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After the ‘Learning Walk’: Turning Lesson Observations into Meaningful Professional Development

A useful lesson observation should tell us more than what the teacher was doing. It should help us understand what learners were experiencing, what they understood and where there may be opportunities to improve teaching and learning.

Whether your organisation uses ‘learning walks,’ developmental observations or formal lesson observations, the aim is to gather meaningful evidence that supports reflection, professional dialogue and improvement.

In Further Education, context matters. What you might look for in an engineering workshop can be very different from what you would observe in a business studies seminar, photography studio or health and social care session.

But how do we turn these observations into meaningful professional development?

Let’s explore a practical example from a Level 3 Engineering course, following the process from preparation and observation through to feedback, coaching and CPD planning, and showing how four TeacherMatic generators can support each stage.

Preparing for an Observation with Lesson Observation Prompts

Before an observation, it can be useful to prepare a focused set of questions to guide you through your ‘learning walk.’ The Lesson Observation Prompts generator can support you by providing a practical starting point:

1. Before the ‘Learning Walk’

Create prompts based on a specific course or subject and lesson topic, focusing on areas like individualised feedback or subject-specific health and safety, to make the observation questions more targeted and relevant, not generic.

For example, when preparing for an engineering session, you can enter:

Course or subject: Level 3 Engineering
Lesson topic: Using a centre lathe to produce a component to specified tolerances

There are also options to include your institution’s Lesson Observation Policy or Procedures as guidance, then select how many prompts you need. The AI-generated questions can then guide your observations.

For example:

How effectively does the teacher demonstrate the safe setup and operation of the centre lathe?
How does the teacher check that learners understand the relationship between the engineering drawing, specified tolerances and machining process?
To what extent are learners able to apply the demonstrated technique independently?
How effectively does questioning check understanding before learners operate the equipment?
What individualised feedback do learners receive as they measure and refine their components?
How consistently do learners understand and apply relevant workshop health and safety procedures?

It is important to note that these are useful starting points, as institutional requirements or standards may not be covered by the generated prompts. These will need to be checked and can also be adapted to suit your needs and context.

2. During the ‘Learning Walk’

Once the observation session begins, it can be easy to record shorthand notes with comments that make sense in the moment; however, they may be less clear when you refer to them or share them later. Instead, you can capture specific evidence to discuss afterwards with more clarity.

Now, imagine the engineering session being observed is an engineering demonstration:

Learners are asked to identify the required dimensions and tolerances before the teacher demonstrates the machining process.
The teacher explains which adjustments to make and why those adjustments affect the accuracy of the finished component.
Once practical work begins, the teacher circulates around the workshop, asking learners to explain their measurements and consider their next adjustment, rather than pointing out or correcting errors themselves.
Several learners independently use measuring equipment to check their work against the specification before making refinements.

The following is another real-world observation example:

During the initial demonstration, most questions are answered by the same small group of confident learners. Then, when everyone moves to the practical activity, two other learners need the first stage explained again before they can proceed independently.

There is a difference between types of lesson observations that can be recorded in shorthand compared to those that are more detailed and specific:

Shorthand/ generic: ‘Some learners weren’t engaged.’
Specific: ‘Most questions during the initial demonstration were answered by the same small group of learners. When practical work began, two other learners needed the first stage explained again before proceeding independently.’

The specific observation records what the observer actually saw without making assumptions about why something happened. This distinction matters significantly when the conversation moves from observation to feedback.

Turn Observation Notes Into Evidence with Lesson Observation Feedback

After the lesson, the observer can use TeacherMatic’s Lesson Observation Feedback generator to organise their notes into draft feedback.

In our engineering example, the observer may have identified the following:

Strengths:

Clear technical modelling linked to engineering drawings and specified tolerances.
Effective individual questioning and feedback while learners complete practical work.

Area to explore:

Broadening participation during whole-group demonstrations to gain a clearer picture of understanding beyond the most confident learners.

These identify very specific points:

Whole-group questioning during the demonstration didn’t necessarily reveal what everyone understood before independent work began.

This creates a more useful starting point for observation feedback, keeping professional judgement at the centre of the observation process. The observer should then review and edit the draft using their professional judgement, ensuring it accurately reflects the evidence, context and conversation.

Once the draft is generated, the observer still needs to ask:

Does this accurately represent what I observed?
Is every statement supported by my evidence?
Does the wording reflect the context?
Is anything being overstated?
Will this help create a useful professional conversation?

Explore Next Steps with Coaching Prompts

Once a focus area has been identified, how do you tackle this next? Is it a conversation that begins with, ‘Next time, you should…’?

While constructive advice is beneficial, there can be higher-quality questions that help the teacher identify an approach that fits their teaching, learners and environment.

TeacherMatic’s Coaching Prompts generator can help you prepare for that conversation by providing prompts and questions based on recognised coaching models, including GROW, CLEAR, FUEL, STEPPA, and OSKAR, and coaching styles such as directive, non-directive, collaborative and minimal guidance.

Using the engineering example, the observer can provide the following prompt details:

Who will you be working with? A teacher.
Sector: Further Education.
What is this meeting about? Exploring ways to check understanding and involve a broader range of learners during practical engineering demonstrations.

Useful generator prompts may include:

What do you think worked particularly well during the demonstration?
What did you notice about who was answering your questions?
How confident were you that everyone understood the first stage before moving to the machines?
What other ways could you check understanding without significantly extending the demonstration?
Which approach would feel realistic to try in your next practical session?

TeacherMatic explicitly states that the generator is advisory, AI is not a qualified coaching practitioner, and the person conducting the session remains fully responsible and in control.

We understand that effective coaching involves listening, responding to the individual, understanding context and knowing when to explore something further. The generated prompts give the human coach something practical to work with as another starting point with which to use or adapt as they see fit.

One Effective Next Step with the CPD Action Planner

After a successful coaching conversation, why not agree with the teacher to try one manageable development target first?

From the engineering example, this could be:

Over the next three practical engineering sessions, introduce one whole-group ‘understanding check-in’ before learners begin their independent learning or activity, using a method that gathers responses from all learners, not just confident speakers or those who volunteer questions and answers.
Then, you can review the effectiveness of this step after the third session of implementing it.

With TeacherMatic’s CPD Action Planner, the observed strengths and areas for improvement, along with the faculty and subject specialism, can be used to draft a SMART action plan.

The generated action plan is designed to support discussions with goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

TeacherMatic advises users to check suggestions for relevance and adapt potentially generic recommendations to the exact situation, as the number of sessions may not be realistic, the teacher may suggest a better way to judge whether the change has helped, or the conversation may identify a completely different action plan.

From Observations to Professional Development

These four TeacherMatic AI tools can be used to support one connected workflow:

Prepare: Use Lesson Observation Prompts to think about relevant questions for the particular subject and lesson.
Observe: Focus on what learners and the teacher say and demonstrate. Record specific evidence rather than relying on broad impressions.
Structure: Use Lesson Observation Feedback to help turn your evidence into a first draft, then review and adapt using your professional judgement.
Discuss: Give the teacher space to reflect on the lesson and add context to what was observed.
Coach: Use Coaching Prompts to prepare questions that can help explore an agreed priority for development.
Act: Use CPD Action Planner as a starting point for turning an agreed priority into a realistic SMART action.
Revisit: Return to the SMART action to review what happened when the teacher implemented it, what they noticed, the difference it made for the learners and what should happen next, etc.

Your Next FE ‘Learning Walk’ Checklist

If you’re preparing for an observation or ‘learning walk,’ try these questions and guidance:

Before:

☐ What is this session trying to achieve?
☐ What are you looking for from the learners as well as the teacher?
☐ Are there subject-specific considerations?
☐ What does your college’s observation policy or procedure require?

During:

☐ Record specific examples rather than general impressions
☐ Notice what learners say, do and produce in the session
☐ Capture strengths as well as potential areas for focus and development
☐ Separate what you observed from what you inferred

After:

☐ Check your evidence before drafting feedback
☐ Give the teacher an opportunity to reflect first
☐ Explore context
☐ Recognise effective practice
☐ Agree one manageable development priority
☐ Turn the development priority into a specific SMART action
☐ Decide when and how you’ll revisit the SMART action to review its effectiveness

Download your printable checklist here.

Explore the AI Tools Featured in This Workflow Today

Log in to your TeacherMatic account to try Lesson Observation Prompts, Lesson Observation Feedback, Coaching Prompts and CPD Action Planner or get in touch to find out how TeacherMatic could support teaching, learning and professional development across your FE organisation.

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Supporting the Next Generation of Teachers

Lesson observations, constructive feedback and mentoring play an important role in helping trainee teachers develop their confidence, skills and professional judgement.

TeacherMatic supports this process with practical AI tools for lesson planning, observation, feedback, coaching and professional development, helping teacher trainers and mentors provide meaningful support throughout the training journey.

Discover how TeacherMatic supports teacher training, including insights from Shirley Green, Teaching Trainer and Development Manager at Newham College, in our interview exploring how AI can support trainee teachers and their mentors.

Explore TeacherMatic for Teacher Training and watch Shirley’s interview

Explore our Teacher Training webinar and practical insights

In our recent webinar, we explored how AI can support the teacher-development cycle, from observation and reflection to mentoring, coaching and CPD. The accompanying blog includes practical guidance, insights from Newham College and a recording of the session.

Read the blog and watch the webinar