getting in amongst the thick of it
I’m not really one for getting too involved in Education theories or thinking. Of course these have their places and when I read about Vygotskies ideas in 1st year they made a lot of sense but I have always felt there is a risk of practitioners getting too bogged down under the weight of too many pamphlets.
When I read about the head of an Education Authority going round and visiting classes something clicked. For me it makes complete sense that the focus of debate in education remains firmly fixed around the classroom. The teaching and learning. It’s not just NQT’s and students who should get observed, it should really just become part and parcel of our classroom lifes. The NQT should feel happy going into a PT’s class to pick up some tips and vice versa. But is education ready for this? Would the majority of us be ready to welcome the ‘top dog’ with open arms into our classroom? Probably not, but that’s because we maybe view him as the top dog and not as another man who was once in the same position as I am now.
(This post was prompted by my first observed leeson this Thurday. Eeep.)
September 11th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
One of the things I’m trying to encourage (as a newly appointed PT) is sharing good practice through observation of other teachers. Ideally, I’d like to open this out to other departments as well. We can all learn from other teachers, irrespective of the subject/level they are teaching.
If you’re up in Perth, you’re welcome to come and visit/observe myself or some of the other teachers in my department… but we might want you to teach one of our classes as payment!
September 12th, 2007 at 11:44 am
The thick of it? Are you meaning a particular group/class by that?
I think peer obs is an excellent way of sharing excellent practice.
We have done a lot of ‘class following’, even individual following to observe how they react in different classes and approaches.
I have personally learned so much from doing the observing.
September 12th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
by the ‘thick of it’ I mean all classes. Getting in amongst all types of situations where the real learning happens for both pupils and teachers.
I agree with both of you, though I wonder how many people are really open about their classrooms. Clearly people who are willing to share their learning through a blog are more likely to welcome someone like Don into their classroom. But is the climate changing where more people think like this?
tbh, I don’t know – but I would prefer my CPD to be “go visit a class which is making good use of AifL ” instead of “come to this room where we can talk to you about AifL”. That is what I mean by getting in amongst it rather than skirting around the theories.
Perth? thanks, I will keep it in mind