I watch a lot of lessons in lots of schools and colleges and, although contexts vary and teachers vary, the issues that arise are really very common. This isn’t that surprising really – but it does mean that we ought to be able to anticipate the issues as part of a CPD process.
Over the last few years, my thinking around lesson observation has evolved considerably, moving firmly away from the language of judgement and the giver-receiver power dynamics embedded in top-down lesson feedback. Now, I believe strongly in taking a problem-solving approach, recognising teachers’ challenges and using my expertise to help them through discussion to formulate approaches that might address them more effectively. The spirit of this is very different.
