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Atthetimeofthiswriting,thisobservationhasnotyettakenplace,sotheresultsarenotyetknown.However,astheprimarypurposeofthetaskandtheprocessoftaskdesignwastointroducetheconceptoffocusedlessobservationtaskstotheinstructorwiththeguidanceoftheOPELTdirector,thisinstructor'staskdoesprovideanilluminatingexampleofhowfocusedobservationcanbecarriedout.5BenefitsoftheLessonObservationSystemThislessonobservationsystemhasprovidedanumberoftangiblebenefitstoOPELTinstructors;notonlytonewteachers,buttoexperiencedteachersandofcoursetotheprogramasawhole.5.1NewTeachersThemostimportantbenefitfornewteachersisexposuretospecific,usablefeedbackfrommore-experiencedteachers,butatleastasimportantly,thisfeedbackispresentedfromthepointofviewofapeerratherthanasuperior.Thisreinforcesnewteachers'confidenceintheirknowledgeandeducationinlanguagepedagogy,andhelpstofosteracollegiateatmosphereintheprogram.Inaddition,bydesign,thebulkofthefeedbackisindependentofpurepersonalpreferencesinteaching.Eachteacherisunique,andadvicethatboilsdowntodifferencesinpersonalphilosophyisalltooeasytoignore,ifnotactivelyunhelpful.Bybasingthediscussioninempiricallyobservabledata,thisbiascanbeavoided.Newteachersalsogetexperiencefromdesigningtheobservationtasksthemselves,whichnecessarilyrequiresthemtoreflectontheirownteachinginamindfulway.Self-assessmentiswidely-acknowledgedasanimportanttoolincontinuingprofessionaldevelopment,andevenafterinstructorsleaveOPELTandenterteachingenvironmentswithoutourpeer-ledobservationsystem,theskillstheyacquireindesigningandcarryingoutself-assessmentwillcontinuetobehelpfultothem.Finally,newteachersgetimportantchancestoobservemore-experiencedteachers'lessons,againaspeersinsteadofstudents.Manynewinstructorsneverhaveachancetoobserveanexperiencedteacher'slessonduringtheireducation,andfewteachingprogramsoffercontinuedchancestodoso.Exposuretoawidevarietyofteachingphilosophiesandstylesisanimportantfactorinfurthergrowthanddevelopmentasateacher.5.2ExperiencedTeachersItisquiteunusualforexperiencedteacherstohavethechancetohavetheirlessonsobserved,andthebenefitsoflessonobservationarewell-understood.First,theguidedlessonobservationisachancetoinvestigateunexaminedhabits,ortoverifyorfalsifysuspicionsaboutexistinghabits.Manyteachershaveideasabouthowtheyruntheirclassesminute-to-minute,butaswehaveseenfromtheexamplesoftasksusedinthePASEOobservationprogram,thesesuspicionsareasoftenfalseastrue.Verifiable,quantifiabledataaboutone'sownlessonsisapowerfultoolintheteacher'sprofessionaldevelopmenttoolkit.Inaddition,notafewexperiencedteachershaveneverdesignedorcarriedoutalessonobservationtaskatall,oratleasthaveneverdonesosincetheirinitialeducationasteachers.Real-worlddesignandimplementationofobservationtasksisquitedifferentfromthetheoreticalideal,asisreal-worldanalysisofresults.Finally,thelessonobservationsystemgivesexperiencedteachersachancetomentornewerteachersinastrictly-guidedfashion,againindependentofpersonalpreferencesorteachingstyles.Thisbenefithastwoaspects:First,experiencedteacherscanteachnewinstructorsbyexample,withrealvideofootageofaclassroominaction,exposingthenewerteacherstoclassroommanagementandteachingtechniquesthatmightnevercomeupinanopendiscussionofteaching.Second,experiencedteachers'observationtaskdesigncanshowwhataspectsoftheirteachingtheyfeelisthemostimportant,whichagaincanimpartimportantinformationaboutday-to-dayclassroommanagementthatmightnotcomeupinmoregeneraldiscussions.―23―UsingVideoforTeacher-DrivenPeerObservation