Making observation feedback formative

How do you make observation feedback work for you?

How can you move past observation as a judgement to make it part of a progressive, personalised and meaningful element of your CPD?

Professor Hattie has demonstrated that effective feedback is the most important factor impacting on student progress. This also applies to teacher’s professional development. It is therefore vital to ensure that you give and receive meaningful and personalised feedback, rather than one-off judgements.

The next time you are taking part in an observation, weave these five simple tips provided by expert coach and consultant, Mike Fleetham, into the fabric of your lesson observation feedback:

5 tips to make observation feedback formative:

1. Think of the observer as a "servant coach"

Rather than being there to fix a problem you are there to serve and support

2. Ask “What are we trying to achieve here?”

Be clear on your observation objectives, remain focused on the agreed criteria

3. Use video to capture the lesson

This reduces the impact of an in-class observer and allows discussion and feedback to be objective and contextualised.

4. Look for and discuss “Specific Observable Behaviours”

This helps to keep discussion focused around details rather than general behaviours

5. Personalise

Identify how you would like to move forward, both as an observer and the observed. Maybe you would like to swap roles to observe each other, or try in-ear coaching or even a different coach.

Using our teacher friendly peer observation tools, you can set up more regular coaching sessions with your peers. The simplistic nature enables you to capture your lesson and share it with a colleague at convenient times; no longer do you need to request time table cover or book a session in advance. Simply click 'share' through our secure platform and you can connect with your trusted colleagues.