There can’t be that many people who enjoy being observed doing their job and having their performance analyzed. All the worse if the stakes are high and there might be negative consequences for less than stellar performance. Small wonder, then, that having a classroom observer can be a cause of some anxiety and stress for many teachers. 

The Public/Private Paradox of Teaching

Teaching can be seen as both a public and a private activity. Public because teachers in the classroom have an audience – their students. But private because the planning, delivery, and follow-up of classes tends to be a more solitary activity, done apart from colleagues. The private work of the teacher – vis-a-vis colleagues – becomes public only when someone comes to observe the class. 

Purposes of Observation

There are two main purposes for observation: developmental and supervisory. In developmental observation, a teacher is typically observed by a colleague and receives feedback to help improve teaching. Supervisory feedback is an organizational practice that is usually a part of performance evaluation. Whether developmental or supervisory, the practice of observation ‘invades the privacy’ of the classroom. It makes visible to an outsider a web of established relationships, practices, and routines that have been enclosed within four mostly impenetrable walls. And there is a good chance that the thing being observed is changed by the act of being observed – which may partly undermine the purpose of the observation itself. 

The Observer’s Paradox

The characteristic of the observed thing being influenced or changed by its being observed is known as the observer’s paradox. It presents a challenge as the observer cannot get a true picture of the thing being observed (i.e. in its unobserved state). 

Observers of teachers and classrooms encounter this paradox in two ways. First, the observer might want to observe a ‘typical lesson’ to get the best understanding of a teacher’s style. But if it’s decided in advance which lesson will be observed, the teacher might change how s/he teaches, for example by including some favorite techniques or by making a special effort to design a lesson that s/he thinks the observer will want to see. Unannounced observations might overcome this challenge, but will likely exacerbate the second aspect of the paradox, which is that the students and the teacher may feel uncomfortable with the presence of an outsider. This discomfort might make students reluctant to speak, or the teacher’s nervousness may interfere with teaching performance. 

The observer’s paradox can be mitigated to some extent if the teacher and observer follow good practices: plan in advance, agree on the criteria or focus of the observation, and communicate the purpose of the observation to the students. 

Good Practices in Observation

Whether for developmental or supervisory purposes, good observation practice comprises three steps: a pre-observation check-in, the observation itself, and a post-observation review. The pre-observation check-in can serve to build trust between the teacher and observer, and it can provide a focus for the observation. Teacher and observer can discuss the anticipated content of the lesson, the objectives, and the plan. The observer may tell the teacher what s/he will be looking out for, or, in a more collaborative process, the teacher might identify an area of perceived weakness – such as teacher talk time, the clarity of instructions, or the flow of activities – and ask the observer to focus on that.

During the observation, the observer typically finds a discreet place to sit and takes notes, often using an observation tool such as a list of categories to be observed, checked, and commented on. The chosen observation tool can depend on institutional requirements, the preferences of the observer and teacher, and the purpose of the observation. The observation tool can focus the observer’s attention, and having one is usually better than walking into the classroom with no observation plan. 

In the post-observation meeting, the observer and teacher look over the written notes and discuss the lesson. Giving and receiving feedback can be stressful if the lesson didn’t go well or if the observer perceives problems that the teacher is not aware of. Comments such as ‘You need to talk less,’ or ‘Your instructions were unclear and resulted in chaos,’ might stimulate a defensive response in the teacher, who may feel criticized or attacked. A less invasive way of addressing problematic aspects of the lesson is to ask questions, such as, ‘What did you think of the ratio of your talking time to that of your students’?’ or ‘Did you think about pre-teaching any of the vocabulary before asking the students to read the passage?’ How direct feedback is depends on the context: in a teacher training course, a trainer is likely to point out problems and help the trainee teacher develop solutions. In a more collegial environment where the conversation is between fellow professionals, feedback that gives rise to discussion might be more appropriate. 

Who or What is Being Observed, Exactly?

It’s common to think of observation as ‘teacher observation,’ an exercise centered on the performance of one person in the room. This approach might have been appropriate in more teacher-centered days, but in recent years educational theory and practice have moved in the direction of students and to a consideration of the classroom as a learning environment. Robert Diamond (2008) described this change as, “the shift that has been underway in how we describe the role that faculty have in the learning process – the move from being teaching-centered to being learning-centered.” 

He continued:

Robert Barr and John Tagg have described this shift as a move from the instructional delivery system, where faculty are conceived primarily as disciplinary experts who impart knowledge by lecturing, to the “learning paradigm,” which conceives of faculty as primarily the designers of learning environments where they study and apply best methods for producing knowledge and student success (1995, p.24).” Diamond, R.M., Designing and Assessing Courses and Curricula: A Practical Guide, 3rd ed. (2008), p. 190. Jossey Bass.

‘Teacher observation’ may have been more appropriate in teaching-centered classrooms. But in the modern, interactive classroom, the teacher is only one element in what Van Lier described as an ‘ecology’ which offers ‘affordances’ for learning (Van Lier, L., 2004. The Ecology and Semiotics of Language Learning: a Sociological Perspective. Kluwer Academic Publishers). The effective classroom is one that offers students rich affordances or opportunities for learning. The teacher plays a key role in this ecology, but it is also made up of each student, the physical structure and location of the room, the classroom equipment, the wider school environment, even the time of day and stage of the school term. Since the most important question in the learning paradigm concerns student learning, focusing on the activities of the teacher alone in an observation is inadequate. Observers might take a more ecological approach and look for the factors – which of course include the teacher – that encourage or impede student learning. 

This is not to deny that there are more effective and less effective teachers, but in reality it can be challenging to make that determination based on a single classroom observation. There is no easy answer to this: frequent observations will create a greater workload and induce more anxiety. 

Some Ecological Observation Tools

Here are four practices observers can use that acknowledge the classroom as a whole environment that can produce affordances for learning:

1. The ‘What is Happening Now’ Observation

In this practice, the observer notes what is happening in the room at every five-minute point during the lesson. Going over the raw or edited notes after the class can bring to light the amount of time students vs. the teacher were actively participating or talking, the length of time devoted to an activity (too long, too short, or just right?), whether students were on task, and more. 

2. Observation for Non-Judgmental Feedback

A useful non-judgmental observation comes from Jim Scrivener’s book Learning Teaching. It encourages a spirit of curiosity on the part of the observer, and invites a shared exploration of what occurred in the classroom by prompting the observer to notice and comment:

I noticed…and I thought…

I noticed…and I wondered…

I noticed…and I wanted to ask you…

I noticed…and I wanted to say to you…

 (Scrivener, J., Learning Teaching, Heinemann 1994, p. 211)

3. ‘What Helps and What Impedes Learning’ Observation

Also from Scrivener, in this observation, the observer takes in the whole classroom and lesson period, and notes in two columns what is helping students to learn and what is getting in the way of learning. The form could be open or might include categories such as teacher behavior, student attitude, the physical facility and equipment, and so on. The post-observation discussion can affirm what helped students learn, and how impediments to learning might be overcome. 

4. ‘One Student’ Observation

Here the observer chooses one student for the focus of the observation and unobtrusively watches and notes the ways in which the student appears to be engaged in learning, or simply what the student is doing at regular intervals. It can be tricky to set this observation up effectively and the observer needs to be cautious not to make assumptions about what the student may be experiencing. But noting a single student’s level of activity and engagement can be revealing of the entire learning environment. 

The view of the classroom and the observation practices described here can be a way to explore the learning environment as a whole and the teacher’s role in it, rather than putting the entire focus and responsibility on the teacher. Ideally, classroom observation, no matter its purpose, should be a positive and helpful experience for teachers, and should support both teacher and observer in uncovering, encouraging, and adopting practices and conditions that lead to learning.