Breathing new life into the observation of teaching and learning in higher education: moving from the performative to the informative

Re-visiting systematic observation: A pedagogical tool to support coach learning and development

“…To work within the principles of dialogic pedagogy, coaches need to be involved in the entire design of the program of learning and in the ways in which methods such a systematic observation are used. If observational research is to serve as a means of affording “learners” the opportunities to inquire into their practice, then they must be involved in decisions regarding the observation template, what gets observed and how data are shared and fed back (O'Leary and Savage, 2020 ). This is not to say coaches' design the observation template per se , but rather the behavioral definitions are explained and feedback sought before observation commences.…”

The development of university teachers’ collaboration networks during a departmental professional development project

“…A widespread professional development activity that is increasingly receiving attention in the higher education literature is peer observations of teaching (POT) (e.g., Chamberlain et al, 2011;O'Leary & Savage, 2020;Torres et al, 2017). POT is rooted in social cognition theory which, in essence, assumes behaviour is learned observationally through modeling (Bandura, 1997;Hendry et al, 2014).…”

“…There is consensus in the literature that POT is best implemented for developmental and collaborative purposes in which academic staff engage as equals in a partnership to observe and provide feedback to each other on their teaching practices (Bell & Mladenovic, 2015). The importance of a trusting, collegial relationship without power dynamics has been stressed by various authors as a key element for successful implementation of the activity (e.g, Hammersley-Fletcher & Orsmond, 2005;Huxham et al, 2017;O'Leary & Savage, 2020, Thomas et al, 2014. To make sure teachers perceive observations as a formative instead of an evaluative activity, it has been suggested to provide them with a choice of the observer (McMahon et al, 2007).…”

Learning by Comparison: The Benefits of Co-Teaching for University Professors’ Professional Development

“…In contrast to countries such as Austria, Italy, and Mexico, the practice of co-teaching is rare in the context of Spain (OECD, 2020), despite the push by educational experts to adopt the technique due to its many proven benefits (see Lasagabaster et al, 2019). This might be due to the increased costs and difficulties associated with co-teaching and the important considerations that must be made before undertaking the challenge.…”

“…Still, there are serious doubts that traditional training in the form of seminars or workshops is the best format to advance university professors' professional development (Holland et al, 2018). More experiential formats like peer observation (Martínez Vargas et al, 2018;O'Leary and Savage, 2020;Ridge and Lavigne, 2020), lesson study (Lewis and Hurd, 2011;Murata and Lee, 2021) or co-teaching can provide an effective alternative or addition to current professional development programs in higher education.…”