Lesson: Lesson observation (video recording or tracking of the course)

Lesson: Lesson observation (video recording or tracking of the course).

Everything You Need to Know About Lesson Observations
Feedback is an integral part to your progression as a teacher, and lesson observations are an effective way to gather feedback and direction on areas for improvement. As a universally recognised form of CPD, this article explores exactly what lesson observations are and how you can prepare for them.

What are lesson observations?

A lesson observation, also known as a classroom observation, is the practice in which a lesson is observed to assess the quality of teaching to ensure students are receiving the most effective learning experience.
Any teacher can be subject to a lesson observation and these can be conducted by fellow teachers, administrators or external parties and these can be planned or unplanned observations. These are implemented by all schools and also enforced by many external bodies as a process for school assessment.

Why do we have lesson observations?

Lesson observations are regarded universally as an effective form of professional development and are used consistently throughout a teacher’s career - in fact, Ofstedhave used lesson observations as part of their inspection process in the UK since 1992.
Although the concept of being observed is daunting, they aren’t intended as a practice to scaremonger teachers, it’s to identify ways in which you can improve your teaching and classroom management skills, reducing blockers to student learning so they’re achieving the best they possibly can.
Ofsted use lesson observations to assess the overall quality of ‘teaching, learning and assessment’ as it allows them an insight into the way teachers conduct lessons and how they interact with students. Internally, schools use lesson observations to assess how well teachers are performing but more importantly, as a form of CPD.
Those observing lessons are asked to identify the biggest blocker to student learning in the classroom, provide the teacher with feedbackon their lesson, including ideas and techniques they can implement to improve.
When feedback is provided it’s not uncommon for teachers to receive additional lesson observations for observers can assess how well these techniques have been implemented and to provide further direction - creating a continuous cycle of professional development.