Teachers play a vital role in the overall well being of any society. They are responsible for the education of the next generation of leaders. Yet teachers are forced to work under great pressure. They not only teach but they also have many administrative responsibilities. In addition, they are expected to be involved with extra curricular activities. There is simply no time for professional development. Thankfully, since the inception of instructional rounds teachers are given the opportunity to grow and learn.
The good thing about this system is that it is easy to implement and to manage. All that happens is that a few teachers get together to visit a teaching session of a colleague. It is a voluntary system and even the observed teacher has to agree to such an observation session. The whole idea behind the system is to observe more experienced teachers and to learn from the way that he teaches.
The observers have a meeting before an observation session where the sole purpose is to decide what the objective that they wish to achieve are. Observed teachers are often known for very specific successes such as getting the learners to participate in class discussions. The observers will focus on those successes and concentrate on learning how to use the same techniques in their own classrooms to obtain similar results.
These sessions should never be equated with evaluation sessions. In this case the observers do not conduct any form of evaluation. They are rather there to learn from a professional and to discover new inspiration for teaching as a profession. The students are informed about the aim of the session and the observers never take part in the lesson. Unless the observed teacher asks for it, no feedback is ever given to anyone.
Directly after the observation session the observers meet again. This time the purpose of the meeting is to share the lessons that each participant has learned. They will discuss ways in which they can implement those lessons in their own classrooms. The observed teacher is never criticized and the observer group never submit a report about their experiences. The results of the session is also never discussed outside the group.
These sessions have become commonplace and teachers say that they greatly benefit from them. They learn from experienced colleagues, find new inspiration and they get the opportunity to interact with colleagues. When teachers grow professionally everyone benefits. Learners obtain better results, schools are obtaining better results and the entire educational system is improved. Observed teachers also benefit because they find new motivation in the knowledge that they are deemed as worthy to learn from.
Critics say that the system is superficial. Observers do not spend enough time in the classrooms of observed professionals. They also say that observed teachers do not behave or teach in the way they normally do because they want to impress the observers. Supporters strongly deny this and are in favour of having the system implemented at every school.
Improving the educational system, even in very small ways, should always be a priority. Teachers should be given every possible opportunity to improve their skills. Their charges are, after all, the future leaders of the world.
The good thing about this system is that it is easy to implement and to manage. All that happens is that a few teachers get together to visit a teaching session of a colleague. It is a voluntary system and even the observed teacher has to agree to such an observation session. The whole idea behind the system is to observe more experienced teachers and to learn from the way that he teaches.
The observers have a meeting before an observation session where the sole purpose is to decide what the objective that they wish to achieve are. Observed teachers are often known for very specific successes such as getting the learners to participate in class discussions. The observers will focus on those successes and concentrate on learning how to use the same techniques in their own classrooms to obtain similar results.
These sessions should never be equated with evaluation sessions. In this case the observers do not conduct any form of evaluation. They are rather there to learn from a professional and to discover new inspiration for teaching as a profession. The students are informed about the aim of the session and the observers never take part in the lesson. Unless the observed teacher asks for it, no feedback is ever given to anyone.
Directly after the observation session the observers meet again. This time the purpose of the meeting is to share the lessons that each participant has learned. They will discuss ways in which they can implement those lessons in their own classrooms. The observed teacher is never criticized and the observer group never submit a report about their experiences. The results of the session is also never discussed outside the group.
These sessions have become commonplace and teachers say that they greatly benefit from them. They learn from experienced colleagues, find new inspiration and they get the opportunity to interact with colleagues. When teachers grow professionally everyone benefits. Learners obtain better results, schools are obtaining better results and the entire educational system is improved. Observed teachers also benefit because they find new motivation in the knowledge that they are deemed as worthy to learn from.
Critics say that the system is superficial. Observers do not spend enough time in the classrooms of observed professionals. They also say that observed teachers do not behave or teach in the way they normally do because they want to impress the observers. Supporters strongly deny this and are in favour of having the system implemented at every school.
Improving the educational system, even in very small ways, should always be a priority. Teachers should be given every possible opportunity to improve their skills. Their charges are, after all, the future leaders of the world.
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