Monday, December 28, 2015

Relevance Of Instructional Rounds In Education

By Patricia Wright


Instructional rounds have gained prominence in the last few years due to the effectiveness in helping to improve education dissemination in schools. These programs help teachers get access to the classrooms of more experienced teachers and veterans in the profession. It is one way to find different approaches to teaching. The program helps to foster excellent collaboration between colleagues irrespective of schools they are based. The main aim in instructional rounds in education is to help beginners learn from experienced individuals.

The main benefit of this practice lies in the discussion that takes place at the end of the session amongst teachers. It also lies in the subsequent self-reflection done after. It helps new and amateur educators to learn from more experienced individuals. It is ideally better to learn from first hand situation rather than class work theory. It is important for all professionals to participate in this program every semester.

The program is made of teams of about five members and a minimum of three members exclusive of the leader. This individual, team leader, should be a respectable person who is considered a leader. An administrator may also assume this role. It is a rule that no teacher should be put under evaluation at any one time.

This program does not allow for any teacher evaluation whatsoever. This is because the individuals under observation are volunteers. This allows the program to run without intimidation and coercion from anybody. A free environment allows learning to take place. This is what ensures the success of the project.

It is important to maintain an aura of efficiency by having small groups to attain ultimate results. On the chosen day, proper communication should have occurred including the students. On arrival, the team is expected to knock and wait to be welcomed. They will observe the class quietly taking notes where necessary. When the class is done, the team will give a brief thanks and leave.

After the lesson, the team will convene in a specified location to reflect and discuss their experiences. Each teacher will comment on what they have observed and add any other relevant information. The team leader should remind all members that the aim of session is not to evaluate a teacher but to learn something new. This session is discrete and no information learnt, observed or discussed should be repeated outside the circle. In addition, no member of a particular group should offer suggestions to the volunteer teacher unless they ask for such feedback.

Findings are presented in a special format. This will start with all the positive things observed plus any short explanations given to help the others understand why one came to the conclusion. Negative comments will then be stated and expounded as well.

These rounds end with the members identifying practices that can be helpful in their own classrooms, pick up and implement something they saw used effectively. They can also drop what they consider not effective or reexamine it. It may be helpful to make some resolutions in a bid to improve. This method can be very exciting and effective if used well.




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