“Everyone is good for an example, even if it’s a bad one” - Bill Graba.
That is one of my dad’s many sayings, and there is sage advice in those dozen words. But they only work when we pay attention to the impact of someone else’s actions. Everything and everyone around us is a learning experience when we are open to learning.
Observing teachers for seventeen years has allowed me to grow exponentially by experiencing the good and bad of what other teachers do. So many great ideas have positively enhanced my classes, along with seeing examples of what I should not do in my classroom. No one is putting me on the Mount Rushmore of educators, but I am drastically better because of the opportunity to watch over a hundred teachers lead several hundred lessons.
Educational leaders and instructional coaches have the advantage of observations being part of their work life. Helping teachers plan, execute, and reflect is a significant portion of the job. Each observation provides more tools to impart to other teachers I observe, and knowledge spreads through the network of conversations. I relish the moments when I can tell a teacher what I learned from their lesson and ask their permission to tell others. It can be a massive moment of pride for the teacher and a great way for me to acknowledge their excellent practice.
Facilitating the conversation with another teacher, telling them, "I saw (teacher name) do an awesome job of (insert practice), and I think they can give you some insight on what is working for them" encourages professional conversations between teachers. Increasing the frequency of these conversations speeds up the knowledge transfer rate. The problem is that this network is the 56k dial-up modem version of today's internet. Fiber optic speed transfer is impossible, but there is a way to get up to the old DSL internet speed. The uncommon but highly productive opportunity for one teacher to observe another eliminates the middleman and is the most efficient means of transferring more knowledge.
Beyond spreading knowledge to improve practice, knowing what is happening in each other's classes allows teachers to quell stories from students or parents. Educators commonly hear student's stories about other teachers' amazingly good or bad practices. Rumors about what one teacher did or did not do and what kids can get away with in some classes abound. Parents contact administrators with what they "know" happened in a classroom because of what their child's friend's parent told them. Dispelling those myths is healthy for everyone and often leads to surprising dialogue about the interpretation versus the reality of what occurs. Overlapping curricula and unknown evidence of application are also regularly discovered.
Logistics and vulnerability are two top reasons why peer observations do not occur. Logistically, everyone is busy. Time demands keep increasing while the amount provided diminishes. Teachers either need to give up class time, during which a substitute is with their students, or their prep time so they need to take more work home. Neither of these is ideal and may go against contractual time constraints.
One of the keys to allowing teachers to get into other teachers' classrooms is to accommodate their time in some other way. It might be creating a contract stipulation that they have to spend a certain amount of time in other classrooms throughout the year. Another can be covering a supervision or duty the teacher has to allow them time to go and see that the instruction happens. Or excusing them from an otherwise mandatory staff meeting as a way to make up for the observation time. Who would turn down a chance to avoid sitting through another meeting!
Vulnerability is a whole different animal to attack. Getting teachers comfortable with allowing other teachers to see their craft will take some convincing. One way to do that is to remind teachers that everyone is in it together and everyone is there to support one mother. Allow teachers to choose who they partner up with to watch and provide feedback so they with a trusted critical peer. Teachers can also be given feedback prompts to be able to send information back to the teacher about things that they loved or learned from the message. That way the information the teacher gets back is not critical but is growth and support-oriented.
When we view events and conversations as learning opportunities, we are always growing. We can grow from good events, and work to replicate them when possible. We can grow more by avoiding doing the bad things we see. People who we agree with can make us feel validated, and people we disagree with can confound or anger us. But trying to learn their perspective can help us either broaden our own or help us try and find areas to change their minds. Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet's long-time business partner, stated, "It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent." Every time we learn from good and bad examples, we can be a little less stupid and move closer to being very intelligent.
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