Discourses of peer observation in higher education: Event or system?

Abstract

This paper offers a new perspective on exploring peer observation (PO) as an event or system, and contributes to the discussion on what happens after the PO cycle in terms of opportunities for dissemination. Data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with members of academic staff in a UK higher education institution about their managerial roles in the PO scheme. An analysis of the interview transcripts revealed a dominant regulative discourse around PO as an event with corresponding instructional discourse focused on the procedures and administration of the scheme. We argue that middle managers are in a unique position to determine how PO can be shared in the learning and teaching community. This requires a considerable shift in the prevailing discourse around the purposes and potential of PO as part of a wider professional development system and we make suggestions for how this might be promoted.