I began my Doctorate of Education in 2008 and had a strong interest in developing teaching and learning. I wanted to know how learners could be involved more directly in the observation process to improve the quality of teaching. There were strong policy drivers pushing for the development of the 'expert learner' and student involvement initiatives, so there seemed to be something here worth consideration. A review of literature soon demonstrated that what little research had been done had been essentially in the compulsory education sector, and had been poorly documented in terms of methodology. My focus was on post-compulsory education, and I used an action research model to work with participants from an 'HE in FE' curriculum area. Participants came from a 2-year teacher training programme area, and the research used a peer observation format, 'pairing' the observing member of teaching staff with a second-year student: observations were conducted within first-year classes. Participants were provided with a pro forma to structure focus within the peer observations and post-observation discussions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with all participants throughout the research, with 'key' participants interviewed at several points throughout the time span to elicit their phenomenological interpretations. The data were interpreted through a combination of theoretical frameworks -- communities of practice and ecological learning systems, and a range of theoretical concepts around identity. [This content is provided in the format of an e-book.]