Barrett, J. (2001). Observing to learn. In G. Olson, J. Barrett, N. Rasmussen, A. Barresi, & J. Jensen (Eds.), Looking in on music teaching. New York: McGraw-Hill Primis

 

SUMMARIZE:

CH. 4 – Observing to Learn – Connections to Current Practice

Ø       Introduction

·         Principle in this chapter useful in four areas:

-          Observing via video

-          Observing in area schools

-          Peer observation of own class

-          Own class via video

·         Consider the following first:

-          Clear why statement

-          Understanding personal standpoint

-          Specifics to look for in classroom

-          Evaluation of one’s own observational techniques

Ø       An Observation Story

·         Rick didn’t realize what the teacher was trying to do with her class

·         He didn’t think about the kids personally (including their backgrounds)

·         He merely criticized what he saw going on

·         Didn’t take the time to think about it and talk it through with the teacher

Ø       Clarifying Purposes: Why Are We Looking In?

·         A lot of learning in incidental – done while “doing’ other things

·         Much of what we think we know about teaching comes from merely “hanging around” schools

·         Five Purposes for Observation:

·         To Develop Perceptual Acuity

-          More is gained from anything when guided through discovery/perception

-          Perceptive skills must be developed – see more, and more clearly

-          Comparisons with other teachers helps hone perception

·         To Build a Broader Knowledge Base for Music Teaching

-          Observations can provide new types of teaching – experiences one may not otherwise have

-          Can even be used for those who have little or no foundation in music teaching – like administrators and/or school boards

·         To Help Direct Another Teacher’s Growth

-          Teachers can create curriculum and programs together – cooperation is creative

-          If involving administrators, can promote support for music programs

-          As one can critique one’s peers, one’s peers can return the favor

·         To Examine Cases of Practice in Instructional Settings

-          Lee Shulman suggests case methods used to illustrate:

·         Principles or concepts of a theoretical nature

·         Precedents for practice

·         Morals or ethics

·         Strategies, dispositions, and habits of mind

·         Visions or images of the possible

-          Promote discussion, provide multiple layers of meanings

·         To Develop Professional Judgment

-          Observers need to be critical – reasoned, reflective, based on sound philosophy

-          Components of professional judgment, according to John Elliott:

·         Observational nuance, ability to pinpoint events and feelings associated with a particular class setting

·         Salience, capacity to sort out important/unimportant

·         Component interaction or coherence, ability to determine what fits/what doesn’t

·         Action path, ability to formulate solutions based on conclusions drawn from observation and experience

-          Which observations help characterize flow of classroom best?

-          How do teacher/students interact?

Ø       Clarifying Perspectives: Who Is Looking In?

·         Expectations and Interpretations

-          Perceptions of events can differ between people

-          Observations can be affected by prior experiences, values, beliefs, habits, and abilities

-          Think about how your descriptions and interpretations relate to your own views and opinions

-          These would all influence observation:

·         Preservice teacher enrolled in the practicum

·         Student teacher or intern teacher

·         First- or second-year teacher

·         “Career” teacher

·         Cooperating teacher

·         University supervisor

·         University methods professor

·         Graduate student

·         Music supervisor or administrator

·         Retired music educator

-           Metaphors are often used by teachers to talk about their work

·         Lesson as a moving object: behind/ahead/moving forward/etc

·         Information as a conduit: from teacher to student; mind a container; stuff covered

-          Media often uses a metaphor that compares schools to factories with output, etc.

-          Learning multiple techniques at once can change way they’re all viewed

-          Professional readings can have effect (ex. teacher who reads of boy/girl unfair treatment)

Ø       Clarifying Focus and Choosing Frameworks for Observation: What Are We Looking For?

·         Purpose is different every time we look in on a classroom

·         Observational forms can be useful to provide focus to observation; can also be limiting, however

·         Level of detail/generality is important to pay attention to, too

·         Embedded Square – Educational Experience, inside Teacher, Subject Matter, Learner, and Educational Context

·         Venn diagrams – Teacher/Music/Student, and, of course, areas of overlap

·         Observation as Problem-Finding

-          “Technical rationality” – professional knowledge represented by clear-cut problems/solutions

-          Other view – complex, ever-changing, messy problems with teaching and learning

-          A disposition that tolerates this is necessary for a teacher who teaches in those areas

-          Observations can show these cases, good and bad

·         Question Sets as Focus

-          Inquiry/growth is fueled by asking important/far-reaching/relevant questions

-          Questions suggested by Pultorak to guide observation and reflective analysis:

·         What were the essential strengths of the lesson?

·         What, if anything, would you change about the lesson?

·         Do you think the lesson was successful?  Why?

·         Which conditions were important to the outcome?

·         What unanticipated learning outcome, if any, resulted from the lesson?

·         What unanticipated teaching outcomes, if any, resulted from the lesson?

·         Can you think of another way you might have taught this lesson?

·         Can you think of other pedagogical approaches to teaching this lesson that might affect the learning process differently?

·         Do you think the content covered was important to the students?  Why?

·         Did any moral or ethical concerns occur as a result of this lesson?

-          Other questions to focus more on music and relationships between teacher/learner:

·         What does this teacher mean by musicianship?  How does the teacher demonstrate musicianship?

·         How do these students demonstrate musicianship?

·         What musical goals does this teacher seem to hold?  From the beginning of the excerpt to the end, what progress is made toward the attainment of those goals?

·         What constitutes a musical response according to this teacher?  What forms does musicality take – evidence of verbal knowledge, musicianship through performance, creative responses or musicianship as shown through critique and evaluation of performance?

·         What variances in musical responses did you observe among the students?  Can you find evidence that the students are supporting each other in musical ways?

·         Informed Use of Observation Forms

-          Can be limiting

-          Must still be open to all things, just stay focused for purposes of form

Ø       Evaluating Perceptions and Conclusions: How Well Do We Observe?

·         Intro

-          Teaching is private and public, open

-          Observers, therefore, really can be on the outside of what’s going on

-          Rush to judgment – stifled reflective thinking through premature opinions; to be avoided

·         Are Our Perceptions Careful?

-          Absolute objectivity is impossible, but careful perceptions can attempt to take whole picture

-          Don’t generalize too much, but match level of observing with level or purposes

·         Does Observation Lead to Insight?

-          Familiarity with teaching situation breeds compliments, easy insight, little growth

-          More will actually be learned from a completely opposite, outrageous teaching style

·         Do Perceptions and Conclusions Lead Back to Action?

-          The goals of the observation are not where it all ends; the lessons learned then need to be applied to/by the teacher is his/her classroom

-          Sometimes techniques, examples, strategies, etc. can be applied directly

-          Other times, only concepts or spirits can be applied

·         Are Our Summaries of Observations Honorable?

-          Obligated to report with integrity

-          Remain aware of complexity and context for each teaching scenario

CH. 5 – On Becoming: Processes in Learning to Teach

Ø       Introduction

·         Good music ed classes can make you feel confident; yet, questions still exist

·         Student teaching can help these, but some may still exist

·         “Real” teaching will answer most the remaining questions, but not all, and new ones pop up

·         Becoming a teacher is life-long process

Ø       The Role of Preparatory Course Work In the Process of Becoming a Teacher

·         Process to learn is in all music course work, not just music ed classes

·         No set standard for all music classes – depend upon area, culture, etc.

·         But one goal is common: to prepare preservice teachers to enter profession successfully

·         Methods courses, labs, and student teaching provides opportunities for growth of all kinds

·         All teachers-in-training must have opportunities for the following, according to Vincent Rogers:

-          Create, invent, and improvise

-          Practice the art of perception, perceiving with all senses

-          Communicate and represent ideas in a variety of ways

-          Collaborate with others

-          Engage in genuine inquiry, based on perception of events and reflection

-          Engage in planning and curriculum design based on the study of ideas and contexts, so that connections and relationships may be examined

-          Participate in modeling, mentoring, and apprenticeship relationships, with other teachers

-          Learn, grow, and develop “in-process” throughout the teaching career

·         Methods, practice, ad student teaching are all directly related

-          Methods informs your practice, practice informs understanding and theories

-          Real-life experiences allow of assessment of theories

·         Student teaching offers chances to create, invent, improvise, perceive, reflect, communicate, collaborate, plan, problem-set and problem-solve, and fully participate in a mentoring relationship

Ø       Preservice Practice: Observation, Practicum, and Student Teaching

·         Constructing Understanding Through Practice

-          Journals of practice, student teaching experiences can help answer questions

-          To write well, one must perceive, invent, reflect, and inquire well

-          Collaboration is writing, critiqued or reviewed

-          Through this all, one can realize the complexity of the educational process

-          Asking “Do my students really understand?” and “Why/why not?” are fundamental to inquiry

-          Informal research and inquiry allows problems to be better understood and reframed, so that they can eventually actually be solved

-          One’s own experience and personal practice combines with theories

·         What you do = What you know (in importance to understanding teaching)

·         The Role of Supervision

-          Must have positive relationship between student, university teacher, and supervising teacher

-          Understanding that all are in-process is crucial too

-          Key questions for analysis of supervision, according to John Smyth:

·         Why am I doing this?

·         What are my reasons?

·         What re the effects of my actions on my students?

-          You will even be supervised as a teacher, by arts supervisor, principals, etc.

-          Biggest problem traditionally, Smyth says, is that it is done from a dependence-causing hierarchal perspective, even if done nicely

-          Change can be brought about through global imposition, not intrinsic change

·         For example, school/district adopts policies that directly affect teachers

-          Teachers must be directly involved in their own development

-          Self-reflection and growth is important, too

-          Three-way conference following observation can be a formal time of reflection

-          One’s ideas need to be clearly stated so that conversation is accurate and possible

-          A plan for growth should result from the inquiry

-          All these can be influenced by outside sources, but should come from one’s self

Ø       Professional Growth in the Practice of Education

·         Early Inservice Years: Continuing the Path Chosen in the Preservice Experience

-          Mentorship with a more experienced teacher can be beneficial

-          One will have questions/concerns

-          As time goes on and more experience is gained, one will reorder some of these

-          By three or four years in, the teacher is “on his/her own” and fairly comfortable

 

DISCUSS:

This reading selection seems to be most useful in the next few years, although I suppose parts of it will apply for my entire teaching career.  As I begin my next four years of field observations with a visit to Storer Elementary School next week, the things I learned in this article will become immediately important.  I will make sure to be aware of everything, though my observation form may limit me as to on what I should really concentrate.  As I progress through the observational processes, I will hone my observation skills.  There’s nothing I disagree with in this article (I have very little of this kind of experience from which to have an opinion, and it’s fairly factual in nature, anyway).  I have this one saved on my computer as well as the others, but I have a feeling I will reference it most in the next couple of years.