Here is what I learnt about peer observation after reading chapter 9 (Freeman).

1 PROBLEMS WITH OBSERVATIONS

Instead of working alone to figure out your problems while teaching as in self-observation,
peer-observation means “being openly and attentively present in another teacher’s classroom”
to observe the way the teacher conducts the lesson, solves problems and how she/he interacts
with the students. Thus, from the report, they can have further discussion about teaching styles
and suggest solutions to address their current issues in class together.
Back then, “the practice of novice teachers being observed by an expert” with purpose of
evaluation used to be a threating experience. Obviously, in some situations, it can be useful.
However, this approach to observation does have some drawbacks, as listed below according
to Marion Williams:
 Teachers might feel threatened and considered it as an ordeal
 It is not teacher’s responsibility for assessment.
 It’s about telling teachers what should be done instead of showing to fix that.
 Too many items on the checklist at once.
 The expert should observe every single lesson to give comments which is good for
professional growth but in fact, there is normally one to three visits and they are not
linked to the course.
 The observation for expert does not provide what teachers need or wish

2 WHY PEER OBSERVATION AND ITS ADVANTAGES

When it comes to learning new things, the very first thing people need to do is observing the
way how they work and therefore gain an understanding and start to create things by their own.
Similarly, in teaching, in order to improve your teaching style, observing a lesson from a more
experienced teacher to see how she/he conducts the lesson is crucial. Meanwhile, it is not the
observer that gains benefits but the teacher being observed as well. They can gather the
information about the lesson that may be impossible to collect while teaching thanks to the
observer.
Peer observation can
> provides teachers an opportunity to discuss the difficulties or problem that each may face.
> provides teachers a chance to share ideas or experience related to classroom.
> be a way of developing self-awareness of one’s own teaching.
3 STEP BY STEP
 Written narrative
> The observer would write the narrative instead of the teacher as in self-
observation. While observing the class, he/she should provide an account of the
main structure of the lesson and how it is developed. Also, the kind of activities
employed as well as the timing within the lesson should be recorded. However,
it is unnecessary to describe everything that happens during the lesson. The
language used in the narrative should not be lengthy but precise. Observer
should try to avoid any form of evaluation.
> Pros: provides a general picture of a lesson, easy to see the objective and focus
of the lesson and how teacher implements his/her lesson plan.
> Cons: some aspects of the lesson is hard to describe in details, e.g. the actual
language used to exchange between the teacher and the students.
 Field notes
> Observer would write a brief description in note form of key events that
happened during the lesson. It could be either time-based or written according
the key activities in class.
> Pros: flexible to observe a lesson where significant things that are happening can
be recorded.
> Cons: insufficient information collected (cannot capture the whole picture)
 Checklists
> Observer writes down a list of main features that a quality lesson should own
then compares and contrasts it with the actual lesson. A checklist should be
concise and well-informed.
> Pros: highly-focused, easy to complete (simply ticking the ready-made features).
> Cons: much focus on trivial aspects & the failure to account for what happened.

4 CONCENSTRATION & PEER COACHING

 The focus of the lesson can be various aspects, ranging from general issues to more
complex problems.
 Peer coaching differs peer observation in the choice of observer. In this case, the observer
should be an experienced teacher working with a less experienced one (mentor role)

5 GUIDELINES
 Select a partner
 Each teacher takes turn to teach and observe each other
> Pre-observation: observer can understand the problems the teacher is facing and
learn more about the class. The teacher set a focus for the observer to carry
out. There is no evaluation at this stage.
> Decide the procedures to use and set schedule
> Complete the observation
> Post-observation: pair of teachers have a further discussion on the lesson.