Bandar Seri Begawan - Peer coaching is hoped to become a culture for every Year level teacher in 2010, an officer from the Primary Education Division in the Department of Schools said on Saturday.

During a dialogue session between the Minister of Education and school leader recently, Fatmah Hj Besar highlighted that working together and assessing one another's weaknesses and strengths can lead the way to producing quality teachers.

Known as "peer coaching", the technique requires teachers to be paired up and cooperate to observe each other's teaching practices.

Peer coaching is one of the main initiatives that the Primary Education Division is carrying out to improve the quality of primary school teachers.

Presently, peer coaching is carried out by pre-school and Year One teachers under the new "Pre-school and Year One Bahasa Melayu and English Language" initiative, she said. "Insyallah in 2010, we will make this a culture for every year level teacher to carry out, as stated in our strategic goal," she added.

In a previous report, it was said that only about seven percent of primary school teachers in the country are considered "excellent", while the remaining93 per cent have yet to reach that standard.

Fatmah explained that the technique involved three stages, namely 'preconferencing, observation and post-conferencing". She said that pre-conferencing involved teachers who teach similar year groups to meet prior to starting their lessons.

"In peer coaching, it is a good idea to observe each other's lessons on the same day. At this meeting, they agree to come into one another's lesson at an agreed time, part of the lesson to be observed and for what particular purpose," she said.

During the observation stage, the observing teacher takes notes of her partner's teaching method, focusing on the specific areas that the pair had previously agreed upon.

"(The observing teacher) takes notes of the good side of the teaching, as well as areas that need improvement," she said.

The pair will then switches roles and meets later in the day for the post-conference. During this meet, they will compare and discuss their observations constructively and keep a journal of their discussions. They will also suggest ways to improve each other's teaching method.

She went on to say that the teachers will provide each other with feedback, with both parties learning from shared classroom experiences and thus developing good teaching practices.

"School leaders have given positive feedback on this initiative. They say that it provided a more cohesive school culture, and a more positive school climate is created through this process."-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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