Peer Review at the University of Nottingham

University of Nottingham School of Education Staff Development Group Peer Review and Observation Scheme for Academic Colleagues

Context

The School of Education seeks to provide a high quality educational experience for its students. All staff are committed to maintaining and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in the School and are supported in this by a range of staff development opportunities designed to maximise individual, team and organisational self-esteem and effectiveness. The Peer Review and Observation Scheme provides a structured framework for the ongoing improvement of teaching and learning practices through peer collaboration and discussion. The scheme should support staff to: o reflect on and in practice;

  • develop self-awareness;
  • recognise and identify good practice;
  • support innovation;
  • research teaching and learning in Higher Education
  • identify further professional development needs.

1. Aims

  • To enhance the quality of teaching and learning in the School.
  • To encourage all staff to reflect on the effectiveness of their own teaching and identify their professional development needs.
  • To enhance staff awareness of the student learning experience.
  • To recognise, identify and celebrate good practice and innovation in teaching and learning
  • To promote research into teaching and learning.
  • To deepen understanding of the work of colleagues in and across teams

2. Principles

All professional conversations between the observer and observed remain confidential. However, colleagues may discuss any personal learning and possible implications for their teaching within their learning set.

The Peer Review Scheme bears no formal relationship to other University processes, such as probation, promotion or appraisal. As such, any written record or materials remain the property of those involved, unless otherwise agreed by both parties.

All teaching staff in the school will be involved in the peer review process, irrespective of status, grade or nature of contract. The extent of involvement of part time staff will normally be pro-rata.

The scheme is designed to be developmental rather than judgmental. The emphasis is on a mutually beneficial learning experience for both observer and observed.

Students will always be informed of the purpose and timing of the peer review process beforehand. Where an individual teaching session (such as PhD supervision or student tutorial) is to be observed, the student's permission should be sought in advance. Respect for student autonomy and privacy is paramount and alternatives should be sought if a student objects.

The review process should include, as far as is possible, the full range of different types of teaching and learning activities undertaken within the department, such as lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials and research student supervision and the full range of different programmes of study across all levels from B.Ed to EdD.

The School will evaluate the scheme on an annual basis.

3. A Learning Sets Approach

As above

4. Implementation

As above

Pre-observation meeting / discussion

The pre-observation discussion between the observer and colleague whose teaching is being observed is essential to the success of the whole process. Colleagues should meet beforehand, but if this is not possible then a telephone conversation or e-mail dialogue may be sufficient. An important function of this meeting is to establish trust, deal with any anxieties felt by either party and give reassurance.

The pre-observation meeting should cover the following:

  • The context of the teaching (e.g. room, status and history of student group, place of the session within the unit of study, particular constraints and opportunities), learning objectives and teaching approach.
  • The particular focus of the observation.
  • An appropriate method of collecting data from the observations
  • Any particular concerns that either the observer or observed might have about undertaking the observation.

Observing Learning and Teaching

Students need to be incorporated into the observation as a matter of courtesy and good practice. Students need to be informed about the observation in advance and assured that the purpose of the observation is to assist in the development of the tutors'/observers' professional skills.

As a rule of thumb the observer needs to

  • be discreet and diplomatic in the learning group
  • focus observations on the criteria negotiated in the pre-observation meeting.
  • share with the tutor a reflective feedback process at the end of the session, with a focus on personal experience within the session.

Post observation feedback meeting

As soon as practically possible after the session takes place, and at the latest within a week, the observer should meet with the tutor to engage in a professional dialogue to discuss their experiences and learning from the observation. It is the responsibility of both parties to keep the conversation focussed and constructive and to encourage and deepen reflection on the areas previously agreed.

It is recommended that both parties

  • Examine their underlying values or assumptions .
  • Discuss how learning from the observation will feed into subsequent teaching and/or planning.
  • Agree on key points to take to their learning set.( see Appendix One)
  • Sign a pro-forma to verify that the review has taken place and submit this to the secretary for staff development. (See Appendix Two)

The Learning Set

The learning set will meet towards the end of the semester to share their experiences, review their learning, identify areas of good practice and discuss their ongoing professional development needs.

Evaluation

The scheme involves a continuous and developmental process of individual and group/team evaluation. The Staff Development Coordinator will engage in an annual dialogue with teams to review their staff development activities and to identify issues, needs and priorities for the following year.

The Staff Development Coordinator will be responsible for preparing an annual report on the scheme. This report will be discussed by Teaching and Learning Committee and Executive Group and used as the basis for developing the programme and ensuring that it is serving its purposes most effectively.

Acknowledgement

The staff development group acknowledges the influence of David Gosling's work on the development of this peer review scheme

Belinda Harris Staff Development Coordinator April 2000

University of Nottingham School of Education Staff Development Group Peer Review Scheme for Support Staff

Context

As above

1. Aims

As above

2. Principles

As above

3. Learning Sets Approach

Staff self-select colleagues to form groups of four with members drawn from different support staff teams. Each year the composition of the learning set will change to enable staff to widen and deepen their understanding of professional practice across all support staff teams over time. The learning set will meet three times per year. Each learning set will develop its own way of working.

For example, At the first meeting members could explain their role to help others understand what they do and how they see their strengths and limitations. It might be possible to identify particular interests or needs at this stage. The group would decide its own ground rules and plan to shadow each other once

At the second meeting, group members might review their experiences, identify what they learned from each other and how they have used this learning in their own work. Another round of more focussed shadowing could be arranged now

At the final meeting the set would meet to review the year and to identify personal learning as well as general/common issues for discussion by support staff and/or academics.

The July awayday will serve as a forum for the dissemination of good practice and an evaluation of the review scheme. Each learning set will meet with another set to share and discuss the impact of their learning on their professional practices and identify any ongoing professional needs. These are submitted to the Staff Development Co-ordinator.

4. Shadowing Professional Practice

As a rule of thumb, the shadower needs to work alongside a colleague for a minimum of one hour and maximum of half a day. This will involve a range of activities, including discussion of systems or observation (of a conversation with a colleague, for example). At all times the shadower should be sensitive to the balance involved in learning about working practices through observation on the one hand and deepening understanding of systems through in-depth conversation on the other. The shadower needs to share any perceptions with their colleague and ensure that any feedback is focussed on personal learning.

If it is helpful, both parties may like to use the Peer Review Reflection and Discussion Form (Appendix One) to record their learning and take these to their learning set for further discussion.

4. Record-keeping

Both parties will sign a pro-forma to verify that the review has taken place and submit this to the secretary for staff development. (See Appendix Two)

5. Evaluation

The scheme involves a continuous and developmental process of individual and group/team evaluation. The Staff Development Coordinator will be responsible for preparing an annual report on the scheme. This report will be discussed by Teaching and Learning Committee and Executive Group and used as the basis for developing the programme and ensuring that it is serving its purposes most effectively.

Belinda Harris Staff Development Coordinator June2000

Making the Most of Peer Review for Support Staff - Some Ideas

1. Prepare for the Review.

It is important to spend some time thinking about those aspects of your role you would most like your colleague to know about. Think of:

  • those aspects of your job that you know you do well /that you are proud of
  • what you bring by way of attitudes, skills or values to these aspects that accounts for your success
  • something that you find difficult/ have been stuck with for a while
  • what it is, specifically, that causes you grief

For example: - reflect on your work over the past few weeks/months and think of issues that have arisen for you in your role in relation to academic colleagues, or students, or team members . Choose one or two and make a few notes about the steps you took to resolve the problem, including how you approached the task, any action you took, any impact on other colleagues and how you handled this….

2. Deepening your learning through conversation.

Make some quality time to talk through one or more of the above with your partner. Listen to their feedback on your successes! Together, be creative about the more problematic areas and see if you can develop a plan of action to help overcome this difficulty.

3. Feedback

Once your reviewer is more familiar with your style of working and the parameters of your role, you may want them to observe you 'in action'. For example, they could observe you handling a student or colleague face to face or over the phone and offer you feedback on your style - what you did well, what you need to attend to in future. This could be a very brief review ( 20 minutes)

4. Identifying needs

Following your explanation, conversation or observation, it would be useful to think of your learning and reflect on your staff development needs, if you have identified any. These need to be conveyed either to the staff development co-ordinator or to the support staff team convenor/staff development representative.