"Reading the Classroom as Text" VanDeWeghe & Reid
Metaphors for teaching: Journey, Bridge, Un-Covering, students as plants, teacher as gardener, student as athlete, teacher as coach, learning as highway or candy jar.
The article characterizes teacher research as "reading the classroom as text" and explores the possibilities and limits of describing teacher research in this way.
I'm going to combine what follows below with an analysis / reflection of what I saw in Prof. Ray Webb's history class, the class I observed for practicing fieldnotes.
Heuristic developed for reading classroom as text:
CLASSROOM DISCOURSE
A. Evocation
1. who talks? how do they talk? what do they say?
2. what types of discourse statements do you observe (questions, declaratives)?
3. What is the proportion of teacher talk to student talk.
In Prof. Webb's class, the prof. takes center stage. He talks, interjects humor, asks an occassional question to which the students respond with either material from the text, or an answer that prof Webb is fishing for, and one that he has well-prepared students to answer by previewing the questions and giving students clues to the expected answer. I did not observe in this period, more than one or two student questions, and most of their responses were declarative -- "Louis XIV," "Absolutism," "Apprentice," etc. The proportion of teacher talk to student talk was 25:1. I figure in the 50 minute class, students contributed 2 minutes of talk to the professor's 50.
B. Response and Interpretation
1. What role does silence play?
2. What purposes do the various types of discourse serve (dispense information, elicit response, construct knowledge, establish and maintain relationships, evaluate responses, organize activities)?
3. From the discourse practices, how do you describe the orientation of language in the classroom (teacher-centered, student-centered, inquiry-oriented, formal, informal)?
I did not observe a great deal of silence. I think on the flip-side, humor -- laughter and giggles -- played a larger role than silence to prompt student's response and engagement.
the discourse in the classroom was an equal mix of dispensing information, constructing knowledge, maintaining relationships. After the class, I characterized Prof' Webb's class as similar to a sitcom in pacing and style. There were punchlines every few minutes or so, in which Ray brought students to a conclusion regarding the subject matter, after 10 minutes or so, Ray backed up, told a joke, made a connection to student's lives, or lightened the atmosphere before returning to the business at hand.
the discourse was informal, and, I think, inquiry-based, because while the classroom was teacher-centered, the manner in which Ray conducted class expected students to think and consider, even if they were not asked to share this thinking with the teacher or rest of the class.
2. MODE OF INFORMATION TRANSMISSION / DELIVERY / CONSTRUCTION
A.Evocation
How is information generated in the class (lecture, lecture-discussion, student construction, groups)?
In what forms is the information generated in the class (oral, written, visual, kinesthetic, other)?
B. Response and Interpretation
What role does the information system play -- to instruct, generate discussion, create a dialectical tension?
What assumptions about information (positivist, constructivist, other)?
C. Criticism
How does the mode of information generation affect learning?
3. CLASSROOM KINESTHETICS
A. Evocation
Who moves around in the space of the class?
Describe those movements (where does the teacher moves, the students)?
B. Response and Interpretation
How is movement instrumentally related to teaching or learning?
C. Criticism
How does movement or the absence of movement affect learning?
4.USE OF MEDIA
A. Evocation
What media are used?
In what ways are they used?
Who uses them?
B. Response and Interpretation
Are some media more effective than others?
C. Criticism
What impact does technology appear to have on learning?
5. EVIDENCE OF THEORY INTEGRATED WITH PRACTICE
A. Evocation
What evidence is there of theories regarding learning, reading, writing, or other language arts practiced?
B. Response and Interpretation
Does the teacher appear to be aware of this theory, how so?
C. Criticism
What impact doe the enactment of theory have upon learning?
6. cLIMATE
7. POWER AND AUTHORITY
I'm finding that Ray's class is not a great one for analysis because of its current-traditionalist slant. This is NOT to say that I did not see engaged students, or think the lecture was ripe for learning and drawing connections, because it was, but it may be that Ray teaches a great deal through personality, or with personality, the force of a creative and powerful personality, rather than a focus on theory and grand pedagogy.
Different roles for teachers and students:
Teacher as teller, students as passive receivers -- current-traditionalist rhetoric, positivist approach
Classroom as STAGE -- truth is located outside the learner in teachers and books, and language functions to TRANSMIT knowledge
Classroom as CONVERSATION -- truth exists in the interactions among learners and language functions to create meaning -- SOCIAL EPISTEMIC.
I'm absolutely social epistemic. I see language's importance as fundamental to learning, and far more complicated a use than simple communication of meaning. Language shapes our reality, our knowing, who we are and become. Now, this, while I agree, and have this sort of tacit and hazy understanding of, is hard for me to TRANSMIT to my students.
I know that how I name things around me affects what they are and become. But what is a concrete example of this that makes it clear that this is an absolute function of language and not simply thinking or being?
Teachers as READERS of the literacy behaviors of students
teachers role is to make sense of the conversation that is going on the classroom, and if students fail to do an assignment well, or read the homework, discovering what this means about the conversation that had been occurring in class. I like this idea because it is proactive, and gives teachers power over their pedagogy and classroom.
The article characterizes teacher research as "reading the classroom as text" and explores the possibilities and limits of describing teacher research in this way.
I'm going to combine what follows below with an analysis / reflection of what I saw in Prof. Ray Webb's history class, the class I observed for practicing fieldnotes.
Heuristic developed for reading classroom as text:
CLASSROOM DISCOURSE
A. Evocation
1. who talks? how do they talk? what do they say?
2. what types of discourse statements do you observe (questions, declaratives)?
3. What is the proportion of teacher talk to student talk.
In Prof. Webb's class, the prof. takes center stage. He talks, interjects humor, asks an occassional question to which the students respond with either material from the text, or an answer that prof Webb is fishing for, and one that he has well-prepared students to answer by previewing the questions and giving students clues to the expected answer. I did not observe in this period, more than one or two student questions, and most of their responses were declarative -- "Louis XIV," "Absolutism," "Apprentice," etc. The proportion of teacher talk to student talk was 25:1. I figure in the 50 minute class, students contributed 2 minutes of talk to the professor's 50.
B. Response and Interpretation
1. What role does silence play?
2. What purposes do the various types of discourse serve (dispense information, elicit response, construct knowledge, establish and maintain relationships, evaluate responses, organize activities)?
3. From the discourse practices, how do you describe the orientation of language in the classroom (teacher-centered, student-centered, inquiry-oriented, formal, informal)?
I did not observe a great deal of silence. I think on the flip-side, humor -- laughter and giggles -- played a larger role than silence to prompt student's response and engagement.
the discourse in the classroom was an equal mix of dispensing information, constructing knowledge, maintaining relationships. After the class, I characterized Prof' Webb's class as similar to a sitcom in pacing and style. There were punchlines every few minutes or so, in which Ray brought students to a conclusion regarding the subject matter, after 10 minutes or so, Ray backed up, told a joke, made a connection to student's lives, or lightened the atmosphere before returning to the business at hand.
the discourse was informal, and, I think, inquiry-based, because while the classroom was teacher-centered, the manner in which Ray conducted class expected students to think and consider, even if they were not asked to share this thinking with the teacher or rest of the class.
2. MODE OF INFORMATION TRANSMISSION / DELIVERY / CONSTRUCTION
A.Evocation
How is information generated in the class (lecture, lecture-discussion, student construction, groups)?
In what forms is the information generated in the class (oral, written, visual, kinesthetic, other)?
B. Response and Interpretation
What role does the information system play -- to instruct, generate discussion, create a dialectical tension?
What assumptions about information (positivist, constructivist, other)?
C. Criticism
How does the mode of information generation affect learning?
3. CLASSROOM KINESTHETICS
A. Evocation
Who moves around in the space of the class?
Describe those movements (where does the teacher moves, the students)?
B. Response and Interpretation
How is movement instrumentally related to teaching or learning?
C. Criticism
How does movement or the absence of movement affect learning?
4.USE OF MEDIA
A. Evocation
What media are used?
In what ways are they used?
Who uses them?
B. Response and Interpretation
Are some media more effective than others?
C. Criticism
What impact does technology appear to have on learning?
5. EVIDENCE OF THEORY INTEGRATED WITH PRACTICE
A. Evocation
What evidence is there of theories regarding learning, reading, writing, or other language arts practiced?
B. Response and Interpretation
Does the teacher appear to be aware of this theory, how so?
C. Criticism
What impact doe the enactment of theory have upon learning?
6. cLIMATE
7. POWER AND AUTHORITY
I'm finding that Ray's class is not a great one for analysis because of its current-traditionalist slant. This is NOT to say that I did not see engaged students, or think the lecture was ripe for learning and drawing connections, because it was, but it may be that Ray teaches a great deal through personality, or with personality, the force of a creative and powerful personality, rather than a focus on theory and grand pedagogy.
Different roles for teachers and students:
Teacher as teller, students as passive receivers -- current-traditionalist rhetoric, positivist approach
Classroom as STAGE -- truth is located outside the learner in teachers and books, and language functions to TRANSMIT knowledge
Classroom as CONVERSATION -- truth exists in the interactions among learners and language functions to create meaning -- SOCIAL EPISTEMIC.
I'm absolutely social epistemic. I see language's importance as fundamental to learning, and far more complicated a use than simple communication of meaning. Language shapes our reality, our knowing, who we are and become. Now, this, while I agree, and have this sort of tacit and hazy understanding of, is hard for me to TRANSMIT to my students.
I know that how I name things around me affects what they are and become. But what is a concrete example of this that makes it clear that this is an absolute function of language and not simply thinking or being?
Teachers as READERS of the literacy behaviors of students
teachers role is to make sense of the conversation that is going on the classroom, and if students fail to do an assignment well, or read the homework, discovering what this means about the conversation that had been occurring in class. I like this idea because it is proactive, and gives teachers power over their pedagogy and classroom.
posted by CA Lund at 9:23 AM
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