From peer to peer: issues about observers in peer observation of teaching

Con e ence on Highe Educa ion Pedagogy 25 F om Pee To Pee : Issues Abou Obse e s In Pee Obse a ion O Teaching Ana Mou az & Amélia Lopes, Psychology and Sciences o Educa ion, Po o Uni e si y (Po ugal) José Manuel Ma ins Fe ei a, Facul y o Enginee ing,Po o Uni e si y (Po ugal) Abs ac : Highe educa ion eaching and lea ning in Eu ope aces challenging imes and deep changes, la gely due o many e o ms o igina ed by he so-called Bologna p ocess (Moo e e al, 2008; Lei e, 2007; Viei a, 2005). The objec i e o his pape is o p esen he esul s o a aining + esea ch p ojec ha was p oposed by a Teaching and Lea ning Lab se up join ly by he Facul y o Educa ional Sciences (FPCEUP) and he Facul y o Enginee ing (FEUP) a he Uni e si y o Po o. I s unde lying s a egy aims o imp o e he quali y o eaching and he quali y o lea ning, and a he same ime o cap u e in o ma ion abou eaching and lea ning p ac ices used wi hin he uni e si y. Highe educa ion eaching and lea ning in Eu ope aces challenging imes and deep changes, la gely due o many e o ms o igina ed by he so-called Bologna p ocess (Moo e e al, 2008; Lei e, 2007; Viei a, 2005). The objec i e o his pape is o p esen he esul s o a aining + esea ch p ojec ha was p oposed by a Teaching and Lea ning Lab (TLL) se up join ly by he Facul y o Educa ional Sciences (FPCEUP) and he Facul y o Enginee ing (FEUP) a he Uni e si y o Po o. I s unde lying s a egy aims o imp o e he quali y o eaching and he quali y o lea ning, and a he same ime o cap u e in o ma ion abou eaching and lea ning p ac ices used wi hin he uni e si y. Speci ically, his pape wan s o a gue he idea ha POT is an oppo uni y o imp o e obse e s’ p o essional de elopmen . Resea ch da a comes om 31 obse a ion o ms and could aloud us o conclude ha expe imen ga e an oppo uni y o e lec upon eache s’ one p ac ices as a esul om obse ing pee s. Ou aining scheme ollows he pee obse a ion model p esen ed by Gosling (2002), whose p oposed solu ion di e s om e alua ion o de elopmen al models (Hamme sley-Fle che & O smond, 2004; Cosh, 1998) . Acco ding o Gosling (2008, p. 5), on a pee -obse a ion model, eache s obse e each o he wi h one clea objec i e – o discuss hei eaching ac i i ies h ough sel - and g oup- e lec i e exe cises.. Bell de ines POT as a “Collabo a i e, de elopmen ac i i y in which p o essionals o e mu ual suppo by obse ing each o he each; explaining and discussing wha was obse ed; sha ing ideas abou eaching; ga he ing s uden eedback on eaching e ec i eness; e lec ing on unde s andings, eelings, ac ions and eedback and ying ou new ideas” (Bell 2005, p. 3, in Bell and Mladeno ic 2008, p. 736). POT in his sense is ideally a “con inuous p ocess o ans o ming pe sonal meaning” (Peel 2005, p. 489), which ensu es consolida ed ans o ma ions in he pa icipan s’ pe spec i es on eaching and lea ning, ins ead o jus small changes in speci ic aspec s o hei pe o mance. One main ea u e o ou model is ha i o e s a symme ic dis ibu ion o powe be ween he obse e and he one being obse ed; i ocus he obse a ion on eache pe o mance, on he class, and on he lea ning con en , and is ollowed by cons uc i e, non- judgemen al eedback. The aining + esea ch ins umen used in ou TLL was inspi ed on simila wo k done a o he uni e si ies (Leices e , No ingham, Sou hamp on, Queens a Bel as , Impe ial College a London), and includes h ee s ages: p io , du ing, and pos obse a ion. A p io -obse a ion he obse e s ob ain in o ma ion abou all ele an ac s / da a using documen s and h ough an in e iew wi h hei colleague ha will be obse ed. The pos -obse a ion s age is ela ed o he cons uc i e eedback and e lec i e discussion. Du ing obse a ion a egula class is a ended by he obse e s, who use an obse a ion g id adap ed om he model used a Sou hamp on Uni e si y. The obse a ion scheme equi es ha all obse e s be obse ed as well, and also ha each eam membe obse es one class a FEUP and ano he class a FPCEUP. A o al numbe o 40 obse a ion sessions we e o ganised du ing he i s semes e o 2009 / 10, di ided equally be ween FEUP and FPCEUP. The esul s ha will be p esen ed a e based on hese 40 obse a ion g ids, which we e analysed wi h he objec i e o imp o ing ou knowledge abou he eaching and lea ning p ac ices a hese wo Uni e si y o Po o schools. The o ganisa ional model unde lying his aining + esea ch p ojec was based on eams wi h ou elemen s, wo om Educa ional Sciences (FPCEUP) and wo om Enginee ing (FEUP). The obse a ion g id was adap ed om he model used a he Sou hamp on Uni e si y, and comp ises h ee sec ions. The i s sec ion co e s class- ela ed Con e ence on Highe Educa ion Pedagogy 26 opics, namely "o ganisa ion", "p esen a ion", "class mood", "con en ", and "awa eness and lexibili y". The second sec ion asks he obse e o compa e he obse ed class wi h his/he own classes, o e ing he obse e ou leading ques ions add essing obse a ion subjec s ha we e no co e ed by he closed esponse i ems: 1) Wha was mos s iking? 2) Wha ques ions would I like o ask o he eache ? 3) Wha simila i ies / di e ences we e ound in ela ion o my own lec u ing p ac ice? 4) Can I make any ecommenda ions? Finally, he hi d sec ion co e s he pos -obse a ion e lec i e discussion. A e hose wo sec ions ha a e p esen ed now as an exe cise o highligh obse e s’ conce ns a he obse ed eache s’ p ac ices.Only 9 ou o he 40 obse a ion o ms ha we e collec ed did no con ain any quali a i e in o ma ion. This in o ma ion was co ela ed o he School a iable only when i was conside ed meaning ul. All da a con en analysis was done using he N-VIVO 8 package, and he in o ma ion was g ouped in o he ollowing eme gen ca ego ies: Nega i e aspec s; Posi i e aspec s; Technical aspec s: Pedagogical aspec s; Wide ques ions; Sugges ions. N-VIVO 8 o e s sou ce coding ea u es ha we e used o associa e he obse a ion o ms o ca ego ies, and e e ence coding, which in ou case co espond o ph ases o exp essions ep esen ing an asse i e p oposi ion. Resul s The nega i e aspec s we e subsequen ly di ided in o h ee g oups, ela ing o s uden s, o eache s, and o o ganiza ional aspec s. Likewise, he posi i e aspec s we e analyzed acco ding o hei dependency upon clima e issues, upon he eache ’s wo k, and upon he wo k done by he s uden s. Finally, he ecommenda ions made by he obse e s we e g ouped in wo main ypes, ela ing o he speci ic eache unde obse a ion, and o eache s in gene al (a ins i u ional le el). Main esul s (which we ha e no enough space o p esen ) show ha hose issues cen ed on in en ional eache ac ions achie e he highes sco es, bo h in posi i e and nega i e aspec s. Nega i e aspec s ela ed o o ganiza ional ca ego ies we e, ela ed o class oom managemen . Those e e ing s uden s’ ina en i e beha io achie e he highes sco es o nega i e aspec s. Also nega i e we e classes cen ed on eache ’s p esen a ion. On he opposi e and e e ed as posi i e aspec s we e he oppo uni ies o in e ac ion wi h he s uden s and p omo ing hei pa icipa ion. As an in e p e a ion i can be said ha he e is a ela ion be ween nega i e issues connec ed wi h s uden s’ beha io and classes cen ed on eache s’ p esen a ion as i seems o be a ela ion be ween eache s’ in e ac i e beha iou and s uden s’ pa icipa ion in class. This in e p e a ion is ein o ced by wide ques ions ha conce n obse e s – how o e ol e s uden s in he class oom is he huge challenge. In a wide app oach we may conclude ha expe imen ga e eache s an oppo uni y o e lec upon hei p ac ices as a esul om obse ing pee s. Fu u e publica ions will include expanded esul s and discussion. Re e ences Bell, A. & Mladeno ic, R. 2008. The bene i s o pee obse a ion o eaching o u o de elopmen . Highe Educa ion, 55(6), 735-752. Cosh, J. (1998). Pee Obse a ion in Highe Educa ion -- A Re lec i e App oach, Inno a ions in Educa ion and Teaching In e na ional,35:2,171 — 176 URL: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.1080/1355800980350211 Gosling, D. (2002). Models o Pee Obse a ion o Teaching. h p://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ esou ces/de ail/id200_Models_o _Pee _Obse a ion Hamme sley-Fle che , L. and O smond, P. (2004). E alua ing ou pee s: is pee obse a ion a meaning ul p ocess?,S udies in Highe Educa ion,29:4,489 — 503 URL: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.1080/0307507042000236380 Lei e, C. (2007). Que luga pa a as Ciências da Educação na o mação pa a o exe cício da docência no ensino supe io ?. JM. Sousa. Educação pa a o Sucesso: Polí icas e Ac o es. Ac as do IX Cong esso da SPCE. (pp.131-140). Funchal: SPCE. Moo e, S., Walsh, G. & Rísquez, A. (2008). Ensinando na Uni e sidade. Ex a exias e icaces e p incípios cla e. Vigo: Uni e sidade de Vigo. Peel, D. (2005). Pee obse a ion as a ans o ma o y ool? Teaching in Highe Educa ion, 10 (4), 489-504. Viei a, F. (2005). T ans o ma a Pedagogia na Uni e sidade? Cu ículo sem F on ei as, .5, n.1, pp.10-27.