EDUCATION 14

Some Suggestions for Classroom Observation

Before you observe, try to imagine several types of classrooms in which you might find yourself: traditional or open or perhaps various age levels within the school where you are planning to observe. Then formulate some questions on aspects of the workings of these classrooms.

When you are actually in the room, you may be oppressed by either (or both) of two contradictory feelings—"There's so much to see" or "There's so little to see." In either case it really helps to have some specific questions and foci and some strategies in mind for looking at them. Otherwise, in a rigidly formal classroom where everyone does the same thing at the same time, one can get quite bored; in a more informal setting, where twenty-eight different things are happening at the one time, one can feel quite overwhelmed.

For example, if your goal is to describe the range of abilities and interests in the group being observed, you might follow the activities of six different students for five minutes to answer the second question. Be sure to pose questions that can be answered by observable behavior.

The following are some areas which you might look at:

(1) The physical setting and equipment: Describe in detail the things you see—the arrangement of desks or work spaces, the materials which are visible, storage arrangements and their accessibility, the room decorations. What types of learning would the physical setting seem to promote? How?

If possible, look at the physical space before the children come in. Then observe it in use. Is the children's use of the space what you would have expected? Does the space seem well-suited to the uses to which it is put?

(2) Curriculum: What is the formal curriculum? What subject matter is being taught and how? Individual and group projects? Study of text book or reader? Class discussion? What learning does the teacher emphasize? How does s/he do it? Do you get any sense of whether the teacher has chosen (or designed) this curriculum, whether his/her goals are the goals of those who created the materials? What is your evidence?

(3) Teacher-class interactions: How much does the teacher address the class as a whole? What kinds of things does s/he say? When s/he talks to the whole group, is s/he usually (a) teaching academic material; (b) dealing with issues of classroom management (who wants to wash the blackboard? How should we choose teams for baseball?); (c) resolving discipline problems; (d) announcing routines ("Circle time." "Line up for recess." "Five minutes till lunch."); (e) or what?

What is the teacher's question-asking style? (yes-no questions? factual questions? opinion questions?) Do questions have an answer pre-determined by the teacher or will the teacher accept all answers offered? Who judges the rightness or wrongness of answers and comments? What does the teacher do to foster or to squelch differences of opinion? How does s/he deal with them when they arise?

(4) Teacher-child interactions: How much of the teacher's teaching time is spent on individual children (rather than the whole class, or small groups)? What is the content of the teacher-child interactions you heard? How does the teacher interact with children of different sexes, races, or social classes? What kind of problems do the children bring to the teacher? How does the teacher manage any difficult or unruly children? How about children who have trouble understanding or mastering the material at hand? Can you describe a range of individual interests, needs and abilities in the class? What is the teacher doing or not doing to adjust to a range of individuals?

(5) Child-child interactions: What goes on between individual children? Do they talk together, work together, play together? Is this permitted? Encouraged? How? If not, in what ways does it go on without encouragement? In what ways does the teacher structure these interactions? Does the physical arrangement of furniture and materials seem to promote working alone or cooperatively? You might note the number of times students directly address each other versus the number of times they address the teacher. What does the teacher do to foster or discourage student interaction? What kinds of interactions occur between students of different sexes, races, social classes?

(6) General Questions: What might children be learning in this class? What does the teacher seem to want to teach? What kinds of learning and what kinds of behavior does s/he seem to value? (they may not be the same). How can you tell in each instance?

Do the rules about behavior fit with the arrangement of desks and materials? Does the formal curriculum emphasize the same learning as the "hidden" curriculum? How consistent are the messages about behavior and learning? How does the teacher get a student's interest? What does the teacher do when s/he loses it?

RECORDING OBSERVATIONS

Taking written notes during an observation poses a paradox. Without some written record it is often difficult to recall facts and to separate them from your interpretations of past events. On the other hand, taking notes interferes with your opportunities to interact, and it may prove distracting to the teacher and students.

We recommend that you take only brief, factual notes during the observation, and that priority be given to interaction. If you are working with students directly in your placements, do not attempt to take notes at the same time. As soon as you leave the class, jot down important points and then reconstruct observations in your journal when you get back to college.

Structuring how you look and listen

(1) Note who is involved, when and where the observation occurs, and how long it lasts.

(2) Be careful to gather factual information without imposing interpretations, opinions, or value judgments. You might divide your pages in half, noting facts on one side and personal reactions on the other. Or, write observations first, followed by analysis and evaluation.

(3) You can follow an individual child (or several children) through a piece of his/her (their) day. This may give you more of a child's eye view of what the class is like. The major problem here may be in seeing and hearing what the child is actually doing, especially if you are confined to one spot, or even if you are just trying to be inconspicuous.

(4) You can try time-sampling -- canvassing all activities in the classroom at regular time intervals - every two minutes, every ten minutes, etc.

(5) You can focus on the teacher and follow him/her through the morning.

(6) You can keep a straight narrative account of all the things that strike you in the classroom. The major problem is that since you clearly can't get down to everything, your account is likely to be biased toward the exceptional in some way.

ANALYZING THE OBSERVATION

There are two key steps in analyzing your observations: First, be sure you can separate the specific, factual information in your notes from the generalizations and opinions; second, draw conclusions that are well documented by the specifics you observed.

Confusing facts with opinions

It's important to be clear in your own mind when you are relating facts, when you are guessing how someone is feeling or why he or she is acting a particular way, and when you are interpreting the observation in terms of a theory (your own or another person's). Analyze observations in order to separate out facts, inferences, value judgments, and feelings.

Facts: What the observer actually sees or hears (actual details of the general situation, the behavior of children).

Inferences: The observer's ideas about how the children feel, why they act the way they do.

Value Judgments: The observer's opinion about what he or she sees, or what he or she thinks "should" have happened (whether it is good or bad, right or wrong, positive or negative).

Feelings: The emotions the observer experiences as he or she observes.

The following is an example of a detailed, specific, and factual observation.

David sat in the middle of the group of twelve children who were sitting on the floor near the piano. He sat with his elbows on his knees, his hands under his child holding up his head, and what seemed like a bored expression on his face. He neither smiled nor spoke. The children sang the turkey song but David's expression did not change. Neither did he open his mouth. The children were then turkeys, but David sat, his arms wrapped around his legs. The duckling song came next. David did not sing, but he did crawl hesitantly under the table after another child when the song was acted out. Two other songs followed, but David just sat, saying nothing, not singing.

An observation describing the same situation, but with inferences and value judgments, might be:

"David does not participate in activities," or, worse yet, "David is shy and introverted."

PROTOCOLS FOR VISITING SCHOOLS

(1) Please be on time. The first time you go, try to arrive in time to talk to the teacher before school begins if you are scheduled in the a.m., or try to talk with the teacher at lunch if scheduled in the p.m.

(2) If you are not able to keep your appointment, please notify the school in plenty of time. Call the main office number and ask them to put a note in your cooperating teacher's box.

(3) Ask the teacher before the class about the school's rules for observers. It also helps to watch the teacher during the class for clues about what type of behavior the children expect from adults. This will enable you to disturb the tone and atmosphere of the class as little as possible.

(4) Try not to appear to be obviously watching a child or group of children. It may make them self-conscious or overly aware of your presence. They may even start vying for your attention.

(5) If you would like to interact with the children, be sure to ask the teacher before class what kinds of things s/he would like to have you do and what is the accepted method of participation. We will write a letter to cooperating teachers which encourages them to put you to work in the class if at all possible.