Jack C. Richards

Observation of experienced teachers has always played an important role in teacher education. Traditional views of observation argue that through observing how teachers conduct their lessons, solve problems of classroom management, and interact with students, novice teachers can develop a repertoire of strategies and techniques which they can apply in their own teaching. However the significance of what is observed depends on the theory of teaching the teacher holds. In using classroom observation in language teacher education programs it is therefore necessary to go beyond a focus on techniques and strategies experienced teachers employ and to use observation as a way of collecting information that can be used to develop a deeper understanding of how and why teachers teach the way they do. In this paper, observation will be examined in terms of how it can assist both co-operating teachers (those who are observed) and novice teachers develop a reflective approach to teaching.

Observation of other teachers

The most frequent use of observation involves teachers in training sitting in on the classes of experienced teachers. Guidelines such as the following are recommended to assist in this process: (a) Observation should have a focus; (b) observers should use specific procedures; and (c) the observer should remain an observer.

An additional way of improving the value of classroom observation is to establish a non-evaluative role for observers through giving them tasks to complete which involve collecting information rather than evaluating performance, and having the co-operating teacher determine what these tasks are. Tasks may include collecting data on such things as organization of the lesson, teacher's time management, how students complete tasks, time-on-task, teachers use of questions, teachers' explanations, teacher-student interaction, and the dynamics of group activities. Once the observations have been made, using checklists, focused description, or other procedures, the observer provides a copy of any information obtained for the teacher.

Peer observation

The approach to observation described above can also be used as the basis for peer observation. Peer observation should be approached as an opportunity for teachers to develop a critically reflective stance to their own teaching. Rather than viewing peer observation as an evaluative procedure, teachers should see themselves as co-researchers collaborating for each others' benefit. The following guidelines are recommended for implementing peer observation (Richards and Lockhart, 1991). (a) Peer observation should be voluntary. (b) Participants select their own partners to work with. (c) Each participant both observes and is observed. (d) There is a pre-observation orientation session: Before each observation, the two teachers meet to discuss the nature of the class to be observed, the kind of material being taught, the teacher's approach to teaching, the kinds of students in the class, typical patterns of interaction and class participation, and any problems expected. The aim of these discussions is for the teacher being observed to assign the observer a goal for the observation and a task to accomplish. The two teachers would agree on observation procedures or instruments to be used during this session and arrange a schedule for the observations. (e) During the observation, the observer then visits his or her partner's class and completes the observation using the procedures that both partners had agreed on. (f) There is a post-observation session: Meeting as soon as possible after the lesson, the observer reports on the information collected and discusses it with the teacher.

Three-way observation

While observation usually involves a novice teacher observing an experienced teacher's class or colleagues observing each other's classes in the case of peer observation, an alternative option is to use students' perceptions of the lesson as a third source of information. This is known as three-way observation, which works in the following way: (a) Pairs of inexperienced and experienced teachers work together. Usually the novice teacher invites a colleague to work with him or her. (b) Each pair of teachers arrange to carry out several observations of each other's classes, i.e. to take part in peer observation. (c) Rather than use the procedures for peer observation described above, data is collected at the end of each lesson on the students,' the teacher's, and the observer's perceptions of the lesson.

Information is collected at the end of a lesson when the teacher alotts 5-7 minutes to the following activities.

The students' task: Think back on the lesson that you just had and write answers to these questions.

(a) What were the main goals of the lesson? (b) What is the most important thing you learned from this lesson? (c) What did you think was the most useful part of the lesson? (d) Was there anything about the lesson that was not very useful to you?

The observer's task: As you observe the lesson try to answer these questions.

(a) What were the main goals of the lesson? (b) What is the most important thing the students learned from the lesson? (c) What did you think was the most successful part of the lesson? (d) Was there anything about the lesson that was not very successful? (e) How did you feel about the lesson as a whole?

The teacher's task: At the end of the lesson you taught answer these questions.

(a) What were the main goals of the lesson? (b) What is the most important thing the students learned from the lesson? (c) What did you think was the most successful part of the lesson? (d) Was there anything about the lesson that was not very successful? (e) How did you feel about the lesson as a whole?

The class teacher then collects the students' comments and arranges for a time to review them together with the observer's comment. Several interesting insights emerged when this process was implemented in a language program.

1. There was often a much closer correspondence between the three sources of information on the goals of lessons taught by experienced teachers than by the inexperienced teachers. In other words, the experienced teachers were often more successful than the others in communicating their goals and intentions during a lesson. And when an inexperienced teacher observed an experienced teacher's lesson there was a higher degree of agreement as to what the goals of the lesson were. In the case of the inexperienced teachers, however, there was sometimes an apparent mismatch between what they set out to do in a lesson and what either the observer or the students thought the goals of a lesson were. This confirms Allwright's (1984) observation that learners' interpretations of lessons are often greatly different from teachers and Block's (1996) comment on "the existence of a gap between the way teachers and learners 'see' the classroom and all that occurs within it"(p. 168). In the present case this gap was greatest with the inexperienced teachers.

2. In the case of comments on the most successful part of lessons there were also differences between the views of the experienced and inexperienced teachers. The latter tended to comment on the things that worked best from their point of view as a teacher, i.e. they gave a teacher-based account of the highlights of the lesson. The former tended to focus more on the learners and what was likely to be of most benefit to them. For example one of the inexperienced teachers thought a spontaneous vocabulary activity was the most successful part of one of his lessons. Based on a student's question he had spent some time developing pairs of contrasting adjectives which led into a short oral drill. He thought he had handled this procedure very well. The teacher-observer however thought the best part of the lesson was a small group activity, in which he observed the learners engaged in genuine interaction around the task. The most useful outcome of the three-way observation activities was the fact that it enabled experienced teachers to serve as valued mentors to their less experienced colleagues.

Conclusions

Our understanding of the role of classroom observation in teacher education has changed in recent years as a result of a movement away from a technical view of teaching which focusses on identification of the behaviors and skills employed by effective teachers to a focus on the complex meanings underlying the observable acts of teaching. Reflective observation, that is, observation that is linked to critical reflection, is one strategy that can be used to help teachers develop a deeper understanding of themselves as teachers and so be better prepared to make decisions about their own teaching. As Dewey (1904) observed, preparing teachers to be critically reflective about their practice may be more important in the long term than focusing on mastery of the techniques and skills that form the mainstay of much teacher education practice.

References

Allwright, D. (1984). Why don't learners learn what we teach? In D.M. Singleton and D.G. Little (Eds.). Language learning in formal and informal contexts. Dublin: IRAAL.

Block, D. (1966). A window on the classroom: classroom events viewed from different angles. In K. Bailey and D. Nunan (Eds.). Voices from the language classroom. (pp. 168-194). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Dewey, J. (1904). The relation of theory to practice in education. In C.A. Murray (Ed.). The relation of theory to practice in the education of teachers. (Third Yearbook of the National Society for the Scientific Study of Education, Part I, pp. 9-30). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Richards, J.C. & Lockhart, C. (1994). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms. New York: Cambridge University Press.