Feedback on Observations

All teachers, no matter where they are, share the same experience: their worst observation. A colleague of mine here at Classroom Secrets recalled the time she was training and being observed by the headteacher when a child vomited in her lap – which I can well imagine was probably her worst observation! My worst observation to date hails from my PGCE year, when I had a Year 7 class who were trying to remove a single cell layer of skin from an onion to stain and look at under a microscope. One of the children slipped with the scalpel and it gave them a pretty nasty cut on their palm. Thankfully, the teacher whose class it was ushered the child out to first aid, and it was never mentioned during feedback. On that occasion, I was given some constructive and useful feedback, that I took away, reflected upon and made subsequent changes in my classroom practice.

Unfortunately, I haven’t always had clear, useful feedback, and it turns out (unsurprisingly), I’m not alone. I was told, once again on my training year, that my handwriting was too ‘European’ because of the shape of my ‘r’s!

I asked the production staff here at Classroom Secrets to share their most obscure feedback, and this is what they had to say:

• “I was told by one mentor (who had not previously seen me teach) that my NQT year wouldn’t be signed off yet as she wasn’t happy that one of my boards was backed in purple, and I would have to have a further observation.”

• “I was once told that my ‘heart didn’t seem in it’ after the assistant head had observed a maths lesson on ratio and proportion where I had prepared a video of myself setting up the task in the style of The Great British Bake Off, prepared recipes on worksheets and bought the ingredients to work with the children. I asked her to clarify what she meant by that and she couldn’t really explain other than to say that I didn’t seem my usual self. Needless to say, I was confused.”

• “After a lesson observation, my mentor spent almost an hour telling me how she didn't understand the activities I had given the children (they were activities that she had told me to do!)”

As I sit here and write this, I am confident that there are thousands, if not millions, of these stories out there amongst teachers. At some point in our careers we will be subject to some less-than-useful feedback. The question need not be, ‘how do you think that went?’, as who knows how to actually answer that question correctly? One quote that really resonated with me was this:

“Over the years I had such a vast range of feedback, some useful, some utter nonsense.
To be honest, by the end, I wasn't sure exactly what ‘outstanding’, ‘good’ or ‘requires improvement’ truly looked like, as I found that what one person considered ‘outstanding’ was another person's ‘requires improvement’.”

This is painfully true. There are so many trends in teaching that come and go, it’s hard to keep up with what is really expected. The standout example I can think of is how we lay work out in books. Titles rather than objectives? WALTs and WILTs with no titles? learning outcomes rather than intentions? I’m not sure I ever fully understood what was expected from me when it came to books, as it was never clear which was the most useful.

For feedback to be useful, it must be constructive, focus on the positive and not identify problem areas as negatives, but rather opportunities for development. It seems strange that we should spend so much time making sure that the children in our classes are given positive feedback that encourage progression, yet as teachers we often receive feedback that does just the opposite. The quotes above were just a small snapshot of the responses I received to my query, as some were honestly quite sad. Tales of truly confidence-knocking negativity that, in the words of one of our resource creators, ‘should be opportunities for CPD’ rather than something that tears us down.

This article gives some useful ideas on how feedback can be made more constructive through coaching. It centres around the idea of ownership of our own development, with guidance from the observer.

Finally, and most importantly, you are not alone. If you receive any feedback that you are not happy with, we need to be our own advocates. Speak to your union, or union rep if you have one in school, as they will help you find an agreeable outcome. Good luck on your next observation!

Have you had some strange feedback from observations? How did you respond? What are your nightmare observation stories? How do you think feedback should be given? Let us know in the comments below.

Ellan Winter is a proofreader and also the lead blogger here at Classroom Secrets. In her spare time, when she is not sprinting after her incredibly active toddler, she loves learning languages and reading anything non-fiction, particularly around science, education, medicine or anything language related. Ellan obtained her BSc (hons) in Forensic and Analytical Science in 2013 and then qualified as a teacher in 2014 with a PGCE in secondary science (chemistry). She worked across Key Stages 2-5 in a number of settings before leaving teaching for her current role.