Designing a Set of Procedures for the Conduct of Peer Observation in the EFL Classroom: A Collaborative Training Model towards Teacher Development

Abstract

Peer observation is a powerful tool by which foreign language teachers can become aware of a broad range of techniques and processes for conducting classes effectively. It constitutes a collaborative model of teacher training which facilitates the exchange of teaching methods and materials among teachers by fostering the development of teaching skills, by stimulating the rethinking of personal teaching methods and by raising awareness of the most supportive behaviours in professional relationships (Vacilotto & Cummings, 2007). Peer observation can yield its greatest benefits when it is not used as a tool for judging or evaluating others but when it stimulates a reflective review of one’s own beliefs on the basis of others’ practice (Cosh 1999; Farrell 2001). To facilitate and foster the training process, several procedures need to be followed encouraging teachers to report the valuable insights that peer observation prompted in them. The purpose of this paper is to design a set of procedures for the conduct of peer observation towards teacher development by engaging EFL teachers in an active collaborative model of training under the guidance of a trainer.