Week 3: Everyone can do something
3. Observing active teaching
When you observe teaching, you can tell a great deal from what the learners are doing: their demeanour, their involvement and how the teacher and learners relate to each other. It is important to remember that the nature of the task is important as well. Just because students are working in groups the lesson is not necessarily ‘learner-centred’ – the task may be too easy or too hard and may not support learning.
It is more difficult to detect a teacher’s underlying attitudes. Teachers have to make all sorts of rapid, ‘in the moment’ decisions during a lesson. Sometimes, after observing teaching, it is helpful to be able to ask the teacher why they did certain things.
The World Bank has produced a classroom observation tool ‘Teach’, which draws on a growing body of evidence of what constitutes effective teaching practices in a primary school (Molina et al., 2018).
In the next activity you will review the tool in the context of the ideas discussed so far and apply it to your own situation.
Activity 3.2 Observing teachingAllow approximately 30 mins for this activity. The observation tool is summarised here Reflect on the following questions in your notebook, and then be prepared to make a forum post.
For each one use the summary to write down in your study notebook what sorts of things you might expect to see in an inclusive classroom in your secondary subject, or for the primary age group that you teach . For example (secondary science): lesson facilitation clear instructions for practical work, activities for students to do which stretch and challenge their understanding, the teacher providing support and challenge as necessary by moving around the room. Critical thinking – open questions that extend thinking, opportunities for discussion, choice for students about what to do and how to do it, meta-cognition (students being asked why they chose something, or what they found hard).
In a critique of the tool, Rafael Mitchell (2019) argues that inclusive education requires teachers to pay attention to how students are organised, and recognises the fact that peer support is important in supporting disadvantaged students. He says that the ‘tool’ should include this aspect of classroom organisation. Drawing on your own experience:
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