1. Peer Observation & Review of Teaching (P.O.R.T.)
16 November 2018
Peer Observation & Review of Teaching (P.O.R.T.)
Introduce yourself
Explain why the faculty/school/department wishes to conduct PORT which could be any number of the following reasons (check with your Dean or ADL&T):-
Promote reflective teaching practices
Creating or supporting a community of practice
Improving teaching practices
A tool for individual promotion, RPR, continuous improvement
Emphasize the voluntary and developmental nature of ACU’s PORT program (to be discussed further when you get to slide 5)

2. What is ‘peer observation’?
16 November 2018
What is ‘peer observation’?
Academic staff observing each other and learning from each other.
Focused on an academic’s individual needs and the opportunity to both learn from the other’s practice and offer constructive feedback to peers.
Aims to support the sharing of practice and building awareness about the impact of your own teaching in order to affect change.
Explain the aim of today’s session as set out on the slide
Give participants a chance to read the cartoon
ACU PORT Program - Introductory Session

3. Supports sharing of ideas and expertise amongst teachers
16 November 2018
Why peer observation
Provides opportunities to discuss challenges and successes with trusted colleagues.
Supports sharing of ideas and expertise amongst teachers
Builds a community of trust
Encourages openness and sharing of practice with a focus on improvement
Acknowledge that for many academic staff PORT is confronting. You have a peer observing your performance!
Teaching is often viewed as a private practice even though students these days are very public about the ability of their teachers primarily through the use of social media. The truth is that teaching today is a very public activity and we should all strive to be better at it. Further, it is a constant learning curve which is why we strive for continuous improvement.
Reflective teaching practices are about improving teaching for the benefit of student learning. Teachers should consider taking the spotlight off themselves and move it to student learning – in this way the confronting nature of PORT may not be as intense as first thought.

4. ACU PORT Program - Introductory Session
16 November 2018
PORT aims to …
be a scholarly process;
to engender group and individual reflection on teaching;
provide genuine peer-to-peer dialogue;
emphasise development and collective responsibility;
be supportive;
avoid issues of duality (good/bad, praising/fault-finding);
allow for team reflection but also individual confidentiality;
involve minimal paperwork; and
enable the dissemination of good practice.
Scholarly process – backed up by extensive research on its effectiveness (see articles in the back of the Participant Manual
Group and individual reflection - process allows for both (3 ringed circus approach as well as debrief session at end of process)
Genuine peer-to-peer dialogue – dialogue only occurs with a peer. Determining who is your peer is therefore critical (see Manual).
Development and collective responsibility – ACU’s model is a developmental one NOT an evaluative one. It promotes the idea that collectively we are all responsible for L&T standards.
Supportive – peers are there to support each other and share their expertise.
Duality – PORT is not about good/bad rather shared responsibilities for continuous improvement and peer support.
Reflection and confidentiality – PORT provides a space for reflective teaching practices while preserving individual confidentiality
Paperwork – it is designed to be easy to engage with by being light on time and paperwork required to get something out of the program
Good practice – it promotes best practice by allowing participants to practice reflective teaching practices
ACU PORT Program - Introductory Session

5. ACU PORT Program - Introductory Session
16 November 2018
PORT Structure
Planning: A pre-meeting between the peer reviewee and the selected peer reviewer to discuss and agree on the peer reviewee's selected area of focus, the 'how, what, when' details, and the tool/s that will be used to provide feedback.
Observation: Observation of the agreed teaching activity, eg. teaching materials, online teaching, F2F teaching etc.
Discussion: A debrief meeting between the peer reviewee and peer reviewer for discussion on the activity and the provision of constructive feedback.
Reflection: The peer reviewee's critical analysis of the understandings that have been gained and how they might enhance pedagogic practice. This stage includes using the understandings gained to enhance teaching practice, and inform the agenda for future peer review of teaching activity.
Emphasize that PORT can be used for a very wide variety of L&T activities. The slide simply sets out some of the more popular ones.
Refer to appendix 2 in the Manual and how L&T activities are broken up into four categories. The table in the Manual is a non-exhaustive list and participants may have other activities they wish to be observed on and that is fine.
Participants will need to select one or two activities they wish to be observed in and make sure their observers are clear on what is being observed.
Refer to section 4 of the Manual and make sure participants are clear on why they wish to be observed in a certain L&T activity.
Further, ensure participants understand the difference between peer observation of substantive content (which requires disciplinary expertise) and general L&T expertise (which requires teaching expertise).
ACU PORT Program - Introductory Session

6. Underpinning Principles
16 November 2018
Underpinning Principles
Go over this abridged version of David Gosling’s table and emphasise the different uses of PORT based on their characteristics.
Emphasise that at ACU we promote ‘developmental model’ that does not seek any punitive outcomes rather the development of reflective teaching practices for the individual
Mention that an ‘review’ or ‘evaluation’ model can be arranged, particularly where an external reviewer is required.
The full table can be found at: Learning and Teaching Support Network UK – Generic Centre, ng/evaluation_support_for_my_teaching/Resources/id200_Models_of_Pee r_Observation_of_Teaching.pdf
(Note that Goslings table uses the headings: “Peer Review Model” for our “Developmental Model”; and, “Developmental Model” for our “Review Model”. The blue column is the same for both.

7. ACU PORT Program - Introductory Session
16 November 2018
Next steps
Decide which team method you will adopt.
Discuss within your teams ‘what’ you want observed?
Set dates and times.
Learn from each other.
This will depend on the faculty/school/department as to what your next steps are however, the old adage of striking while the iron is hot is a good guide.
Capture people’s enthusiasm to participate by asking them to consider teams and what they would like observed. Then have them set dates, times and venues and get the process moving!
Finish on a positive note by reiterating the benefits of PORT!
Reinforce the need to have fun!
ACU PORT Program - Introductory Session
FLM-PORT Program 2009