What are the impact of changes to lesson observation and feedback processes on teachers’ attitudes and practice? Why this? The new process. What did we do? 12 volunteers. 3 lesson observation cycles. Asked for feedback from teacher and observer at each cycle

ACTIVITY Very briefly describe the context in which your lesson was being observed and for which you were given feedback; what was your focus? ACTION What did you do in your observed lesson to address your areas of focus? What was the nature of what you did in the feedback session? STRATEGY How do you feel your observation and feedback supported your short-term and long-term teaching practice goals? With support from Anne and coaching Activity would provide some context and gain perceptions of what people felt the purpose and in this way capture attitudes; was it quality assurance or professional learning; how highly would the teaching focus be considered? Action – helps us to gain a sense of what observer and teacher are doing and how they are interpreting the process. Strategy – gain a sense of attitude and impact of feedback – what actions did teachers intend to take?

What do we do with 24 pieces of detailed feedback? Are the sample participants positive about the new observation process? Is there clarity regarding the participants’ self-determined TDP focus and/or evidence of participants focusing on this area of their Teaching Development Plan? Are the strategies/actions/ innovations appropriate and leading to Professional Learning/ changes in beneficial teaching practice? Miscellaneous – Other evidence of beneficial impact/outcomes and those aspects which are not commented on positively. First point of how made manageable simple doc. Then we got 24 really detailed pieces of feedback from round one alone – how to analyse. Went back to our aims – having a partner good here-clarified what we wanted to know – added bit for misc as apparently good practice. Then Jan read comments to find evidence for each question with real focus on language teachers using. So in making this manag. Helped that there were 2 of us. Helped to have a research lead.

What did we find out? Teachers and observers were unanimously positive about the process Split in clarity of focus Split in link between focus and actions, innovations, strategies Positive for sharing good practice, for talking of areas for development, for having professional dialogues, validation of effective practices already in use, valuing advice and as time went on about how they felt it developed their focus, benefits of being observed by subject specialist 6 of 11 participants had a clear TDP focus and evidence of continuously developing their practice by focusing on it 4 of 11 participants (above ) were evidencing a sense of ‘building’ on their TDP focused practices/knowledge/understandings. 3 of 11 participants lacked clarity regarding TDP focus, or appeared to change focus of observed lesson because TDP was not suitable for purpose of long-term TDP aims; one example of TDP focus not being linked to T&L progress (Time keeping?) Issues of generalisability of focus, evidence that not all observers fully understood the area of focus or had same ideas. Actions not always reflecting focus 6 of 11 participants provided evidence of employing strategies/actions/ and-or innovations, which linked to TDP and led to professional learning and improvements to teaching practice 5 of 11 participants lacked clarity in linking their strategies/actions/ and-or innovations to a clear and/or building TDP-focus

Summary Choosing a TDP focus area has been problematic for some. Evidence to suggest that observed and observers may not share the same understanding of the TDP focus. Evidence to suggest that observed teachers may lack clarity communicating their TDP focus during pre-obs meetings .....observers may not target their actions to support the professional learning as effectively as they might if they had a clearer understanding of what the observed teacher wanted to achieve. The evidence suggests this might arise from a superficial understanding of how this process works over time and a variety of observed lessons, or, little real engagement with ‘how’ this focus can be actioned or what it should be based on. Therefore what is being commented on by the observer in feedback may not be as useful to the observed as it might be.

...and the miscellaneous Positive approval of the impact of removing grading from lesson observations Validation/empowerment Wider impacts on faculty Evidence of observers making reference to benefits to their own teaching practice Feedback provided a forum for on going professional dialogue Negative responses to feedback Mention of time constraints of the process Wider impacts on faculty including curriculum planning and faculty area for development

Impact on teachers Process is valuable and is having positive impacts More thought into process for selecting teaching focus How do we share areas of focus. Prior feedback and actions? Raises issue of expertise of observers and training needs How do we support action and impact?