HELEN MCNEILL & DR JILL COCHRANE

PEER OBSERVATION OF TEACHING:

GETTING THE BEST FROM YOUR CLINICAL

EDUCATORS

AIMS OF THE WORKSHOP

• TO DEVELOP YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE

PURPOSE, PRINCIPLES AND PROCESS OF PEER

OBSERVATION OF TEACHING AS A MEANS TO

‘GET THE BEST’ FROM YOUR CLINICIAN

EDUCATORS

• TO EXPLORE THE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF

IMPLEMENTING PEER OBSERVATION OF TEACHING

IN CLINICAL SETTINGS

WHAT DO YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT POT?

• WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF PEER OBSERVATION OF

TEACHING (POT)?

• DISCUSSION POINTS:

• WHAT DO WE MEAN BY ‘PEER’?

• WHAT ARE WE ACTUALLY ‘OBSERVING’?

• WHAT CONCEPTIONS OF ‘TEACHING’ INFLUENCE THE PROCESS?

Gosling, 2002

BROOKFIELD’S FOUR LENSES & PEER OBSERVATION OF TEACHING

“CRITICAL REFLECTION IS AN IRREDUCIBLY SOCIAL PROCESS. IT HAPPENS BEST

WHEN WE ENLIST COLLEAGUES TO HELP US SEE OUR PRACTICE IN NEW WAYS.”

Brookfield (1995: 141)

Self Learners Peer Literature

MAINTAINING EXPERTISE AS EDUCATOR

EDUCATIONAL EXPERTISE NEEDS

NURTURING IN THE SAME WAY

AS CLINICAL EXPERTISE

THE OBSERVATION PROCESS

PRE-OBSERVATION BRIEFING

CONDUCT THE OBSERVATION

POST-OBSERVATION DEBRIEF & FEEDBACK

ENTRY IN REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO

PRE-OBSERVATION BRIEFING

• WHAT MIGHT THE TEACHER ASK THE OBSERVER TO LOOK FOR?

• EVIDENCE OF ACHIEVING THE AIMS/OUTCOMES FOR THE SESSION

• STRUCTURE OF THE SESSION – CLARITY OF IDEAS PRESENTED

• WAS AN EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT CREATED

• WHAT WAS PLANNED & WHAT WAS ACTUALLY DELIVERED

• NATURE OF THE INTERACTION WITH THE LEARNERS – WERE THEY ENGAGED &

INTERESTED

• SELECTION OF THE APPROACH TO TEACHING

• EVIDENCE OF LEARNING TAKING PLACE (FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT &

FEEDBACK TO LEARNERS?)

CONDUCT THE OBSERVATION

• FOCUS ON ASPECTS OF TEACHING AGREED IN THE BRIEFING MEETING

• FOCUS IS SPECIFICALLY ON TEACHING SKILLS AND TEACHING METHODS

OVER AND ABOVE CLINICAL CONTENT

• OBSERVE IMPACT OF TEACHING METHODS/APPROACHES ON LEARNING

• USE OF AN OBSERVATION FORM TO MAKE NOTES (& AS A BASIS FOR

PROVIDING FEEDBACK)

• REMAIN IN ‘OBSERVER’ ROLE THROUGHOUT – RESIST THE URGE TO ‘JOIN IN’

POST-OBSERVATION DEBRIEF - FEEDBACK

• THE QUALITY OF FEEDBACK DETERMINES THE SUCCESS OF THE OBSERVATION

• OCCURS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TEACHING SESSION

• APPROACH THIS AS A COLLEGIAL EXPLORATION OF TEACHING PRACTICES

• CONSIDER UTILISING A RECOGNISED ‘MODEL’ OF FEEDBACK

• ENSURE LEARNING POINTS FROM THE FEEDBACK LEAD TO A FIRM COMMITMENT TO

CHANGE – ACTION PLAN

• THE OBSERVER SHOULD TAKE SOME TIME TO REFLECT ON DELIVERY OF THE

FEEDBACK – HOW EFFECTIVE WAS IT?

REFLECTION ON POT

• REFLECTION IS VALUABLE FOR BOTH TEACHER AND OBSERVER AND IS

INTEGRAL TO LEARNING FROM THE POT

• CONSIDER MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES IN THE REFLECTION – BROOKFIELD’S

FOUR LENSES

• KEEP A WRITTEN RECORD IN PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO – LINK

REFLECTION TO GMC DOMAINS FOR EDUCATORS

• STRONG EVIDENCE OF EDUCATOR DEVELOPMENT & CPD FOR

EDUCATIONAL APPRAISAL & REVALIDATION

• SHARE GOOD EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE TO WIDER TEAM/DEPARTMENT

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF POT?

• FOR THE INDIVIDUALS…

• REFLECTION AND FEEDBACK ON EDUCATIONAL

PRACTICE

• HELPS KEEPS THE LEARNERS’ NEEDS AS THE

FOCUS OF YOUR TEACHING

• THE CHANCE TO OBSERVE A PEER AND HOW

THEY APPROACH THEIR TEACHING

• DISSEMINATION OF BEST EDUCATIONAL

PRACTICE (SHARING WHAT YOU’RE GOOD AT!)

• IDENTIFY LEARNING POINTS THAT WILL INFORM

FUTURE EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE

• EVIDENCE OF MEETING GMC DOMAINS (FOR

APPRAISAL/CPD)

• FOR THE ‘DEPARTMENT’…

• A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE THAT FOSTERS AN

ENQUIRING & COLLEGIAL APPROACH TO

EDUCATOR DEVELOPMENT

• RECOGNITION OF EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING

• PROVIDES ROBUST EVIDENCE OF QUALITY

ENHANCEMENT OF TEACHING

• IDENTIFICATION OF FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

OPPORTUNITIES

• ENHANCEMENT OF DEPARTMENTAL/SPECIALTY

TEACHING PROGRAMME

• HAPPY TRAINEES WHO GET EXCELLENT

TEACHING!

WHAT ARE THE PRACTICALITIES OF IMPLEMENTING PEER OBSERVATION OF TEACHING ?

• WHAT PRACTICAL MATTERS WILL YOU NEED TO CONSIDER TO IMPLEMENT PEER OBSERVATION

OF TEACHING IN YOUR WORKPLACE?

• WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU ANTICIPATE AND HOW WILL YOU ADDRESS THEM?

COMMITMENT TO ACTION?

• WHAT IS YOUR TAKE-HOME

MESSAGE FROM THIS WORKSHOP?

• WHAT WILL YOU COMMIT TO

DOING?

REFERENCES & FURTHER READING

Brookfield, S. (1995) Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Gosling, D. (2002) Models of peer observation of teaching. LTSN Generic Centre.

https://www.Researchgate.net/profile/david_gosling/publication/267687499_models_of_peer_observation_of_teachin

g/links/545b64810cf249070a7955d3.pdf

Newman, l.R., Roberts, D.H. & Frankl, S.E. (2018) Twelve tips for providing feedback to peers about their teaching. Medical

Teacher. DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2018.1521953

Pattison, A.T., Sherwood, M., Lumsden, C.J., Gale, A. & Markides, M. (2012) Foundation observation of teaching project–a

developmental model of peer observation of teaching. Medical Teacher. 34(2) pp. e136-e142.

Siddiqui, Z.S., Jonas-Dwyer, D. & Carr, S.E. (2007) Twelve tips for peer observation of teaching. Medical Teacher. 29(4) pp.

297-300

Snydman, l., Chandler, D., Rencic, J. & Sung, Y.C. (2013) Peer observation and feedback of resident teaching. The Clinical

Teacher. 10(1) pp. 9-14.

Sullivan, P.B., Buckle, A., Nicky, G. & Atkinson, S.H. (2012) Peer observation of teaching as a faculty development

tool. BMC Medical Education. 12(1) pp. 26.