Abstract:

Theoretical background:
Peer observation is considered to be as beneficial to the observer as it is to the observed teacher (Bailey et al., 1999). By observing peers teachers ”construct own knowledge and engage in the type of learning” (Fanselow, 1988:116). Peer observation can cause the observer to reflect on his or her own teaching practice (Zacharias, 2012).

Aim:
This study attempts to gain an insight into the nature of peer observation as a learning experience in pre-service teaching practice. It addresses the following questions:
1.) What were the focuses of observation in student teachers' peer observations?;
2.) What aspects of teaching were discussed between the observed student teacher and the student teacher-observer in post-observation sessions?;
3.) What did student teachers-observers report to have learnt from observing peers?

Participants:
The participants in this study were sixty-one student teachers of English language and literature at a Croatian university. The study was made during the students' school-based teaching practice that is organised in the last semester of Teacher Education programme.

Procedures:
Each participant was both the observer and the observed. The observer observed and recorded the focus of observation agreed on in pre-observation session. The observer and the observed met after the lesson to discuss what was observed. Both parties wrote a peer observation report. The observer's report contained the focus of observation, data collected by observation, questions that were discussed in a post-observation session and the description of what the observer had learnt from the observed lesson. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the observers' reports was made to answer the research questions.

Findings:
The results of the analysis show that the most frequent focuses of peer observations were lesson planning and learners' involvement. Questions that were discussed in the post-observation sessions were most often in the area of classroom management and teacher behaviour. The majority of learning outcomes reported by the observers are in the area of lesson planning (ideas for teaching) and teacher behaviour (rapport). The findings are discussed and the implications for teacher education programme are pointed out.

Keywords:

Pre-service teaching, student teachers of English, peer observation, learning from peer observation.