Should a teacher be given no notice when they are going to be observed? Is it considered professional?

Question

I'm a EFL teacher. My boss observed me teaching the other day and didnt give me any notice. Is this normal for langauge teachers or is it considered unprofessional?

Answer 1

You have a right to 24 hours notice, as you are expected to provide full plans and documents when you are observed. If your boss wants to spot check you, they should give you a day/period of time within which it is likely to happen.

I would look into your college or school's policy as it doesn't sound right.

Due to the way that observations stress some people, random ones are not considered helpful by most managers, except as a control measure.As it would be stupid to carry around all of your base line data all the time, you cannot possibly provide it, and a proper performance analysis cannot be done without this data. In some countries, they don't use baseline data (as I found when observing teachers from the US, for example) but in the UK, planning and differentiation will be assessed in relation to this. An observation takes 3 hours- 1 hour looking at the lesson, 1 to look at the plans and so on, then a target setting meeting.

Answer 2

Unannounced observations are very common. The ones you know about in advance allow you to dress up your classroom and do special activities to make yourself look good. The unannounced ones give your supervisor a much better idea of your skills. You should have a chance to discuss the observation with your supervisor afterwards and explain anything that you think did not go well. Use it as a learning experience.

Answer 3

I remember having an English teacher in middle school that would only teach when he was being observed. He even had us practice routines to impress those that would come and observe. From the teacher's point of view I can see how it may seem unfair to be observed on the one day when you really don't have very much going on in your class but it really helps to identify those really bad teachers like my middle school teacher

Answer 4

Yes, this is completely normal. In my district we have 2 types of observations--formal and informal. The informal observations are unannounced. My principal or vice principal will come in whenever, take notes, and I get a copy of those notes. Then we meet together to discuss the observations and the notes. A date is set for a formal observation. So I am aware of when the formal observation will take place. I need to prepare a formal written lesson plan for this and my principal comes in again, takes notes, completes a report, and we have another meeting to discuss it.

Answer 5

In my experience you usually get notice but personally I'd rather not because you just end up stressing over whether your resources etc are perfect and like other people have said every lesson you teach should be good enough to be watched. You shouldn't have a chance to prepare extra or prepare the children.

Answer 6

This is the ONLY kind of observation in my school. I think it really keeps a teacher on his toes! However.... I think there should be BOTH kinds of observations: the first kind- as you described- and one's where you meet with the principal prior to the observation.

Answer 7

I've always told my administrator during evaluation years, "Here's my schedule. Come in when you can."

That way, I'm not nervous about the observation or preparing an artificial lesson for show. If I want a fair evaluation, then they need to see what my students get daily.

Answer 8

It depends upon why your being observed.

In fairness as a parent, I would like to think that there should be no difference in standards regardless of being observed or not. As a matter of proffesional courtesy, you should be told of the observation at the start.

Outside the public sector, many companies use 'mystery shoppers', or recorded phone conversations to monitor staff performance. These are never advised in advance or even at the time.

Children get notice of exams and stats to enhance performance.

Answer 9

It's normal in my district, and to me, makes sense because if you are given notice, then you can make sure to do things you normally wouldn't so that you can better impress your principal. It would also enable teachers who don't do a very good job of teaching to fake it for that one day.

Answer 10

Very normal. In my district we have 1 formal planned for observation and six unannounced. The idea is that you are following standards, protocal, and teaching so that it doesn't matter if anyone is in the room, you're still doing your job.