Watching teachers teach is a good thing for trainees (and anyone), to do but I am dubious of the value of just watching a teacher and then walking away from the classroom. So much of what we do is ‘invisible’; there are unseen practices with rationales that may not be obvious. If we want to use observing teachers as part of training it needs to give time to unpick these practices and give time for discussion. A trainee may then decide whether they want to do similar, think about how they would do them or not do them at all.
I’m keen that teachers engage with research and so have thought about how this might be utilised when watching a teacher teach. Experienced teachers may (or may not) be able to ‘see’ these practices and will only need a blank sheet of paper to take ideas from watching someone else teach; they’re experts. Novices however may pick up on some superficial practices but not some of the subtleties or long term strategies that teachers use. These proformas are designed to help a trainee explore an aspect of teaching and discuss it with the teacher. Please feel free to share and use but please do credit them. I will add as I go along.
Links to proformas
I may also blog further about the discussions that I have, in order to unpick the hidden practices in my classroom.
missdcoxblog 
Reblogged this on The Echo Chamber.
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