DH is a hard working and conscientious English Teacher,but he got slated..

[time4me]

He got a Grade 4 for his classroom observation by an inspector who is a science teacher.She said he was enthusiatic and demonstrated very good subject knowledge,but his lesson was too Teacher led.
He is devastated especially as his colleagues all got grade 1 or 2.He has written an angry letter to her.I am not sure if this is the correct way forward.
He is so hard working and caring about his students,this has hit him hard.Any suggestions,or advice,gratefully received.

I'm a teacher as well. Tell to remember it was one persons opinion. I am a good teacher and my ch are happy, love learning etc but I have had crap observations. I get nervous and try too hard when being obs. Inspectors are often a bit removed from reality anyway. Can't hack it as a teacher so become an inspector.I wouldn't send the letter although it was probably helpful to write it down and get it out. He knows he is good and his students are happy so thats the main thing. Maybe ask someone else to obs him and give him second opinion.

Thanks Fiona,that was so helpful,yes you must indeed be caring.
Please,anyone out there with more advice,or experience.My dh is so upset.

Was this for Ofsted? I'm not surprised he is upset. Did he get much specific feedback about the lesson.

I would encourage him to talk to his line manager first, and ensure he has some in-house lesson observations. I'm sure they will be positive, which will boost his confidence and his performance management file.

Ofsted inspections are now very much focused on students' learning, and demonstrating that every student in every class is actively learning.

We have been told that a lesson will get a grade 4 if one single child in a class is not demonstrably learning - i.e. if they cannot tell you what the lesson objectives are, have not participated in the lesson, haven't written anything down, and cannot tell you what they have learned in the lesson.

This can be particularly tricky with short (20-30 min) observations. A colleague was observed with a tricky yr9 class, who were unusually well-behaved and focused. The starter went really well - all students completed, and large numbers actively participated in the feedback. There followed the 'main teaching session' which again was active, and involved students answering questions and joining in. Then she set the main student task for the lesson - creating a mindmap (about 20 mins into the lesson). The inspector left 5 mins after that and gave her a grade 4, because at the point he left some students had only written the main central heading for the mindmap.

She was devastated.

Apparently this grading is completely justified
Cloud cuckoo land if you ask me.

I don't know anything about this particularly time4me but is there an appeals process that he could take if he is not happy with his grade?

How utterly ridiculous flowery. There has to be a better way of assessing that does not leave committed and hard working and caring teachers feeling as bad as your DH does.

Surely there must be occasions where a more teacher led lesson could be seen as totally appropriate anyway - when the class just need more direction for whatever reason. Surely there is room for a balance of styles and surely not EVERY single lesson has to be one way only - I would have thought that was one of the bonsuses of being a teacher, that you are able to gauge the mood and needs of the class and react accordingly to keep them motivated? or perhaps I have an idealised view!

I think personally he should go to his head of department - they may be able to give him a better perspective on things and it's in their interests to keep good teachers motivated. If they really disagree with the inspector I guess they could then take their view to the Head?

I am assuming you weren't meaning I was ridiculous there HG..?!

err no of course I was meaning the inspector!

It was the reference to my DH that foxed me, rather than OP's.

Total sympathy to a fellow English teacher.

Dh having his 4th Ofsted in 2 years on Monday (because of moving schools & because one in special measures) and in that space he has been adjudged from everything from 'satisfactory' to 'very good with some outstanding features'! He hasn't changed his style of teaching; it just shows what a subjective experience it is, based upon whatever is the educational buzzword of the day. Nor is he stressing about Monday. He says look at the results he gets from students he has.

Is this Ofsted btw?

These replies are so helpful.It wasn`t OFSTED,just an internal thing.
He is determined to give this woman his two paged defence of his lesson,which ends with the assertion that the process was destructive and not constructive.Roisin your comment was particularly interesting,thanks.
I am feeling so concerned for DH as he has taken it very very badly,especially as he said all his colleagues got a 1 or 2,he says he is feeling very embarrassed as well as gutted.He is considering giving up his job now and doing support teaching nearer home.At the moment I think this could be the right course of action as his job is 12 hours a week,but he spends every minute when he is not there preparing jazzy powerpoints and the like.The students are often difficult,dh has a 40 mile trip by walking,bus and train per day.He leaves the house at 6 am!! The 12 hours are spread over 3 days,but the 3 days feel fulltime. Meanwhile we have a severely disabled son of 19 leaving school soon.So if dh did support work nearer home that might be less stressful all round for just a bit less money.But the sad thing is has a top Oxford degree,loves his subject and is so dedicated.But looking at the bigger picture,I think the support worker option could mean a better quality of life for all of us.

I wouldn't give much credence to what a science teacher has said unless the same science teacher saw the other colleagues in his dept too. Much more useful is to have subject specialist feedback as they know what they are looking at. Has he had any other observations in the time he has been there and how have they gone?

Being assessed in teaching is always so personal because it's a reflection of you, you put so much of yourself into it so when someone doesn't like what they see it feels as if it's a criticism of you the person.
Can I ask how long dh has been teaching?

Is his Head of Department supportive? Confidence is crucial in teaching, and in my school if someone got a 4 for a lesson observation, the next step would be to get some support and advice, and for someone to come in and observe a 'nice/easy class' - say top set yr7s on a Tuesday morning, not low set yr9s on a Thursday afternoon!

Has he been working there long? If he has a good track record of getting students to achieve their minimum target grades then lesson observations are less important.

Having said all that it does sound as though there are many other issues in your life atm.

The fact that he is so embarassed and gutted is a problem. My dh is a teacher and he has just said to me that he has been observed 4 times this year (all internal) and that the culture of observations has become much more normal - he said if he got a 4 he would think:

"It's a 100 minutes out my life, I do 33 times 100 minute lessons a cycle - there is no way that one I just got a 4 for means anything apart from a snapshot of one day"

They need to become more normal, more random, more open - being "gutted" needs to be got over, it is not necessarily a reflection of how fantastic he is.

You have lots of issues in your life, maybe he's gutted cos it felt like the one thing that was going right for him??

It is a very small kick-in-the-teeth, try and get him to dust himself off and see it for what it was. Forget the angry letter, don't bother comparing yourself to other teachers (actually don't compare yourself to anyone - he sounds like he has a lot going for him) and try and move forward with a positive outlook. A lot of the harshness about his performance is coming from himself - he sounds like he is really beating himself up.

Good luck

Excellent post Laurie - that puts it in perspective.

Thanks Laurie,spot on.He has been up a since 8 on a lovely day preparing more worksheets etc.I shall just have to go for a walk on my own.Sundays are always like this,and I do get very frustrated.
Teaching seems to be the main thing in his life,he devotes so much time to it.I often tell him to work smart,but he still spends hours and hours on one task.At Oxford he sacrificed everything ( his tutors words) to get the top grades,and he did.
Behavioural problems have been a big issue this year.His line manager has told him not to worry about it,but obviously it has ruined the weekend.The other option is for him to work in a private school over the road teaching sixth form pupils,maybe his style would go down well there.He has always resisted this on principle,although he was privately educated himself.He has been at the school for 26 years and it is the only job he has ever had.