An observation on Peer Observation for Teaching (POT)

Earlier today, I attended a sharing session on POT conducted by Chongfu School with 3 other colleagues. I saw how POT was implemented in the school and the process behind it. I observed a post conference 'live' and watched how the team supported one another in improving pedagogical skills so as to improve students' learning. I listened to the discussion and was heartened to see how the Beginning Teachers (BT) were guided by the mentors and how the mentors were in turn guided by the Level Teachers and Senior Teachers. I learnt about the Praise-Critique-Praise Model which reminded me to be sensitive and tactful and to focus on the important aspects of the lesson in order to make it more meaningful.

During the discussion with my colleagues, we all agreed that we do not have a proper structure to our peer observation. All this while, our 'peer observation' was done more on an informal basis. When we have an interesting lesson to share, we 'invite' our colleagues over to observe our lesson and our post-conference was in the form of feedback for our lesson. Throughout my 3 years as a mentor, I have always mentored others, based on 'common sense' and how I remembered being mentored when I was a BT. The skills that I learnt in the Structured Mentoring Programme also helped me in choosing the right words during a post-observation.

What I saw in POT today was totally different! I was amazed by the structure and the support that comes with it. A team of teachers to sit in during a lesson observation and having a post conference with the BTs, guided by the mentors, and the mentors in turn guided by the STs. It seems like everyone is being 'supported' and with this kind of process, it will definitely benefit everyone- teachers and students too!

To implement it in our school will of course be a new challenge. Firstly, everyone needs to 'buy in' the idea. It will be a new culture for all to accept and everyone must be 'open' to constructive criticisms. Secondly, the time-table will need to be adjusted so as to allow a team of teachers to observe each others lessons and time must be blocked for pre and post conference. I have also learnt that the 'pre-conference' is actually more important than the 'post-conference.' To implement it will be a big step for all of us. Perhaps, it can be adopted as a PLC project in future by small groups of teachers.

AfL for SPA: Use of rubrics and Self-Assessment

During the past PLC (Professional Learning Community) Session, the Physics unit discussed about the possible correlation between the SPA marks of the students and the outcoming results for O Levels. We took a look at past data of students' SPA, Prelims and 'O' Levels results. Last year, there were no A1s for Physics but 34% of the students scored distinctions (all A2s). Although the correlation between SPA results and the 'O' Level results were not that obvious, we made afew discoveries:

1) Majority of the students improve in overall grade from Prelims to O Levels, with the exception of 14 students who dropped in their grades.

2) Out of the 14 students who dipped in their performance, 7 of them dropped from A1 (Prelims) to A2 (O Levels).

So the issue at hand is: how do we make our students maintain their A1s and raise the overall MSG of the cohort? I believe that SPA is one of the main component that will help the students to improve in overall performance. Our students may be good in their theory but not many are confident in their practical skills. Hence, how do we make them more confident such that by the time they sit for their SPA exams, most of them will be scoring near to full marks?

I believe that one solution would be to use rubrics/ checklist for every SPA practice. Within the past 4 years of my teaching, I have constantly 'told' and 'reminded' students ENDLESS times on what is expected for Skills 1 and 2. Of course, this was just done by talking and lecture style. I wonder how much information do they really retain as each experiment is done only once and students do end up making the same mistakes again, despite repeated reminders. Of course if time permits, then more practice on the same experiment will make their skills perfect. But due to time limitations, the use of rubrics as a form of checklist may be able to help them.

With a class of 40 in a lab, it will not be easy to use the rubrics/ checklist during the lab session to check everybody's skills. Hence, getting their friends to do some form of peer assessment during each practical session would also serve as another pair of 'eyes' in the lab. Also, I hope that when they check their friends' skills, they will also be more aware on what is expected from them.