1. Reflection
The UK PSF
Observations of Teaching
Chrissi Nerantzi @chrissinerantzi & Haleh Moravej @halehmoravej
PGCAP > DAPP
http://www.celt.mmu.ac.uk/ @mmu_celt
2. intended learning outcomes
By the end of this theme, you will have had the
opportunity to:
• discuss experiential learning and learning
through reflection to enhance practice
• recognise the importance of observation of
teaching and discuss key characteristics of how to
conduct effective observations
• examine the UK Professional Standards
Framework (PSF) and recognise its importance
for own professional development
2
4. Let’s try it!
Think of something complex
(good/bad) that happened
How did you feel?
What did you learn?
If it happens again, what would
you do differently?
4
5. Who?
“Sharing your professional and personal skills and
experiences with another promotes growth and
development that might not otherwise be possible. It
is based upon encouragement, constructive
comments, openness, mutual trust, respect and the
willingness to learn and share”. (Schulte, 2008, p. 1)
Moran & Dallat (1995) see a
danger in practising monopolised
self-reflection and recommend the
use of reflection as a collegial
activity.
own perspective
colleagues,
peers,
mentors,
students, etc.
link to theory
6
6. How? Reflective Cycle (Gibbs, 1988)
Turning experience into learning!
6. Action plan
If it arose
again, what
would you
do?
1. Description
What
happened?
5. Conclusion
2. Feelings
What else
could you
have done?
What were
you thinking
and feeling?
•The role of emotions
•Emotional reactions
•Emotions can distort events
(Moon, 2004)
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=leIPj3SIbNU
4. Analysis
3. Evaluation
What sense
can you make
of the
situation?
music and
emotions
What was
good and bad
about the
experience?
7
http://www.hcc.uce.ac.uk/dpl/nursing/Placement
%20Support/Model%20of%20Reflection.htm
10. small group activity
Giving feedback
• Read the reflection carefully and make some
notes.
• Write feedback on the reflection.
• Use the classification model to help determine
the ‘depth’ of reflection.
• Share and compare your feedback with another
group.
11
11. Moon, J (2004) A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning. Theory
and Practice, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 190-191.
a comparison
Essay/report
Reflective writing
The subject matter is likely to be clearly defined.
The subject matter may be diffuse and ill-structured.
The subject matter is not likely to be personal.
The subject matter may be personal.
The subject matter is likely to be given.
The subject matter may be determined by the writer.
The purpose of this kind of writing is set in advance, usually fairly precisely in a
title/topic.
There may be purpose, but it is more of the nature of a ‘container’ or direction,
not a precise title that predicts the outcome.
Most of the ideas drawn into an essay/report will be predictable and will be
determined by the subject matter.
Ideas will be drawn into reflective writing from anywhere that the writer
believes to be relevant. What is drawn in will be determined by the sense being
forged by the writer.
There will be a conclusion.
There may be a conclusion in that something has been learnt, or there may be
a recognition of further areas for reflection.
Essays/reports are more likely to be ‘one off’ – finished and handed in.
Reflective writing may be a part of a process that takes place over a period of
time.
There is likely to be a clear structure of introduction, discussion and conclusion.
There is not necessarily a clear structure other than some description at the
beginning and some identification of process made. Structures, such as
questions to prompt reflective activity may be given.
The writing style is likely to be relatively objective – probably without use of
the first person.
The writing style is likely to be relatively subjective, using the first person.
An essay or report is usually intended to be a representation of learning.
The intention underlying reflective writing is likely to be for the purpose of
learning.
An essay/a report is likely to be the product of a thinking process, tidily
ordered.
Reflective writing usually involved the process of thinking and learning, and it is
therefore not necessarily ‘tidy’ in its ordering.
12
12. Classification, a model for assessment
abbreviation/title
characteristics
3
CritR
Critical Reflection
Critical exploration and reasoning of practice in a wider context,
link to theory and thinking about the effects upon others of one's
actions.
2
DialR
Dialogic Reflection
Stepping back, practice analysed, reasoning well developed,
linking own viewpoints with these of other, exploring problem
solving.
1
DescR
Descriptive Reflection
Own practice is analysed, some reasoning for decisions and
actions, limited to own viewpoints and perspective.
0
RepoR0
Reporting, no reflection
Accounts limited to reporting events sporadic evidence of
reflection.
criteria based on Hatton’s and Smith’s (1995), also adapted by Moon (2004) 13
13. 14
Your portfolio
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
digital, online, mobile
reflect on your journey
use/create media-rich artefacts
share with tutor and peers
commenting
assessed
receive feedback throughout
The same portfolio for the whole
PGCAP programme
http://asboallstar.wordpress.com/
14. Making a start with your portfolio:
capture your educational autobiography and
teaching philosophy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Start capturing your educational autobiography and outline your understanding of your own
approach to learning, your own learning journey and experiences. Your teaching philosophy will
emerge through your educational autobiography. Include a needs analysis and an action plan:
to describe existing skills and areas for further development through the module (eg from an
analysis aligned to the unit’s learning outcomes).
You might ask yourself the following questions:
What personal learning experiences have influenced my thoughts about teaching?
How do I learn?
How do my students learn?
What does university teaching and learning mean to me?
What do I want my students to learn?
What do I love about teaching?
What are my strengths as a teacher?
What areas do I need to develop further?
What will I do and by when?
Complete this by the end
of theme 1
15
16. UK Professional Standards Framework
(UK PSF)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A framework for standards!
for teaching and supporting learning in HE
proposed in the White Paper The Future of Higher Education (2003)
Introduced in 2006
Reviewed in 2011
areas of activity, core knowledge and professional values derived from the Higher
Education Academy’s existing Accreditation Scheme
professionalisation of teaching and supporting learning in HE
for Fellowship of HEA & PGCAP need to engage effectively with all of these
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/ukpsf/ukpsf.pdf
17
17. 18
The PGCAP and the UK PSF
Areas of Activity (WHAT)
• Design and plan
• Teach/support
• Assess/give feedback
• Develop effective
learning environments
and approaches to
student
support/guidance
• Engage in CPD
incorporating research,
scholarship and
evaluation of
professional practices
Core Knowledge (HOW)
• Subject
• Appropriate methods of
teaching and learning
• How students learn
• Use and value
appropriate learning
technologies
• Methods for evaluating
effectiveness of
teaching
• Quality assurance and
quality enhancement
Professional Values
(WHY)
• Respect individual
learners and learning
communities
• Promote participation
and equality of
opportunities
• Use evidence-informed
approaches and the
outcomes from
research, scholarship
and CPD
• Acknowledge the wider
context in which HE
operates recognising
implications for
professional practice
for Fellowship of HEA - evidence engagement with all of these
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/re
wardandrecog/ProfessionalStandardsFramework.pdf
19. “Though we teach in front of students, we almost always teach
solo, out of collegial sight – as contrasted with surgeons or trial
lawyers, who work in the presence of others who know their
craft well. Lawyers argue cases in front of other lawyers, where
gaps in their skills and knowledge are clear for all to see.
Surgeons operate under the gaze of specialists who notice if a
hand trembles, making malpractice less likely. But teachers can
lose sponges or amputate the wrong limp with no witness except
the victims.”
Palmer, P J (2007) The Courage to teach. Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life, San Francisco: JosseyBass, p. 146.
20
20. “When we walk into our workplace, the classroom, we close the
door on our colleagues. When we emerge, we rarely talk about
what happened or what needs to happen next, for we have no
shared experience to talk about. Then, instead of calling this the
isolationism it is and trying to overcome it, we claim it as a virtue
called ‘academic freedom’: my classroom is my castle, and the
sovereigns of other fiefdoms are not welcome here.”
Palmer, P J (2007) The Courage to teach. Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s
life, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, p. 147.
21
21. “If…
… I want to teach well, it is essential that I explore
my inner terrain. But I can get lost in there,
practising self-delusion and running in self-serving
circles. So I need the guidance that a community of
collegial discourse provides – to say nothing of the
support such a community can offer to sustain me
in the trials about this craft that can be found in
every faculty worth its salt.”
Palmer, P J (2007) The Courage to teach. Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, p.
146.
22
24. Preparing for an observation
Work in small groups and come up with your top
10 tips and share with the whole class.
25
25. observation checklist (observing)
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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What went well
Achievement of the aims and learning outcomes
Effectiveness of teaching methods used
Meeting of learner needs
Use of resources
Assessment/feedback considerations
Opportunities for student interaction
Timing
Comment on focus/aspect given
The observer
comments on these!
If you can meet after
the observation, this
would be great!
Otherwise try and
speak remotely.
• Reflection on the observation should include
reflection on feedback received/provided.
27
26. Needs analysis and action plan
•
•
•
•
Where am I now?
What are my strengths?
On what am I going to work on during this unit?
What am I going to do and why?
Use, if you like the
• UK PSF diagnostic proforma
• Wheel of Teaching
28
27. The wheel of teaching
Where are you now? Date:
29
29. intended learning outcomes
By the end of this theme, you will have had the
opportunity to:
• discuss experiential learning and learning
through reflection to enhance practice
• recognise the importance of observation of
teaching and discuss key characteristics of how to
conduct effective observations
• examine the UK Professional Standards
Framework (PSF) and recognise its importance
for own professional development
31
31. “Teaching and learning in higher education is a
shared process, with responsibilities on both
student and teacher to contribute to their
success. Within this shared process, higher
education must engage students in
questioning their preconceived ideas and their
models of how the world works, so that they
can reach a higher level of understanding. But
students are not always equipped for this
challenge, nor are all of them driven by a
desire to understand and apply knowledge,
but all too often aspire merely to survive the
course, or to learn only procedurally in order
to get the highest possible marks before
rapidly moving on to the next subject. The best
teaching helps students to question their
preconceptions, and motivates them to learn,
by putting them in a situation in which their
existing model does not work – and in which it
matters to them that it does not work and in
which they come to see themselves as authors
of answers, as agents of responsibility for
change. That means that students need to be
faced with problems which they think are
important. They need to engage with new
questions which are bigger than the course
itself, which have relevance to their own lives
and which provoke a lively participation far
beyond simply getting through assessment or
exams.” p. 18
32. How? Reflective Cycle (Gibbs, 1988)
6. Action plan
If it arose
again, what
would you do?
1. Description
What
happened?
5. Conclusion
2. Feelings
What else
could you
have done?
What were
you thinking
and feeling?
4. Analysis
3. Evaluation
What sense
can you make
of the
situation?
What was
good and bad
about the
experience?
34
33. references
•
•
Brown M, Fry H & Marshall S (2006) Reflective Practice, in: Fry H, Ketteridge S & Marshall S (2006) A Handbook for Teaching & Learning in Higher Education.
Enhancing Academic Practice, Oxon: RoutledgeFalmer, pp. 215-225.
Ghaye T & Lillyman S (1997) Learning Journals and Critical Incidents: Reflective Practice for Health Care Professionals, London: Mark Allan Publishing.
Gibbs G (1988) Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods, Further Education Unit, Oxford: Oxford Brookes University.
Hatton, N & Smith, D (1995) Reflection in teacher education – towards definition and implementation, Teaching and Teacher Education,11 (1), pp 33-49.
Imel, S (1992) Reflective Practice in Adult Education, Columbus OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career and Vocational Education, ERIC Digest No. 122
Kolb D A (1984) Experiential Learning, Prentice Hall, New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs.
Lisewski, B & Cove, G (2007) Peer Observation for Teaching Code of Conduct University of Salford.
McFarlane, B & Gourlay, L (2009) The reflection game: enacting the penitent self, Teaching in Higher Education 14/4, pp. 455-459.
Moon, J (2005) Learning through Reflection, available at
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/resource_database/id69_guide_for_busy_academics_no4_moon [accessed 15 September 2010]
Moon, J (2004) A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning. Theory and Practice, Oxon: Routledge.
Moon, J (2004a) Reflection and employability, available at http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/resource_database/id331_Reflection_and_employability
[accessed 15 September 2010]
Moran A & Dallat J (1995) Promoting reflective practice in initial teacher training, International Journal of Educational Management, MCB University Press Limited,
Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 20-26.
Palmer, P J (2007) The Courage to teach. Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Peel, D (2005) Peer Observation as a Transformatory Tool? Teaching in Higher Education, 10 (4) 489-504
Ramsden, P (1992) Learning to Teach in Higher Education London: Routledge.
Schön D A (1987) ‘Educating the Reflective Practitioner’ , San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Schön, D A )1983= The Reflective Practitioner: How professionals think in action, Ashgate.
Schulte, J (2008) Give Back – Be a Mentor!, www.ezinearticles.com [accessed 10 September 2010]
UK Professional Standards Framework, HEA available at
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/rewardandrecog/ProfessionalStandardsFramework.pdf [accessed 9 Sep 2010]
