The school system in modern times requires many new skills from a teacher, such as creativity, adaptability, etc. In order for a teacher to follow new trends he must exert continuous professional development. One of the factors of effective professional development of teachers could also be connect with other teachers, as teachers learn from each other. In many schools, teachers are now successfully connecting to each other through the joint planning of lessons and other activities as well as regular team meetings. Exchange of experiences and help between teachers undoubtedly has an impact on the professional growth of all participating teachers who see this as an opportunity for their own development. The development depends primarily on teachers and goes through different stages. Many authors have developed models of professional development based on the number of years of work experience.
In this thesis we have dealt with how teachers assess the importance of cooperation between teachers and how this cooperation affects their professional development. We are focusing on teaching observations among teachers. We were interested in the quation of which forms teachers most often take part, how often teaching observations are carried out in schools and the attitude of teachers to teaching observations among peers, while we were also interested whether the number of teaching observations among peers in a school is associated with the opinion of teachers about the importance of teaching observation for professional development, that is to say, whether teaching observations among peers affect the changes in their own teaching.
We found that teachers estimate that the collegial collaboration among them is good, that they repeatedly engage in various forms, while almost never in the form of teaching observations among peers, or only once a year. Nevertheless, the majority of teachers felt that the teaching observations among peers is a factor that could contribute to their professional development, irrespective of whether they are observers or are observed by other teachers. Teachers in the 2nd and 3rd educational period consider teaching observations among peers to be more effective than those executed by principals, while the views of class teachers on the matter are more ambivalent. The survey revealed that most teachers do not agree that they learn more in classrooms, led by a more experienced teacher, while at the same time they are more relaxed if they are being watched by a younger teacher or a student. An important factor in successful teaching observations among peers is mutual respect and critical friendship, as was stated by majority of teachers. They state further that certain knowledge that they witness during teaching observations among peers can be later used in their teaching. Many teachers do not agree with the view that especially younger teachers should be involved in teaching observations among peers, however they believe that an important role in the relation of teachers towards teaching observations is played by leadership. Most teachers indicate organizational problems (substitution, schedule, etc.) as an important obstacle to the implementation of teaching observations among peers.
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