RIVERSIDE LEARNING CENTER
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT PILLAR
TEACHER DRIVEN OBSERVATION: CHECKLIST
TAKING ACCOUNTABILITY OF IMPROVING PRACTICE OF SELF AND OTHERS!
“Hi, thank you for going through the Teacher Driven Observation pack and I’m glad
you’re trying out the process in your school. I hope you found value in and have
enjoyed going through the pack and resources so far.
I invite you to use this quick at a glance checklist as a reference to ensure that you do
not miss out on any of the ingredients! It’s really very simple to execute, and here are
some things that I keep in mind during the process. Please feel free to innovate,
translate and implement the way you want. And, I would love to know how you
have done it. Do share your experience with us.”
- Fozia Contractor
BEFORE
SETTING THE TONE
Choose an area of your practice that you would like to improve upon. Observation
templates with guidelines are available for: Settling down / Tone setting / Noise Level
o Board Protocol
o Time Management
o Questioning
o Languages of Learning (LOL)
o Teacher Movement during the session
o Spaces
o General Observation:
- Cold Call
- Observation for new teachers
Alternatively, the whole school / Key Stage can also choose an area of practice that all
teachers will work on simultaneously.
Within the area that has been chosen, decide a focus question that, when answered, will
give you insights on what you might want to do differently in your practice. Consult with
senior teachers or school leaders if you are having trouble deciding a focus question that is
relevant to your practice.
RIVERSIDE LEARNING CENTER
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PILLAR
Identify a colleague to be your partner in answering the focus question – invite them to a
pre-observation discussion to set the context for collecting relevant real-time data in your
classroom. It is often a good idea to invite a colleague as a data collector who has a particular
strength in the area you would like to be observed in.
PRE-OBSERVATION DISCUSSION
Share the focus question you have decided as well as the background information
underlying why you chose this particular question.
Share and discuss your lesson plan for the session.
Specifically discuss the data points that you want your observer to collect during the
observation. A key point here is to ensure that the observer has a very clear understanding
of what needs to be observed during the session.
Finalize the logistics of the observation:
o When is the session scheduled
o Where is the session happening
o When and where will you meet for the post-observation discussion.
DURING
For the teacher:
o Conduct the session normally and naturally, as you would if there weren’t an
observation scheduled.
o When doing this for the first time, brief your students about the purpose of the
observation. (This may not be required once students have become used to the process.)
For the observer:
o Before you start the observation, go through the Observation Template and fill out
the requisite information.
o Collect the relevant data in the Observation Template while observing the teacher’s
practice.
o Avoid judgments – keep in mind that your role is of a data collector and not an
evaluator. Therefore, focus on collecting data rather than answering the question.
o As the session closes, synthesize the data you have collected so that you can easily
share it with the teacher during the post-observation discussion.
RIVERSIDE LEARNING CENTER
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PILLAR
AFTER
The observer shares the data that has been collected during the observation.
The teacher reflects on the data shared, and its connection to the focus question as well
as the context of the pre-observation discussion.
Both teacher and observer discuss insights that arise from the data and the next steps /
actions that can be taken.
The teacher can call for further observations and data-collection to follow-up on the
implementation of the next steps.
The filled-up Observation Template can be given to the school leader or team member
who is responsible for collating the data from different observations.
The data collated from different observations can be shared with the teacher team every
quarter to identify school-wide trends and insights.
SOME IMPORTANT TIPS
The observer should take care not to jump to conclusions about answering the focus
question. Any suggestions can be given after the teacher has had a chance to reflect on the
data from the classroom.
A great way to quickly improve the efficacy of this system of observations is to share the
purpose and the process openly within the teacher team. The sharing can be about how
the focus questions are chosen, the manner in which data is being collected, the insights
that are coming up from different observations and of course, appreciation and gratitude
for the time being spent and the effort being put in, towards the process.
The teacher being observed, should not react, justify or take the comments personally.
