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Session 4. Peer Observation and Feedback
Objective. Agree an observation focus, record facts without verdicts, and give and receive feedback with the 'fact, effect, question' pattern.
Even careful reflection has a blind spot: you cannot watch yourself teach. A colleague in the room can see what you cannot, such as who never gets chosen, how long you wait or how the back row behaves when you turn to the board. Peer observation works when it feels safe and focused. This session gives you a simple structure so that both the visitor and the visited teacher come out with something useful.
Key ideas
A friend in the room, not an inspector
- Peer observation here is for learning. No marks, no report to the director, and the observed teacher chooses what to look at.
- Observing is also learning: watching a colleague often gives you ideas for your own class.
- In many schools visits feel like inspection, so say clearly at the start: 'This is for you, not about you'.
Before, during, after
- Before (5 minutes): agree one focus, such as wait time or who answers; agree where the observer sits and which part of the lesson.
- During: write what you see and hear: times, counts, short quotes of words. No verdicts like 'good' or 'weak'.
- After (10 minutes, within a day or two): the teacher speaks first, then the observer shares facts and asks questions, and they agree one next step.
Feedback: fact, effect, question
- Fact: 'After your question you waited about five seconds.' Effect: 'Seven pupils raised hands, up from two.' Question: 'What do you think made the difference?'
- Give two strengths and one wish. A strength is a fact too: 'Every pair had a pencil before you started.'
- Avoid 'you should' and 'I would'. Your way is one way; the teacher knows these pupils.
Receiving feedback well
- Listen to the end, take notes and say thank you. You do not have to agree on the spot.
- Choose one thing to try. Fewer changes are done more often.
- A critical friend is supportive and honest. Choose someone you trust, in your school or another, even a colleague teaching a different subject.
Peer observation in three steps
Choosing a focus the observer can really record
A good focus is narrow and countable. 'How is my teaching?' cannot be recorded. 'Which pupils answer, and how long do I wait?' can. Other focuses that work well are: the number of minutes spent on explanation and on pupil work; how instructions are given and whether pupils start at once; where the teacher walks during independent work.
Match the recording method to the focus. Use a seating sketch for who speaks, a clock for time, and a short word-for-word note for the exact question asked. The observer records and the teacher interprets: the person who taught knows the class and the reasons. This division protects the teacher and keeps the notes useful.
When feedback feels hard
In many schools politeness and respect for age and position are valued, and this can make honest feedback awkward. Pair colleagues of similar standing, let the observed teacher speak first, and speak about the lesson, not the person. A phrase such as 'I noticed ...' is gentler than 'You did ...'.
If a comment hurts, take a breath and ask for the fact behind it: 'What did you see that made you say that?' If you disagree, you may say so politely; the aim is to understand, not to win. Keep what you see and hear in the observation private unless the teacher agrees to share it, because trust is what makes the next visit possible.
Examples from the classroom
A question about waiting
Scene. Jasur and Malika teach Grade 5 in neighbouring classrooms in Tashkent. Malika asks Jasur to watch only how long she waits after a question. Jasur counts with a watch: after seven questions she waited between one and two seconds. After the lesson Malika speaks first, 'I thought I waited longer.' Jasur shows the numbers. She tries four seconds the next day.
Insight. A narrow focus and plain numbers gave Malika information she could not have gathered alone.
Between schools
Scene. Dilnoza is the only Russian-language teacher at her small rural school near Samarkand. She asks a teacher of Uzbek language from another school to observe, since the subject differs but the topic of her focus, giving instructions, is the same. The visitor notes that three times pupils asked 'What do we do?' after instructions. Together they plan clearer instructions with a board example.
Insight. A critical friend does not have to teach your subject; a focus like instructions travels across subjects.
Seeing as the observer
Scene. Aziz agrees to observe Jasur's Grade 7 science lesson in Fergana. He expects to correct, but he writes only facts. Halfway through he realises Jasur uses the corner of the board for a 'parking lot' of pupils' questions and goes back to it before the bell. Aziz decides to try it in his own class, and asks Jasur to show him how.
Insight. Observing is also learning: the observer often takes the best idea home.
Common pitfalls
- Letting the observer choose the focus, so the visit feels like inspection.
- Writing 'good' or 'weak' in the log instead of what was seen and heard.
- Giving five comments when the teacher can take in one or two.
- Turning the conversation into advice ('I would do it differently').
Observe, Record, Give Feedback
- Everyone (5 min): read the lesson excerpt in the kit (Grade 5 mathematics, Fergana, 10 minutes). The focus agreed in the pre-meeting is 'questions and wait time'.
- Alone (10 min): fill the observation log with facts only. Cross out any verdict word you notice in your own notes.
- In pairs (10 min): rewrite the five weak comments in the kit as fact, effect, question.
- In threes (20 min): teacher, observer and timekeeper. Take turns for a 6-minute feedback conversation about the log, with the teacher speaking first. The timekeeper checks for 'you should'.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- What was hardest: recording facts without verdicts, or phrasing the feedback as a question?
- How did it feel to speak first as the teacher? What did you notice that the observer had missed?
- Who in your school or neighbourhood could be your critical friend, and what focus would you offer?
Reflect
- When did a colleague last see you teach? What would you want them to look at?
- What is a comment you once received that stayed with you, helpful or hurtful? What made it so?
- How could you offer a colleague an observation without it feeling like inspection?
Try it tomorrow
- Invite one colleague to watch ten minutes of your next lesson, with one focus you choose.
- Practise 'fact, effect, question' by writing one such comment about something you saw in a colleague's lesson or in your own.
- Agree the time of the follow-up conversation before the visit, within two days.
Further reading and links
Choose one focus, write facts not verdicts, and give feedback as fact, effect, question.