A big part of my work is around supporting schools to develop effective professional development programmes. I encounter a wide range of approaches to this but schools are always on a journey, looking to move forward to get their culture and systems right. One thing I often find is still something of a barrier, is an attachment to/ legacy of senior leaders feeling the need to give feedback on lesson observations in old school top-down fashion. Sometimes, this is even done in writing via email or an online platform – without ever involving the teacher in a conversation. (I’ve written about this several times!)
In my past life as a school leader, I did plenty of this. I remember all those wasted, pointless hours trying to craft well-written, pithy, insightful lesson reports to send to a teacher after a lesson observation. My office as a leader always had cabinets of years-old lesson observation reports or their digital equivalent. For a long time, doing this was part of the whole edifice of ‘effective leadership’: I am effective because I can give effective feedback.
Now, with more wisdom and understanding of what actually works and what seems right on principle, this whole business just seems utterly bizarre. To presume your feedback will be meaningful, received and understood and, welcomed or not, acted upon – it’s just weird; folly. And deeply deeply wrong. Above all it just seems, well, ….. rude.
Now my teacher view would be this:
Don’t you dare walk into my classroom for 10-20 minutes, with all your status and baises and then presume to write to me or to just tell me what I could have done better! Like you just ‘know’. Talk to me first; ask me about my view of it and let’s discuss some solutions to some of the inherent challenges this demanding work presents. If you can help me, that’s great; if all you can do is judge – you’re not welcome.
