Individuals preparing to enter the teaching profession must spend a designated amount of time observing a working teacher as part of their training for the profession. The key points in this kind of classroom observation include looking for the strategies the teacher applies in the classroom and then analyzing those strategies. The student teacher may also look for problems or possible problems in a particular classroom setting for the purpose of devising potential solutions. The student teacher observer will also use classroom observation experiences to gain insights into procedures, rules and methods applied in the classroom setting.
A parent may want to observe classrooms in different schools to make an appropriate enrollment choice for a preschool child or an older child when considering transferring to a different school. A parent may also observe the class of a child that already attends a particular school. A parent observing a classroom the child already attends will observe for such things as interactions within the classroom. An effective parent observer will look for how the children interact with one another, the teacher, classroom materials and classroom activities. A parent observer also needs to make note of children displaying different learning styles and how the teacher assists each child in realizing the preferred learning style. A parent considering different schools for future enrollment may also want to observe for evidence of educational philosophies that either coincide with or conflict with their individual family value system.
Tenured or non-tenured teachers may have different schedules for evaluative classroom observations. Principals, school board members, and school system superintendents may have the right to observe for this purpose in public school systems. Religious school systems may designate religious order superiors or clergy persons with authority over the congregation where the school operates to conduct such appraisals through classroom observation. This type of classroom observation has the authority figure observing and evaluating for such teacher competencies as content knowledge, teaching strategy skills, and planning and preparation capabilities.
Another type of classroom observation involves the program assessment or walk-through evaluation. A walk-through classroom observation has the purpose of evaluating the implementation of specific content, such as a pilot program. Walk-through evaluations may also observe implementation of revised content structure for a specific subject such as history, religious studies or a foreign language. While the walk-through evaluation can involve the observation of an entire class, it can also incorporate shorter observation intervals of approximately 10 to 15 minutes. This type of classroom observation also seeks to identify ways to improve the integration of that content into one or more classrooms in the school system.