The sound of the Head's footsteps ominously come closer and closer to the classroom door... the prickly heat exponentially rises out of your very core... The door handle slowly turns... Somewhere from deep within you a small voice begs "relax... relax ...relax...' The 3-night lesson plan stares back at you from the desk before you, words swimming, rearranging themselves to form the doom-laden message: 'you're f£&@ed'... Your dry throat tries to issue forth something that is inspiring but all that you can think of is the frosty stare of the Head...... But stop. Press the pause button. For just a moment have an 'out of body experience', float up above your physical self and take a second to pervay the scene before you... Detailed lesson plan? Check. Laminated resources and meticulously photocopied and levelled resources? Check. Pencils all sharpened? Check? Head observing? Check.
And it's the last bit of this checklist that is the source of all the anxiety... The Head observing.... Yes, observing. That is all she is doing! Observing! All the panic and stress, just for someone coming into the classroom and observing. And this is the crux of the matter - observing is really a pretty flawed method of evaluating teachers. Observation doesn't work as a catalyst for change.. In the last twenty years, the UN has sent observers all over the world to various war zones and arguably all they have done is observed - they have had little impact on atrocities that they have witnessed. And in the same way observation in the classroom has little impact too. We need a new model, break from what we've always done and adopt a more collaborative way of supporting teachers and teaching.
The whole purpose of 'observation' should be to enable the teacher to move their skills forward, and to facilitate them to take whatever steps are necessary to become the teacher that they want to be.
To do this, a fresh approach needs to be considered:
1. Stop performing and just do what you normally do - most teachers when really pushed could produce an outstanding lesson. The ofsted criteria are well known and with plenty of forethought a lesson can be jam-packed with whistles and bells that might wow the Head into thinking that you truly are the Greatest Teacher That Has Ever Lived. To be honest though, this achieves very little. Yes, you crave to be rated 'outstanding' but if you are to really move forward as a teacher then you should be showing what you always do. Now if that happens to be always outstanding then fabulous but I can safely say that most observed lessons are performances - you know it and your head knows it!! On the night before our last ofsted inspection I told my early years team to do nothing different from what they usually did - I told them that we knew we were outstanding and we needed just to show them what we normally did. Low and behold everyone went home with no more that the usual amount of prep, they had a great night's sleep and then we blew the inspector away with our everyday outstanding provision and teaching !! If your head only sees a performance then your teaching can never truly move on.
2. Sweep away one hour observations - we have trialled 'a day in the life' visits with either the head of slt member spending a whole day in the class and the impact has been huge. Prior to the whole day visit we get together and discuss the challenges and successes facing the Foundation Unit, as well as identifying areas that we feel we would like an extra pair of eyes to look at. The visitor then spends the entire day, actively supporting learning whilst at the same time looking for areas of practice that might need development. The visitor is no longer an observer - they are a participant.... At the end of the day, we then meet as a team with our visitor to discuss the day - any areas for development are then openly shared with the team so that all can learn from what has been seen - instantly we then create a culture of helpfulness, nurturing, cooperation with no one being singled out. A list of development needs is then drawn up with an action plan of how to address these by the time of the next visit day. The flip side is that it also gives the visitor a valuable insight into the life of the team and what a typical day looks like...
If you haven't tried this style of 'observation' then I would urge you to discuss this with your head or phase leader. Yes, it's a commitment of their time across a day. Yes, it might not be how you've always done it. However it turns the footsteps of the head into the sound of an old friend, the door handle turning announces the arrival of a supportive colleague and their very presence in the classroom become the catalyst for development, one that will take you and the school forward - and when ofsted come? You'll be so relaxed you'll blow them away too!!
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