I worked with a teacher recently in Queensland who was qualifying as a collegial coach in the Excellence in Teaching programme and needed to “borrow”’ a year three class to teach a lesson for the accreditation process.
The first part of the collegial coaching process, the pre conference, has two phases. The first is a set of questions about the lesson. One of the questions gives the inviting teacher the opportunity to talk about particular students whose behaviour may need to be handled differently.
Often the response to this question yields an array of strategies, from giving rewards, isolating a student, and ignoring certain behaviours. In almost all cases, the suggestions are external motivation.
Yet in this recent encounter, the teacher thought the students would be interested and therefore would be involved rather than disruptive.
This told me that her lesson on reviewing fractions was planned with certain underpinning beliefs:
- If the lesson has variety and interest, students will make productive behavioural choices.
- Inappropriate behaviour was a result of students’ needs not being met.
- Learning that “connects” to the real world engages learners. Engaged learners are less likely to choose disruptive behaviours.
The second phase of the pre conference explores the underpinning beliefs that drive the teacher’s behaviour. Themes are synthesised and become the criteria for the observation. The three criteria for the observation in this lesson were:
• Higher-order thinking
• Learning connected with the real world
• Engagement through fun and enjoyment
Throughout the lesson, it was easy to identify examples. It used hands-on activities around a real- world problem of sharing food between three rabbits. The teacher set up trays with measuring items, celery and carrot sticks, water and sand so the students could work in small groups. Their discussion at the end was enlightening, demonstrating deep learning by the students.
The evidence gathered related to the agreed-to observation criteria was affirming for the teacher. The process demonstrated that if the lesson is engaging, with hands- on activities, discussion, and a real-world challenge, students are self monitoring, needing no intervention. The students were internally motivated.