This post was a clear description of peer coaching...

2008-07-14T08:36:00.000-05:00

This post was a clear description of peer coaching. Now if we can apply that to nations as well as individual teachers.

I’m the retired director of the Willamette University School of Education and in my (failed) retirement I developed a method of observation and optional supporting software that is very effective with peer coaching and Professional Learning Communities. It address the issue of the inherent power/status dynamic that is very often part of a peer coaching relationship.

In the Data-Based Observation Model, the teacher and observer collaboratively decide what is important to the teacher in terms of classroom behaviors (teacher and/or student). The observer then collects objective data on those behaviors (here’s where the software is useful), and when presenting the data to the teacher asks the following sequence of questions:

“Is this what you thought was happening in your classroom?”
 “Do you think a change is indicated? If so, what will you change?”
 “How can I support you?”
 “When should I return to gather data to see if your change was effective?”

This process puts the reflection in the hands of the teacher, increases the level of professional discussion, and empowers the teacher to be a self-directed professional.

Another significant part of this model is “Don’t Praise, Don’t Criticize, Don’t Solve the Problem.” Any of those on the part of the observer will shift the dynamic away from the teacher and into the observer role of judge and all-knowing-one (and we can never have all the answers).

The software is a collection of timers (duration) and counters (frequency) that gather data on a large number of behaviors such as Class Learning Time, Level of Questions, Teacher Talk/Student Talk, Response to Misbehavior, and many more. Additional tools can be easily created. The reports are straightforward data reports with no checklists or likert scales of Poor to Excellent.

More info on the model is on my blog: Data-Based Classroom Observation. Please leave comments and ideas.
And you can download the software at my website: eCOVE Software

eCOVE stands for Collaborate, Observe, Value, Empower. It’s in use in 46 states and about 20 countries for professional development, special education, administrator observations, second language instruction, school psychologists, etc.

Peace, John

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This post was a clear description of peer coaching...