The educational system is under tremendous pressure. There are simply not enough resources and teachers have to deal with numerous responsibilities. They have to achieve good results in the classroom but they are over burdened by administrative responsibilities, endless meetings, extra curricular activities and other tasks. They have almost no chance to develop professionally. At least, with instructional rounds teachers are given the chance to learn and to develop their professional teaching skills.
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 meet before the visit in order to formulate specific objectives for the observation session. These objectives normally focus on the known strong points of the observed colleague. He may, for example, have a reputation for enhancing his lesson with the effective use of multimedia, or he may be very successful in maintaining discipline in the classroom. The observers aim to find out how he does it.
Observers never evaluate the colleague that is observed. That will negate the entire idea behind these sessions. They have only one goal and that is to learn from the observed colleague. This is why the learners are informed about the reason for the visit and that is also why no feedback is ever given. The observers do not participate in the classroom activities and they do not interact with learners.
Directly after the observation session the observers have another meeting. They compare notes but their discussions always focus on what it was that the learned. They are not permitted to criticise at all. They also debate ways in which they can improve their own classroom performances based on what they learned during the observation session. All their discussions are confidential and they do not submit a report.
The popularity of this system has soared. It is easy to plan and to implement and teachers are keen to participate. These sessions allow them to get to know their colleagues a little better and they are given the opportunity to develop professionally. Many participants have professed that they have learned much during these sessions and that their own results have improved as a consequence. The benefits of the system are enjoyed by all the role players in education.
There are always critics. In this case they say that these sessions are of no consequence because they are too short and infrequent. They say that observed teachers put on an act for observers. They are in the minority, however. Most educators are in favour of the system. They say that they cherish the opportunity learn and that they find that they are once again enthusiastic about their jobs.
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 meet before the visit in order to formulate specific objectives for the observation session. These objectives normally focus on the known strong points of the observed colleague. He may, for example, have a reputation for enhancing his lesson with the effective use of multimedia, or he may be very successful in maintaining discipline in the classroom. The observers aim to find out how he does it.
Observers never evaluate the colleague that is observed. That will negate the entire idea behind these sessions. They have only one goal and that is to learn from the observed colleague. This is why the learners are informed about the reason for the visit and that is also why no feedback is ever given. The observers do not participate in the classroom activities and they do not interact with learners.
Directly after the observation session the observers have another meeting. They compare notes but their discussions always focus on what it was that the learned. They are not permitted to criticise at all. They also debate ways in which they can improve their own classroom performances based on what they learned during the observation session. All their discussions are confidential and they do not submit a report.
The popularity of this system has soared. It is easy to plan and to implement and teachers are keen to participate. These sessions allow them to get to know their colleagues a little better and they are given the opportunity to develop professionally. Many participants have professed that they have learned much during these sessions and that their own results have improved as a consequence. The benefits of the system are enjoyed by all the role players in education.
There are always critics. In this case they say that these sessions are of no consequence because they are too short and infrequent. They say that observed teachers put on an act for observers. They are in the minority, however. Most educators are in favour of the system. They say that they cherish the opportunity learn and that they find that they are once again enthusiastic about their jobs.
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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