ABSTRACT
We have been working on using readily available technology to create a new approach to lesson observation with the common goal of improving the outcomes for teachers, schools and learners for the past three years. Despite the prevalence of formal lesson observation systems, limited enhancement through the use of technology seems to have occurred to date. With an increased requirement for school leadership teams to have a sound understanding of the quality of teaching and learning within their schools (Wilshaw 2012), this has arguably given rise to observation systems in which teachers ‘have seen their work and their worth become broken down and categorized into checklists of performance standards or competencies’ (Hargreaves 2000: 152). As such, many teachers tend to view in-school observations as judgemental, punitive, superficial and stressful, rather than beneficial or developmental (e.g. O’Leary 2012; 2014).
