Using Peer Observation and Feedback to Reduce Principals′ Isolation
| Published date | 01 February 1989 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09578238910135027 |
| Date | 01 February 1989 |
| Author | Bruce G. Barnett |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Journal of
Educational
Administration
27,2
46
Using Peer Observation and
Feedback to Reduce Principals'
Isolation
by
Bruce G. Barnett
Indiana University, USA
Teachers and principals tend to lead professionally isolated lives from
their
peers.
Although there is evidence that collegiality among teachers
increases when they have opportunities to observe one another, discuss
their teaching practices and jointly prepare instructional materials[1],
few teachers engage in such activities. Instead, the prevailing norm
is for teachers to remain in confined classrooms, maintaining a high
degree of autonomy from other teachers and administrators.
Likewise, principals rarely interact with other administrators about
important issues pertaining to leadership, curriculum and instructional
practices. Typically, there is only one administrator for each school
(especially in elementary schools) which makes it difficult to interact
with other administrators on a routine basis. Principals' dealings with
their peers often revolve around bureaucratic or managerial matters
such as budgeting, transportation and scheduling. Few occasions exist
for principals to get an in-depth understanding of how other
administrators handle similar situations or to observe one another in
action.
Clearly, the structure of schools and the daily demands on principals contribute
to the isolation they experience. Nevertheless, a growing number of in-service
training programmes for principals provide
ways
for them
to
interact meaningfully
with other school administrators[2,3,4]. One such training programme with the
express purpose of
reducing
principals' sense of isolation through peer observation
and feedback is Peer-Assisted Leadership (PAL) which has been developed by
the staff of the Far West Laboratory (FWL) in San Francisco. In order to explore
how PAL affects principals and their isolation, this article will review the
development and operation of the programme; will describe the types of effects
the programme has on participants; and will discuss the efficacy of this approach
compared with other, less intensive staff development programmes.
The Peer-Assisted Leadership Programme
Development
of
the Programme
The basic components of PAL are derived from the case study research on
principalship conducted by FWL staff[5,6]. As such, the training programme is
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