Thematic report |
Effective teaching and learning observations in further education colleges
This report is published in response to a request for advice about effective ‘teaching and learning observation’ from the Welsh Government in the Minister’s annual remit letter to Estyn 2013-2014. It is the second of two reports. The first report waspublished in October 2014 and focuses on effective classroom observations in schools, (Estyn, 2014a). This report focuses on effective teaching and learning observations in further education (FE) colleges. The use of the term ‘teaching and learning observations’ reflects the wide range of settings and contexts in which learning takes place in further education, for example classrooms, workshops, kitchens and salons.
Recommendations
The Welsh Government should:
- R1 promote opportunities, such as the QIF project, to support colleges as they develop their approaches to observing teaching and learning and encourage them to share innovative and effective practice
CollegesWales should:
- R2 work with colleges and the Welsh Government to promote professional learning communities that focus on the development of teaching and learning
Colleges should:
- R3 establish a culture of improvement, self-evaluation and professional learning so that all staff understand their roles and responsibilities
- R4 establish self-evaluation practices that take account of a wide range of evidence, including classroom observation that focuses on learners’ standards of achievement and on the quality of teaching and learning
- R5 develop clear, explicit teaching and learning observation policies and practices that all staff understand and apply, and ensure that all staff who have responsibility for learning, including learning support assistants, benefit from regular observations
- R6 arrange opportunities for the professional development of staff, based on evidence that includes teaching and learning observation, that are matched to college and individual staff members’ priorities
- R7 consider the benefits of accrediting observers with an internal ‘licence to observe’ or an external accreditation framework in order to improve the quality and consistency of observer training
- R8 work in collaboration with other colleges to improve cross-college consistency of graded observation and to share good practice
- R9 develop the use of ungraded observations to help teachers develop their teaching skills
- R10 encourage teachers’ ownership of their own professional practice by giving them opportunities to reflect on practice, using ungraded peer observations, membership of professional networks, mentoring and peer support