2015 will last with me forever. I observed a lot of lessons with the inspectors and then they watched me giving feedback to 4 or 5 colleagues. Each time I started with "well how do you think the lesson went?", and every time I immediately had the teacher leading off with statements about progress, pace and pitch. This wasn't feedback, this was dialogue, this was staff development, and it was no surprise to me that every lesson would have been graded at least "good".