One of my main takeaways from this session on “peer observation” was the idea that came up of a lecturer’s goal or focus to be that of “engagement” and “entertainment”. To engage and entertain is something that I hope I achieve with my lectures, seminars and tutorials naturally, but it was not, until now, incorporated into the main goal. In the past through my journey from filmmaking to teaching to filmmaking and back again, I have been focused on content and the best way to convey/transfer/deliver that content, whether it’s through audio-visual material, conversation, and/or exercises group/individual – but never has it dawned on me that content is not the only primary goal.
After this session where we read various case studies of peer observation and an article “Teaching with Integrity: The ethics of higher education practice” by Bruce Macfarlane (2004), I began to pay more attention to how my colleagues structure their lectures and seminars – things I could glean, steal, build upon and develop – the small differences, positives and negatives, the opportunities for engagement and interaction with the students which had been missed, or the clever positioning of exercises to bring back energy and attention to a potentially wavering student group during a long session. I am lucky in that I have lecturing experience across several institutions, and I am currently lecturing both at Chelsea and LCC at UAL and Falmouth University.