[MUSIC] I'm Margery McMahon and I'm a Senior Lecturer in Professional Learning and Leadership in the school of education at the University of Glasgow. I have another role as chair of the XE Committee, which the International Congress on School Effectiveness and Improvement. A very, a prestigious organization that we're pleased to be welcome in to Glasgow in 2016, January 2016 for it's annual congress. So creating a climate, a trusting climate and a professional climate for giving feedback that can helps somebody develop and enhance their practice that absolute far might from the old set and the only thing I would say is that it's very tempting and very easy to start from saying, if, if I were you, this is what I would do. And in the rule of getting feedback requires quite a lot of restraint do not go in, in the first instance and do that. But to actually, work with the practitioners and help them identify their areas of strengths and areas that they feel themselves that need to progress. And quite often, my experience working with practitioners. If, if something has gone badly often practitioners know that. What they need is to be helped to identify what they can do to move that forward and address it. So really in essence, its about development a coaching model in terms of giving feedback and feedback that will actually help a, a practitioner develop with confidence and competence as well. I think what's, what, what's important by coaching and what we see, hear back plus feedback from participants that, that we would use coaching much is that practitioners have helped to reach their own solutions. They're not getting ready made solutions that in fact through the careful questioning and propositioning that, that a mentor or a critical friend or a coach would give that a practitioner's able to, to identify a course of action. But want that they have constructed themselves that they have come to solutions guided by that expert other that expert critical friend. But actually, that is, it's a, it's a path of development that they own, it's not imposed upon them. And, you know, if we talking about treacherous being autonomous professionals, then that's an important part of that process that they reach that, that stage of, of decision making for themselves. That they have control over their own development, but actually that they're also assisted in developing the critical skills that enables them to reflect to what's gone well, what needs to be addressed and needs to be improve and also to be able to identify the next steps. I too have the privilege to have visit Gamma, so familiar with, with, with the context there. And whatever, whatever I think that a look context is absolutely critical and important. There are some core principles and approaches to practice and to, approaches to professional relationships. That should be followed forever beyond the world and that is about going back to that building that professional trust on a number of levels. Giving feedback to a practitioner that is helpful to them, that it isn't personally directed that, and that's I think is quite highly skilled as well to be able to, to remove the individual and recognize it that this is, this is a scenario of professional practice. That might be relevant for a number of other practitioners. So giving feed back that is, is, is directed and it's relevant and it's focused and it's evidence-based, I, I think that applies whatever the context. I think in, in peer-to-peer feedback, particularly in an early stage where we're not too familiar with it, it's tempting to adapt the softer approach to really focus in on this is, I really like that or I was impressed by that and actually to flatter. I, I think it's important to praised, praise good work and innovative practice and so on. But if we taken that rule of pure support seriously and the way that it's meant to be, then it's also about saying, well, I really liked this aspect of your work, but I wonder why you adopted a particular approach or why you felt that wasn't successful. So I think, there's a, there's a frankness required of it and that's where I think the, the first stage of that relationship building has got to be about agreeing the parameters and agreeing about here's what we'll do and it could be simply an approach where I mean, one of their coaches that I've seen recently a, a, adapted and have used with practitioners here is to get feedback on the basis. Well, what I really like about your session was and then to follow that up with saying that it would be even better if you adopted the following strategies. Now that is a very simple approach, but actually it works extremely well for practitioners, because it gets that balance between the things that have been successful and effective but also identifying the things or the areas that might need further development. I think we have to be sensitive to individuals. I think we have to frank, we have to avoid being dishonest. And not split out element of professional trust comes in, but sensitivity as well to, to, to individuals absolutely critical. And in giving feedback at whatever stage that has, has got to be, for feedback to be most useful to helping somebody develop the practice. It's got to be very focused, it's got to be precise. It's got to be evidence based and it's got to focus in on learning. And learning is got to be the center of all of these with, you know, a longer term vision of. Well, what differences is making to the learning of the young people in my classroom. If we keep the focus on learning, then that's a good step forward. [MUSIC]
