Better Supervision better Teaching: A Handbook for Teaching Practice Supervisors

4. The Observation Record

The Observation Recor d This chapter consider s the written record of lesson observation s the notes that the supervisor makes during and / or after the lesson and gives to the student teacher We shall first consider students7 views of this record, then look at the structure of the forms used by supervisors, then finally w e shall consider the nature and language of supervisors' comment s in the record 34฀Bette r฀Supervision,฀Better฀Teaching:฀A฀Handbook฀for฀Teaching฀Practice฀Supervisors฀ STUDENTS'฀VIEWS฀ First, student teacher s expect supervisors t o make full us e of th e observation record , with specifi c an d detaile d comments : The evaluatio n shee t seem s t o be th e mai n communicatio n channel betwee n supervisor s an d studen t teachers , s o supervisors shoul d writ e dow n thei r comment s an d suggestions on the sheet in detail. (ST1) We want to know how well our presentation is going in class. Maybe we think we are going well but the supervisor may not think so.... I think that [the observation record] helps to improve one's teaching. The list states whether your approach is correct or not and comments on your performance and your methods. (ST2) This relates to issues that will be raised in Chapter 6 , of ho w direct supervisor s shoul d b e i n supervisor y discussions , o f whether o r no t supervisor s shoul d giv e advic e an d mak e suggestions. Student teacher s made clea r that they expecte d th e supervisors t o record th e following : Comments and suggestion s (ST1, ST14) Advice and written comments; areas for improvemen t Advice, suggestions Encouragement, guideline s (ST1) (ST23) (ST5) How฀detaile d฀ar e฀you r฀ notes?฀ Do฀yo u฀giv e฀prescriptiv e฀ advice?฀ The฀Observation฀Record฀3 5฀ Another issu e i s whether th e recor d shoul d b e give n t o th e student teacher immediately after the lesson, or whether it should be sent later, after tim e for reflectio n an d rewriting . One studen t teacher stated : I think it is better for me to get the copy immediately because I can rea d th e lis t durin g m y fre e lesson s an d I can read th e comments in detail and decide what areas I can make progress on. I may miss some points if I get the list a few days after th e observation. (ST18) Another student teacher stressed the value of oral discussio n in addition t o the written record : Points jotted down on paper may be too brief and may not be understood clearly by the student teacher. Sometimes records are too simpl e an d concise , but verba l discussio n ca n mak e those points clearer. (ST2) Are฀the฀roles฀of฀the฀written฀ record฀an d฀the฀discussio n฀ the฀sam e฀o r฀complemen tary ?฀ Is฀th e฀writte n฀recor d฀a฀ springboard฀for฀the฀discussion ?฀ THE฀STRUCTURE฀OF฀THE฀OBSERVATION฀FORM฀ The range of observation forms used by supervisors in this stud y reflects a tensio n betwee n th e desir e t o impos e a structur e an d the desire to allow open-ended comments . To some extent, it also shows a tension between th e need to assess and th e need t o giv e support an d encouragement . The advantag e o f structur e i s tha t i t ca n hel p differen t supervisors wit h differen t studen t teacher s i n differen t subject s to conside r th e sam e rang e o f teachin g qualitie s i n eac h observation. I t ca n hel p i n th e standardizatio n o f feedbac k an d 36฀Bette r฀Supervision,฀Better฀Teaching:฀A฀Handbook฀for฀Teaching฀Practice฀Supervisors฀ assessment. Th e disadvantag e i s tha t i t ma y restric t th e opportunity for supervisors to comment at length on the specific issues raised by a particular lesson. Let u s no w loo k a t som e o f th e observatio n form s tha t supervisors in our study used, to...