Collaborative peer observation of teaching: enhancing academics’ collegiality and collaboration

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the extent to which collaborative peer observation of teaching (POT) as a process for teacher professional development could enhance collegiality and collaboration among academics. A single case study was conducted to investigate academics’ perceptions of their POT experience in the Vietnamese context. Purposive sampling was applied to select eleven academics at a university. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with individual participants and inductively thematically analysed . The findings show that reciprocal POT and collaborative discourse were perceived to nurture collegiality and collaboration between peers and facilitate their reflection and learning about teaching. Eight participants reported that POT made their peer relationships develop to a collegial relationship due to mutual trust and respect. However, there existed concerns in the peer relationship perceived by three other academics who did not develop collegiality. These findings suggest that to promote academics’ willingness and quality engagement in POT, it is necessary to allow academics to decide on the peer dynamics that work for them. It is also crucial to develop a supportive, constructive, and collegial culture whereby academics value POT as a scholarship of teaching. Further research may need to examine the impacts of potential contextual factors in the implementation of POT.