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Peer observation & mentoring 2017-01-09T14:27:33+00:00

Peer observation and mentoring

The University has a commitment to promoting excellence in learning and teaching. It recognizes that providing opportunities for staff to exchange ideas, reflect on their own practice and identify and access any development needs lies at the heart of the process, and peer observation of teaching and mentoring in learning and teaching are a key means through which these opportunities can be created.

Peer observation of teaching forms part of a structured, reflective and collaborative approach to improving the effectiveness of teaching and enhancing student engagement with their learning. It provides the opportunity to share ideas and give feedback to individual teachers which is formative and supports the dissemination of good practice, and is intended to inspire colleagues to further improve their teaching, by sharing examples of innovation.

Mentoring is a vitally important part of academic support and staff development. It helps create a richer environment for staff and students as well as supporting significant improvements in key performance areas, such as teaching, assessment and feedback.

Dr Rebecca Eliahoo (who retired in 2017, but who was Principal Lecturer, Department of Leadership and Professional Development, Westminster Business School) has contributed to the Inspiration 4 Teachers podcast show, which interviews “dynamic and inspirational educators.”

A highly experienced mentor, mentoring educator and teacher education developer, Rebecca talks about the value mentoring during teacher training brings, and goes on to stress how beneficial supportive mentoring relationships are throughout teaching careers.

Teaching observations, also called peer observations or learning conversations, are a way of developing our teaching practice through a supported, reflexive process.  In this video, Angela Kingston, a professional exhibitions curator, talks to Dr Anne Samson about how the observation process has helped her to step outside her role as a professional curator and think of and manage her sessions as a teacher.

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