Teaching observation and life 2

I have already mentioned about how useful it can be to observe other teachers [Christians] as a CELTA teacher [follower of Christ] but the reverse is also true.

Being observed is very useful in our teaching and Christian life.

As a teacher it can be hard to see our faults from within our own perspective. After all during a lesson you can focus on one group and not another, we can be focusing on one problem and not notice another or other factors. When you add in lack of experience there are many reasons why having a set of wiser, more experienced eyes [or just a fellow teacher] over your shoulder can really help.

Peter also felt the benefit of having some peer observation. When a group of Jewish followers can to see him he reverted to the old covenant despite clearly deciding that he was no longer bound by it. Paul was on hand and gave him a professional reminder of his mistake and set him on his way.

Richard Foster, in his book celebration of discipline, talks about the discipline of confession and how this form of observation is a spiritual discipline and one that brings us closer to each other and to God.

It also isn’t just about being observed but having someone tell you what these problems are and encourage you to sort them out.

Who is observing your life? Who are you having professional feedback session with?

Teaching Observations and Life

During my CELTA [training to become an English as a foreignlanguage teacher] one of the very first things we did was to take part in a sample lesson where we could see the methodology we would eventually teach with being done on us. The next thing was to watch a lesson on some students fromour course supervisor.

These initial observations were very useful as sometimes words can only go some far and it can be a lot simpler to just show how to do something than explain it.

I think the apostle Paul understood this, he didn’t just preach [Although he certainly did that! Remember the in Athens or what about when he bored a boy to sleep who then fell to his death after he had beenpreaching for “some time”] but he also demonstrated with his actions.

In fact he even goes as to say that he shared his entire life with the church in Thessalonica. And that they became imitators of him whilst he was there.

Now whilst I certainly haven’t observed as many teachers since finishing my CELTA I still continue to do this.

These observations are still good.

Sometimes there is a revelation about teaching that I hadn’t thought of until I saw another teacher do it.

In the same way as Christian we should continue to observe the lives of other Christians. We should continue to be challenged by their example, and become imitators of them and ultimately God.

So who are you imitating? 

TEFL: "How regular are teaching observations?"

"How regular are teaching observations?"

This was a search term that I saw people had landed on my blog from and thought would be good inspiration for a blog post!

When I was a new teacher [from here on it to be refered to as a "noob"] I used to have an observation in every level twice a month too see how I was settling in. In addition to this I had feedback on the lessons, help planning the next lesson to work on the action points from the last lesson and I shared a class with another teacher so I could observe what techniques she used with them...and then nick them for myself!


Within two months this retreated to one observation each month for each level as this was school policy [to show students/corporate clients that we were maintaining a high level of teacher training and to actually maintain a high level of teacher training.) At times this can feel like a lot when you have a week of solid observations in every Level.

During the course of the year, with the school gaining new corporate clients and some teachers leaving observations decreased so that all the lessons could be taught. However this was a temporary change and has returned to normal now.

This is of course half the story, there are also the observations of other teachers that we make. To be honest appart from the class that I shared with another teacher I didn't have the largest ammount of opportunities to observe my peers/superiors, teaching. Having said this I did get to observe other teachers as part of the IH young learners course that I completed and on a couple of other occasions during the year.

If you are considering going into teaching it is best to check the schools individual policy regarding observations as it can be very different within each school but I hope that has helped to shed some light on the situation for you.

If any other teachers read this then please do leave your comments bellow about how often you were/are observed. thanks