The Learning Rounds Tool Kit Building a Learning Community All you need to know to make it happen in your team, school, cluster, local authority, learning network.
Part 1:
What is Learning Rounds? Why become involved in Learning Rounds? Who does what in Learning Rounds? How to organise Learning Rounds Learning Rounds: Generating Next Steps
What now?
What is Learning Rounds? Learning Rounds is a new kind of collaborative professional learning. It involves teams of staff observing and learning about and from teaching practice across the school. Observers create a base of evidence describing what they have seen. There are no evaluative comments or value-laden points. The team then discusses how they, their school or authority will use the data to bring about improvement. This evidence-based process leads to a continuous development of practice at personal, school and authority level. Staff learn together and both those observed and those observing develop and deepen their understanding of how to improve learning. As importantly the process creates descriptive evidence that can generate effective change across a school or authority.
Why become involved in Learning Rounds? Because it makes a difference Learning Rounds can deliver high quality, sustainable improvements in the learning experiences of pupils in a range of contexts. It helps develop collegial practice and a positive ethos. Above all it is a motivating experience for participants. Because it builds learning communities Learning Rounds offers teams, schools, clusters and authorities a straightforward and effective way to build a learning community, owned and led by teachers, focussed on what matters. Because it supports CPD for CfE Learning Rounds provides high quality CPD at 3 levels: 1. It promotes individual learning for each member of the observation team by building up understanding of what is effective learning and teaching 2. It develops the capacity of a school and authority to create a culture of collegiality and shared learning in order to improve the learning experience of pupils. 3. It creates new capacity to bring about system wide improvement
Because it’s affordable and sustainable Learning Rounds is not an event, but a professional learning process that can be embedded in practice. It offers a powerful and cost-effective way to deliver improvement in learning and teaching across schools and authorities. It does not require the services of visiting experts, but builds on the learning and experiences of a range of colleagues including establishment staff, authority personnel and other school partners. Learning is shared and collegiate. Schools and authorities have found different ways to achieve this, often at minimal or no financial cost.
Who does what in Learning Rounds? Initiator of LR Process This is the colleague or group of colleagues who initiate the Learning Rounds process. It is the role of the initiator to come up with a focus for the LR observation and to receive the descriptive feedback. The initiator also leads the Next Steps follow up discussion and planning. Initiators can be individuals, or teams. Examples of initiators include: local authority officers, a headteacher, a school Learning and Teaching group, cluster coordinates, CPD Coordinators, a group of subject or stage colleagues or a cross-sector an inter-service group who come together to enquire into a specific aspect of their work. Coordinator of LR Process This role, which can overlap with that of LR Initiator, involves organising the LR from the early discussions to managing the feedback process. It includes taking responsibility for the logistics, the scheduling and training, managing the day and collating the agreed feedback and presenting it to the LR initiator, be this an individual or group. Although Learning Rounds is a very collegiate and inclusive activity, it is essential that there is a nominated lead co-ordinator who has a comprehensive knowledge of the background to Learning Rounds and is familiar with the support materials and reference documents. Observers The key learners in Learning Rounds are the team of observers. Observers learn from the practice they observe, often finding their perceptions both validated and challenged. Above all observing combined with the group discussions which follow creates deeper understanding around the process of learning and teaching, especially on the learning experiences of pupils, and the process of effective change leadership. It is useful to have a mixed group who can bring diversity of experience and different perspectives. Members of the group are required to refrain from evaluative comment when involved in group discussion around the observed data. Examples of Observer Groups can include: staff from the same school in mixed discipline or age & stage groups, PTs from a range of schools in an authority, staff from cluster schools including special and early years establishments, mixed groups of school staff, including senior management and authority personnel, mixed groups of school/FECollege staff and other stakeholders – for example, psychologists, visiting specialists.
Observed Colleagues Colleagues volunteer to be observed. The Learning Rounds protocol means that there is no evaluation of the individual and the practice observed is described in non-evaluative language. There is no individual feedback. A composite set of descriptive data is drawn from the observations of many segments by the observation teams and is fed back to the LR initiator. Many colleagues who have volunteered have found the model valid and interesting and have become involved as observers in the next Learning Rounds. In some schools most colleagues have been both the observed and the observer and this has proved a very fruitful model in terms of prompting and sustaining systemic change.
How to organise Learning Rounds Involvement in the Learning Rounds process involves a number of key stages. Relevant documentation and materials which can be used with staff in briefing and training sessions are included as Support Materials. Learning Rounds Planning and Preparation The LR initiator considers the membership of the observation team (eg: within one school, across a cluster, all DHTS from the authority, QIO Team, etc) All staff are briefed on the purpose and process associated with Learning Rounds. This is essential if all colleagues are to feel fully involved in the approach. The briefing session will be a maximum of an hour. You can find a briefing powerpoint and notes in Learning Rounds: Part 2 Following the briefing session, involvement is invited from colleagues who want to participate as either observers or have their classes observed Teams of 3 or 4 colleagues are established, though this can be bigger. The teams, wherever possible, are mixed in terms of subject discipline or age / stage or roles of observers. This allows for the widest learning opportunity for the staff involved. Again there may be exceptions dependent on the focus of the Learning Rounds. Participants have access as a group to specific training on the process and the use of the descriptive voice. The training session will be a minimum of 60 minutes and a maximum of 90. Resources to support this can be found in Learning Rounds: Part 2 and 3 The theme of the observation is agreed by the group in consultation with the LR initiator and will usually relate to an aspect of learning and teaching previously identified by the school or local authority. Examples of themes might be pupil engagement, pupils’ learning experience, learning about learning, learning relationships, active learning and levels of challenge. The team engage in a joint exploration of what they might expect to see within this theme. An activity – the Placemat activity – is described in Learning Rounds: Part 3 The LR co-ordinator shares the agreed theme with all staff The observation schedule is circulated to all staff. Depending on the number of staff involved and the theme being explored the observations may be over a number of ½ days Examples of observation schedule can be found in Learning Rounds: Part 3 Accommodation is identified for the full team to meet and the sub teams to have post observation discussions before the full team comes together again to agree a final summary of the evidence. Refreshments are arranged.
Learning Rounds on the day The observation team meet at least 30 minutes before the first scheduled visit. This allows for a recap of the approach and review of the theme being observed. The observers spend the morning in the allocated classes – the “ swap “ over times need to be adhered to in order to allow for as comprehensive an overview as possible Colleagues keep a record of what they see by whatever means suits them. There are no formal recording sheets Colleagues will take a morning break in the designated room. There should be no discussion at this stage of what has been observed At the end of the schedule, mirror teams meet for 15 – 20 minutes in the allocated rooms for the initial post observation discussions, and to begin to agree their descriptive data. The full team meet for an hour to exchange the evidence generated and agree a final consensus on what was seen using the descriptive voice Examples of the data generated can be found in Learning Rounds: Part 3 At the end of the Learning Rounds, the LR co-ordinator collates the information generated by the Learning Rounds Feedback is given to the LR Initiator as initially agreed Although there is no direct feedback to observed teachers, some coordinators have felt it important to offer a form of follow-up. This has included: Observed teachers gathering to have their participation acknowledged and to share their perceptions of the day Inviting observers and observed to share a sandwich lunch to discuss the process (but not the data) Thank you letters from the LR initiator sharing the descriptive data from the visit
Learning Rounds Next Steps Depending on the make up of the observation teams and the initial focus of the Learning Rounds the Next Steps discussion can take place in different phases: immediately after the conclusion of the discussions or at a future meeting with the LR Initiator. Collated feedback should also be given to all staff. It is essential that the discussion formulates a plan of action which supports the progress of learning and teaching for the establishment and/or authority. Evaluative comments will be included at this stage of the Learning Rounds as a way of supporting and challenging the school. This is particularly relevant if the school has engaged with external stakeholders as part of the observation team. See Learning Rounds: Part 3 for Next Steps Example
What next? If you are interested in finding out more about organising Learning Rounds, then you will find the materials in Learning Rounds: Part 2 and 3 useful.