As you will have seen from the PDR and the Year Planner, the trainees need to undertake the following while on the course:

• 8 Peer Observations 

• 10 Formal Observations

In October, the trainees need to carry out a Peer Observation on a Subject Expert looking at the Pedagogy. 

In November, they need to have a Joint Observation assessing their Pedagogy

The course begins focusing on learning and teaching, and at the heart of that is pedagogical theories and principles. Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction (2012), cognitive and neuroscience principles, and metacognition all support good structuring and facilitation of every lesson. Key reading is outlined below, though you are expected to read outside of these key texts. 

For this peer observation, you are required to watch a subject expert deliver a lesson and reflect on their application of pedagogical principles into the session. Please ask the deliverer for a copy of their session plan for you to look at during the observation. This plan can be in any format that the deliverer usually uses. You should then reflect on what you have learnt to apply into your first formal observation on pedagogy. 

You should ensure your peer observations allow you to gain insight into a variety of settings, subjects, qualifications, awarding bodies and levels of learner. This will expand your understanding of FE as a whole sector. 

Questions to be answered:

Observed Teacher’s Name:

Observed Teacher’s Subject:

Date of Observation

Duration of Observation:

Lesson Outcomes of the Observed Lesson - Are these clear and matched to the Learning Tasks in the lesson plan? Are they pitched at the correct level for the students and the related activity? How can you tell?

Describe - Lesson structure and consideration of learner progress throughout the session: 

Was there a prior knowledge check/checks at the beginning of and during the lesson? How were these used? 

What evidence of Rosenshine’s Principles did you see in the lesson?

What evidence of brain-based learning (neuroscience and cognition) did you see in the lesson? 

Did the lesson take cognitive load into account? How was this done? 

Did the lesson encourage the use of metacognition in learners? How was this done?

Subject - How did the tutor use their understanding of Pedagogical Content Knowledge to structure the lesson? What did the students need to know before they started the lesson? Was this taken into account? Were there any subject misconceptions? How were these dealt with? 

Feelings - Impact on learners: How did the learners in the class react to the learning methods and lesson structure? 

Evaluation - Strengths and limitations of the lesson plan: What went as planned and what did not go as planned? Why was this? Could this have been foreseen? How was the lesson adapted to accommodate this and how did this impact the learners and the deliverer? 

Conclusion - Reflection: What have you learnt about the use / non-use of pedagogical lesson design and its impact on learners and learning? What have you considered that you do or do not do in your own practice that you have learnt from this session?

Action - Your Future Practice: As a result of this observation, what will you do more of or differently in your practice and why?

Key Initial Reading

Howard-Jones, P. (2016, February 12). Neuroscience and education. EEF. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/evidence-reviews/neuroscience-and-education

Kirschner, P., Sweller, J., Kirschner, F. & Zambrano, J. (2018). From cognitive load theory to collaborative cognitive load theory. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 13(2), 213-233. Rosenshine, B. (2012) Principles of Instruction: 

Metacognition and self-regulation. (n.d.). EEF. Retrieved 26 July 2024, from https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/metacognition-and-self-regulation

Research-based strategies that all teachers should know. American Educator, 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2005.00507.x 

Sweller, J. (2016). Working Memory, Long-term Memory, and Instructional Design. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 5(4), 360–367. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2015.12.002. 

I had an online tutorial with the trainees on Friday with my focus getting them fully prepped for booking in their first peer and formal observations. The peer observation should ideally be carried out this week, and the formal observations start the week after October half term, and take place during November. Your trainee should have arrived at placement this morning keen to pin you down for a date that would be convenient. 

The first observation is always a joint with me and so the logistics of planning this observation can be challenging. I ask trainees to set up the following:

• If colleges have more than 1 trainee they need to work together to provide an efficient schedule so that I can observe 2 trainees in one day for travel and time purposes

• 45 minute observation of teaching joint between myself and you, the subject mentor

• 30 minute discussion between myself and you, the subject mentor while the trainee continues to teach

• 30 minute feedback to the trainee where we are all together

This does not all have to happen straight after one another, and if I am observing 2 trainees, feedback could all come at the end. I will be as flexible as I can with timings to best fit your needs. 

For more information on the observation form and procedures, please look at the mentor training website. I have updated this with the new paperwork for 2024 on our pages https://sites.google.com/port.ac.uk/uop-fhss-pgce-mic/further-education

Another mandatory element of the ITE programme is successful completion of 10 formal teaching observations. To ensure that you are on track to achieve these 10 by the end of the programme, you should follow the observation planner in your PDR. 

The first formal observation on the course is a Joint Observation with a focus on Pedagogy. You MUST have this observation before any of your solo observations as this is used to standardise practice between your tutor and mentor. 

To prepare for this observation you will need to communicate with your subject mentor and university tutor to find a suitable time for them both to come and observe you teach. Before your observation you should ensure that you have completed your peer observation on Pedagogy to prepare you for this formal observation. 

The focus of the pedagogy observation is to look at how you structure learning in the session based on research informed practice. This includes your learning objectives, prior knowledge checking, how you structure learning episodes, use of brain based learning and metacognition. We will also be looking at how you consider cognitive load and pace of activities. Pedagogical Content Knowledge and addressing subject misconceptions in the delivery of your subject will be looked at in every observation. 

You should ensure that your tutor and mentor have access to the following information at least 24 hours before your observation so that they have time to read and prepare to observe you:

• Long term planning documents such as topic plans, schemes of learning/work, assignment briefs, awarding body specifications etc that support the session/module/course

• Completed Rationale 1 - Pedagogy 

• Completed Lesson Plan 

• Resources for the lesson such as slides, handouts, task sheets, worksheets, activities etc

• Group information such as a group profile, class agreements, seating plans, support information etc

• Copies of the Observation Form for all observers with the purple sections completed before the observation by you

One Observation of Teaching and Learning Form (OTL)  should be completed by each observer (which means you should have 2 forms completed for a joint observation) and returned to you completed within a reasonable time frame, and following an observation debrief session. Lesson plan reflections should be completed after you have received your feedback and areas for development added to your PDR. You need to carry forward the targets into your weekly planning boxes and the overall theme and observation date into the tracking boxes.