360 degree appraisal has taken
center stage for all professional organizations cutting across sectors and
levels. Peers form the new range of stakeholders (read as the backbone) out of
the whole lot, who are given adequate importance while conducting an appraisal
solely for the developmental causes of individual professional growth and the overall
organization at large. Learning from peer by sharing information had been in
vogue for time immemorial. The emergence of knowledge sectors, viz. Information
Technology, Information Technology enabled Sectors, Biotechnology have given
new dimension to learning and development of the employees so as to create a
culture of holistic growth in line with the organizational vision and mission. Prof.
Salim Saeed Salim Bani Orabah, Head of Section, English Language Programs, Ibra
College of Technology(ICT) and Prof. Haroun Mohammed Abdullah Al-Baloushi,
Lecturer, English, Ibra College of Technology having decades of experience in
formulating, implementing and publishing the first-hand experience of peer
observation in the Ministry of Education, Sultanate of Oman, have presented the
same to a Higher Education Institution (HEI) set-up, vis-à-vis that of Ibra
College of Technology, one of the seven colleges monitored, controlled and
administered by the Ministry of Manpower, Sultanate of Oman. The duo has
provided the academics and academic administrators of ICT with substantial
value addition to the teaching-learning environment of the targeted institution
that in turn would also provide food for thought for all other HEI in the
Sultanate of Oman and rest of the world. The focused workshop conducted by the
in-house experts comprising of audience entailing the teaching faculties from
the Business Studies, Engineering, Information Technology, English Language
Center, along with the administrative staff clarified all the three phases in an
academic oriented peer observation, i.e. pre-observation, observation and
post-observation. The hands-on approach adopted by the facilitators during the
workshop, allowed the participants to understand the significance of peer
observation in an HEI set-up, primarily for self-development, finally
culminating in leveraging the much needed metamorphosis in the
teaching-learning environment of the educational institution. The greatest
benefit from such an observational methodology unlike a routine one conducted
solely with the objective of performance appraisal by the immediate supervisors
is the fact that the onus lies more with the observee rather than the observer,
although the learning derived by the latter in order to mature as a
professional observer acts as the perfect icing on the cake. The complete paper
authored by Prof. Salim Saeed Salim Bani Orabah detailing peer observation, can
be accessed from http://www.moe.gov.om/Portal/sitebuilder/Sites/EPS/Arabic/IPS/Importa/tesol/6/Teachers%E2%80%99%20beliefs%20about%20peer%20observation.pdf
. The experts can be reached at sbaniorabah@ict.edu.om and haroun@ict.edu.om .
