Previous research

The Xarxa de Competències (XC) is promoted by the Department of Education of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In operation since 2001, it gathers 700 schools, organized into twelve geographical networks, which bring together two representatives from each school’s driving team—groups of teachers organized with the aim of promoting and accompanying transformative processes for the improvement of student learning (Ojuel & Segura, 2018). XC understands teacher development as a peer learning process, in which knowledge is created by the teachers themselves, based on an organized work structure that encourages schools to set improvement objectives, indicator criteria to evaluate changes, and stable work to continue advancing consistently (Esteve, et al 2018).

 

In the 2019-20 academic year, after training on how to share the learning objectives with the students, a PO task was proposed, with the aim of helping to transfer these actions to the classroom. The Research Group on Peer Learning (GRAI), coordinated by D. Duran (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), designed an action procedure in collaboration with the XC. You can see the set of materials here. The driving teams of each school had to promote at least one PO practice, through the creation of a pair or pairs of volunteer teachers, who would observe each other.

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Despite the good reception of the proposal, the emergency situation generated by the Covid‐19 crisis made its implementation difficult. Even so, 44 teachers were able to carry it out, with the complete procedure. Within the framework of the collaboration agreement between the Department of Education and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ED‐2020‐924), an analysis of the results of this pilot test was carried out. The teachers comment on overcoming concerns and anxieties associated with PO; they point out the potential of the procedure, as well as the difficulties that arise, especially associated with defining improvement goals; more than half of the teachers set personal improvement objectives, referring to the focus of observation and aspects of management and methodology; and, finally, they highlight the benefits, both personal and institutional, of PO. The results are collected in (Duran et al., 2020). You can also see the summary in the following infographic or video:

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In the following year, 2020-21, following the collaboration between the GRAI and the XC, a second study is carried out, with a more complex methodological design that combines a quasi-experimental design with qualitative data. In this research, data was collected from 131 teachers. You can find the results in the article (Corcelles et al., 2023). The results, which are also summarized in this report, highlight four aspects:

 

First, participants recognize resistance to PO (to observe and to be observed, to offer or receive feedback, to feel judged...), but the resistance decreases after practice, especially in those who had no prior experience in PO.

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Second, the practice of PO denotes improvements in collective efficacy and collective interdependence among teachers, especially among those who reach agreements in the pre-observation session, make the post-observation report, and define the goal for improvement during the feedback session.

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Thirdly, most teachers rate the instruments used very positively and follow the proposed PO procedure. Consequently, a focused and pre-agreed observation is essential to promote critical reflection and helps to produce constructive comments on the part of teachers.

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And, finally, it can be seen that the PO procedure is effective when it comes to identifying improvement objectives for one’s own teaching practice, especially for teachers who make post-observation and summary reports.

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