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Session 2. The Network, Ground Rules and the Visit Plan
Objective. Form a network of observers, name the facilitator and host roles, agree ground rules in a pre-brief and plan a short round with equal time slots.
A round can be spoiled before the first door opens. If hosts are not volunteers, if time is unequal or if nobody knows what the notes are for, colleagues learn that rounds are one more inspection. The good news is that all of this can be fixed on paper in advance. In this session you will plan who is in the network, what is said in the pre-brief and how a two-hour round fits into a normal school day.
Key ideas
Who is in the network
- Three to five colleagues who volunteer. Mix subjects and grades if you can, so that people see with fresh eyes. The line manager can join as a learner only if the group agrees and the rules say notes are not used for evaluation.
- Volunteer hosts first. A teacher who is told to host is being inspected, not invited.
- Pupils are not the subject of the study. We look at tasks and talk, not at 'weak pupils'.
Host and facilitator
- The host explains the problem of practice, what has already been tried and what they would like to learn. The host does not defend the lessons.
- The facilitator keeps the time, the focus and the rules. They do not offer opinions on the lessons. Coaching skills from course 11.1 (listening, paraphrasing, open questions) are exactly what this role needs.
- Rotate the facilitator from round to round so that no one becomes 'the inspector'.
Pre-brief and ground rules
- A 15-minute pre-brief before the visit: the host states the problem; the network agrees what to write down (teacher talk and actions, pupil talk and actions, the task); everyone agrees the rules.
- Typical rules: no marks; describe, do not judge; observers do not teach or correct; notes stay with the network; the host sees the pattern first; safeguarding comes first.
- Read the rules aloud. Rules that are only written do not protect anyone.
Fitting a round into a school day
- A workable shape: 15-minute pre-brief, three or four classrooms of 12 to 15 minutes each, a few minutes to move, and 30 to 45 minutes of debrief. About two hours in total.
- Use the same slot in every room (for example the first 15 minutes) so that notes can be compared. Use free periods and swap duties; ask the head to cover one lesson for the whole network.
- Tell the pupils in one sentence why visitors are there: 'These teachers are learning how we learn.'
A two-hour round
Why the network needs fresh eyes and equal footing
People who see the same classrooms every day stop noticing what is ordinary. A visitor from another subject or grade, or from a neighbouring school, notices the tasks and the silences that insiders no longer see. A mixed network is a practical way to get fresh eyes without outside experts.
Equal footing matters just as much. When a senior colleague or the head is in the group, say plainly what that person's role is: a learner like the others, with the same rules for notes. Without this, junior colleagues watch the senior person's face before they speak, and the debrief is shaped by status instead of evidence.
What a 15-minute pre-brief really does
The pre-brief does three jobs. First, the host says the problem in their own words and what they have already tried; the network listens and does not give advice. Second, the observers agree what to write: the exact task, who speaks, what pupils write, and the minutes. Third, everyone hears the rules read aloud and can add one.
Keep a few minutes to answer practical questions: where to stand, whether to talk to pupils (usually only to ask what they are working on, and only if the host agrees), how to leave the room quietly, and what to tell pupils if they ask. A pre-brief that skips these questions leaves them to be answered badly in front of the class.
Examples from the classroom
The question about the board
Scene. In Bukhara, Malika is the host for a Grade 7 round. In the pre-brief she says, 'I always write the whole task on the board, and I am afraid pupils only copy it.' The network decides to count how many pupils write something that is not on the board. Because this was said before the visit, the observers know what to look for, and Malika feels that the question is hers.
Insight. A pre-brief lets the host own the question and gives observers a clear, small thing to record.
One visit day for three schools
Scene. Three schools near Samarkand fix the first Tuesday of the month as a round day. Each month a different school hosts. Four colleagues (one from each school plus a facilitator) arrive at 09:00, hold the pre-brief for 15 minutes, visit two rooms for 15 minutes each and debrief from 10:00 to 10:45. Schools cover each other's lessons by agreement with the head.
Insight. Fixing a rhythm and a rotation makes rounds a habit rather than an event that depends on one enthusiast.
The deputy head as a learner
Scene. In a Namangan school, the deputy head asks to join the network. The teachers agree on three conditions: she writes notes like everyone else, she does not take notes away, and her observations are not used in any rating. She reads the conditions aloud in the pre-brief. In the debrief, junior teachers speak first.
Insight. Naming the senior person's role and the rules for notes makes mixed-status groups workable.
Common pitfalls
- Inviting colleagues who are told to attend instead of volunteers.
- Skipping the pre-brief because everyone is in a hurry.
- Letting one observer stay longer in a room than others, so that notes cannot be compared.
- Giving the head the notes 'just to know what happened'.
Match Rules to Risks and Plan a Round
- In trios (12 min): use the Kit. Six things that went wrong on a round; match each to the agreement (A to F) that would have prevented it.
- Whole group (6 min): compare. Ask: 'Which rule is hardest to keep in our school, and why?'
- Pairs (20 min): plan a real round for your school. Fill in the visit plan: who is in the network, who hosts and facilitates, which rooms, times, where the pre-brief and the debrief take place.
- Second short activity (12 min): role-play the pre-brief in trios (host, facilitator, observer). The host states the problem in one minute; the observer asks, 'What exactly should I write down?'
- Alone (5 min): write your school-based task from the Kit and the date of your pre-brief.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Which of the six things could happen in your school next month if nothing is agreed?
- How many minutes does your round really cost the host, the observers and the pupils?
- Who in your school should NOT be in the first network, and why?
Reflect
- What would make you say yes to hosting a round? What would make you say no?
- Which of your colleagues would make a calm, neutral facilitator?
- What do pupils need to be told, and what do their parents need to be told?
Try it tomorrow
- Write down the names of three colleagues you would invite to a network, and one reason each might say no.
- Draft the rules you would read in a pre-brief, in five lines or fewer, and read them aloud to a partner.
- Look at your timetable for next week and find a 60 to 90 minute window in which three colleagues could be free.
Further reading and links
Agree the rules before the first door opens: volunteers, equal short slots, no marks, and the host sees the pattern first.