Guidance and Support

Plan a Peer Observation Planning Meeting into the annual schedule when preparing for new academic year to take place before teaching commences, and a Review Peer Observation Meeting at the end of each academic year.

In the POT Planning Meeting, together,

• Become familiar with the Peer Observation Policy
• Identify the peer partnerships for the forthcoming year (as guided by the Queen Mary Peer Observation Policy)
• Ensure shared responsibility to create and maintain collegiality, trust, integrity, academic freedom and mutual respect.  This might involve training/coaching/refreshing practice on giving feedback and professional dialogue.
• Peer partners arrange schedule for observation, and its pre-meeting and debrief – and discuss how you will work together.

In the Review POT Meeting,

• Opportunity to reflect on process – strengths and enhancements for next year – and any outstanding practice that observed colleagues wish to share/highlight/celebrate with the team.

Taking time to discuss and reflect on Peer Observation of Teaching in advance of the observation enables observee and observer together to facilitate a positive, useful, collegiate experience.

Evidence demonstrates the positive effects of meeting together (in person or online) in advance of the session to be observed, and in contrast with, for example, only communicating by email or meeting just before the session takes place.

A pre-observation meeting gives space and time to reflect, discuss practice related to the session to be observed, and ease any worries, all in good time. You are working as peers and partners but the person being observed may still feel vulnerable. Giving time in the pre-observation meeting to share any worries or concerns and identify what might help will be supportive.

For instance, you can share whether you have previously experienced peer observations, either as observer or observed. What worked well, what did you helpful – and what did not work or created a barrier to the desired aims and approach of POT? What would you do differently?  If you have not experienced Peer Observation of Teaching before, do you have any concerns, and ideas about what would help to allay them?

Being observed

• Your observer needs to know date, time, venue, and where to be in the space (classroom, laboratory, online class, etc).
• Let students know that a colleague will be present; that POT is a sector practice of sharing teaching development; and that notes they take are based on the teaching, used for discussion between you and the observer, and will not identify individual students.
• Your observer needs to know about what they will be observing.
• Use the recording pro forma Section A to provide these details that your observer will need.

Observer

• For the observation, you need to arrive early, be present for the entire session, and will not be an active member of events (so will not be speaking, joining in, or team teaching).
• Keep notes that are based on your observations of teaching. These are to be used for discussion between you and the observer. Be sure not to identify individual students.
• For your observation, use the recording pro forma Section B to guide your note-taking and inform the post-observation meeting.

Reflection on teaching “involves the reconstruction of one’s experiences: the honest acceptance and analysis of feedback; the evaluation of one’s skills, attitudes and knowledge; and the identification and exploration of new possibilities for professional action” (Bell, 2001:31).  This is the same for observee and observer.

To facilitate this reflection on teaching, evidence demonstrates the positive impact of meeting together (in person or online) to reflect on the observation after it has taken place, in contrast to only sending the recording pro forma to the observe, for example. 

That said, the observer sending their reflection on the session (recording pro forma Section B) to the other in advance of meeting helps to facilitate preparation. It gives time for both observer and observe to consider how they will engage in the post-observation professional dialogue such that they foster the collegiate, reflective and developmental aims of POT.  Emphasis here is on ‘peer’, the coming together of equals with shared curiosity to discuss teaching and learning in Higher Education through the vehicle of the session observed and enjoy their learning that comes from that.

Discussion will be non-judgemental - the practice not the person – with a focus on ways forward and what has been learnt by both of you, based on:

• Reflection: Looking back at what has happened and looking forward to what will, would like, want or need to happen.
• Critical thinking: Identifying how you know what you know. Using the following reflective prompts can aid in retaining the collegiate and developmental approach of POT: What I know and how I know it? What is ambiguous? What other perspectives can there be? What is missing/uncertain/unclear? (e.g. Wonnacott, 2014)
• Analysis: Breaking down the focus of attention into parts to support learning.
• Reflexivity: Identifying your assumptions and personal impact on the situation.
• Action planning: How will you apply your new learning? What else do you need to know? What should be your next step/s? (see ‘Next steps’)

The person who has been observed may still feel vulnerable. Giving space so that they reflect on the observed session and their practice first in the discussion will help to set pace and their sense of agency.  Taking an appreciative inquiry approach, a ‘positive and hopeful view of what is happening and turning that into a pattern for learning, design, and development’ (Macpherson, 2015:1) supports a collegiate and effective experience. Adapting appreciative inquiry questions for POT can support the post-observation process. See Suggested resources to develop POT practice in ‘References and Resources’ and in particular resource 3.  For example, the ‘discovery’ phase of appreciative inquiry encourages facilitative questions, such as, ‘what did you feel proud about’; ‘what made this session different/important/stand out’; ‘what enabled it to go well?’; ‘reflecting on it now, what was the most important thing that you learned?’ (Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005). 

As the post observation meeting progresses, gauging what the observee can handle or absorb so they do not become overwhelmed can assist in the positive experience and outcome.

Both observer and observee identify and share their practice development reflection in the form of an action plan during the concluding stage of the post observation meeting.  The following table supports this part of the discussion  (adding  rows as needed) and can be transferred into the recording pro forma Section C.  Sometimes further individual reflection is needed prior to finalising Section C.

• You will be invited to share your learning from POT in your annual appraisal, but might you also want to share areas of practice as exemplars and learning with your teaching team?
• Reflecting on the process of POT, individually, and, ideally, together with your POT partner and in the team Review Peer Observation Meeting will support continued positive outcomes when engaging with Peer Observation at Queen Mary. The following prompts may be useful as you give thought to your experience of the process. Did the organising of POT work for you – what went well, how might it be developed for next time? In the pre-observation and post-observation meetings, did you both have space to share thoughts and views? Did you have evidence for what you were saying? To what extent were your responses/reactions affected by personal feelings? Were you prepared for and willing to engage in an open, collegiate professional dialogue on teaching and learning in HE? What would help/what can you do to enhance this going forward? Did you treat and feel treated with integrity and respect? What would help/what can you do to enhance this going forward?