Peer observation

Peer observation (PO) is a reciprocal and symmetrical observation model that seeks to improve teacher professional development through peer learning (O'Leary & Savage, 2020). These are pairs of teachers, with similar degrees of experience and status, who agree to mutually observe one or several pedagogical aspects of their action in the classroom. These collect evidence from practice that is used to give and receive constructive feedback that allows reflection and the realization of objectives to improve the practice of both teachers (Duran et al., 2020).

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The PO must serve to improve one's own professional practice. As happens in the co-assessment between students, teachers also often better recognize our strengths and weaknesses, starting from identifying them in the practices of others. It is as if, looking at the other (acting as a mirror), we also look at ourselves in the mirror (Armitage et al., 2003).

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The PO becomes a mechanism for collaborative teaching inquiry that contributes to teaching professional development and has an impact on educational quality and the effectiveness of teaching-learning processes.

Of the different types of classroom observation, PO can promote learning between teachers more than observation by a more expert teacher or a supervisor, because it is based on formative dialogue (rather than in summative assessment) and because it is based on collaboration between teachers, not on hierarchical relationships that hinder the promotion of professional development (O'Leary, 2014).

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