Curriculum Leadership Development (CLD) Programme Experience Sharing on Subject Plan Writing and Workshop on Conducting Effective Lesson Observation

Date :

19 October 2018 (Friday)

Time :

Experience Sharing: 1:15 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Workshop: 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Place :

SKH Yautong Kei Hin Primary School

Objectives of the Sharing Session :

• To provide a platform for participants of the CLD programme to share their experiences in writing up a subject plan, the difficulties or challenges they encountered and possible solutions

• To provide an opportunity for the CLD members to get to know more about the focuses implemented in the English subject in other CLD schools and the strategies they have adopted

Objectives of the Workshop :

• To help curriculum leaders understand how English teachers' professional capacity can be enhanced through focused lesson observation

• To demonstrate how effective lesson observation can be used as a vehicle to promote professional growth and foster a learning culture in the English panel

• To explore how formative lesson observation practices will help improve student learning

1:15 pm - 2:00 pm

Curriculum leaders from different schools took turns to share one of the focuses in their subject plans, including the strategies adopted, difficulties encountered and possible solution(s). They were eager to use this opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences and learn from each other.

2:00 pm - 2:15 pm

Reflecting on schools' practices in conducting lesson observation

• Results of the pre-workshop Google Form survey on lesson observation practices collected from participants were shared to provide an overview of the general picture among CLD schools.

• Related questions were brainstormed to raise the participants' awareness of conducting effective lesson observation:

    -  How to make the purposes well-known to the panel before conducting lesson observation?

    -  How to engage and enable the whole panel in conducting lesson observations more effectively?

    -  What is the role as a curriculum leader in leading the panel to conduct effective lesson observation?

2:15 pm - 2:35 pm

Engaging and enabling the whole panel in conducting lesson observation

• Ms Nancy Chan from Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School shared about cultivating a positive learning culture in schools through the following strategies:

    -  translating the vision into action

    -  proposing workable strategies to build up teachers' confidence

2:35 pm - 3:20 pm

Preparing observers for a focused lesson observation

• Ms Harriet Chow from Buddhist Wong Cheuk Um Primary School shared her lesson (video extracts) on how to use an observation tool to plan and evaluate a lesson effectively.

• After observing the lesson, the participants worked in groups to share their feedback on the lesson observed.

• A variety of useful lesson observation tools was introduced to facilitate a more evidence-based discussion and reflection during the post-observation discussion.

3:20 pm - 3:35 pm

3:35 pm - 4:40 pm

Transforming observation into quality feedback and maintaining a professional dialogue

• The participants took part in a role-play of a post-lesson observation conference with the use of a lesson observation protocol to guide their discussion. They also shared useful strategies curriculum leaders may adopt to cope with difficult post-lesson observation conference scenarios.

• Mr Samuel Kam from Mu Kuang English School shared his experience of transforming observation comments to constructive feedback for a post-lesson observation conference.

• The participants reflected on their lesson observation practices in the group discussion.

• Ms Nancy Chan from Baptist (Sha Tin Wai) Lui Ming Choi Primary School introduced the KJ method for organising and conceptualising post-lesson observations made in a lesson.

• Participants worked in groups to try out the method through interactive activities.

4:40 pm - 5:00 pm

Lesson observation is a tripartite platform among curriculum leaders, observers and the observed teachers on which a learning community may be built through critical enquiry into language learning and teaching. The joint effort made by the whole panel facilitates the school to plan for ongoing curriculum development that would ultimately lead to better student learning.