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Padlet Activity: Chapter 3 – Qualitative Methods in Class Observation

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Padlet Activity: Chapter 3 – Qualitative Methods in Class Observation

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Instructions:

1. Access the Padlet:

Click the Padlet link provided by your instructor.

If necessary, create an account or log in to access the board.

2. Read Chapter 3 Carefully:

Focus on key topics such as qualitative research methods, observation techniques, data collection, and analysis.

3. Create Your Post:

Add a new post on the Padlet board.

Summarize the most important concept you learned from the chapter in your own words.

Include at least one example from your own experience or from a classroom scenario.

Use formal academic language and complete sentences.

4. Comment on Classmates’ Posts:

Read at least two posts from your classmates.

Write a meaningful comment that adds insight, asks a question, or connects ideas.

Be respectful and constructive.

5. Submission:

Ensure your post and comments are original.

You may include images, links, or diagrams if they help explain your ideas.

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The use of qualitative methods

This is an important aspect of observing because it helps us to determine and acquire results of the observations we have made. It is important to understand what qualitative methods and their uses are. In other words, Qualitative methods for classroom observation focus on gathering descriptive,  no numbers or counting  data to understand the aspects of teaching and learning, going beyond judgments, counts or measurements.

These are types of collecting information about classroom observation, as Bryman (1988) says, the main influences on qualitative research are:

·         phenomenology, which helps the observer rational presuppositions on to events in a systematic way, rather than seeing them through the eyes of those being observed. This is related to studying how people react, feel, and act when they are observed. Also, classroom observation involves making notes about what happens in the classroom environment between teacher and pupils and the transcription and analysis of what has been observed is required. This helps us to see what really happens in a classroom more closely and deeper.

·         Symbolic interactions: this has a focus on symbolic things like verbal language, body language, gestures that are involved in the classroom environment. In this book it is define as “ how actions will be perceived by others is influential on how we behave”, and it relates to the fact that teacher and pupils can develop in many different ways rather than when they are not observed; this could influence both teachers and pupils.

·         Verstehen: this is a word, a German verb that means “to understand” that the psychologist Max weber used to define the way that any act can be understood to make us determine the explanation that goes with it. This is related to the way teachers speak to pupils, that might be understood as anger voice, happiness, expectation, humor, concern and more verbal tones. In other words, it is related with the tone of voice teacher use.

·         Naturalism: this is related with the reality that any observer needs to face, the importance that the observer would focus on a real setting, thinking that it will face with many real situations between teachers and pupils.

·         Ethogenics: this is an approach related to the belief that everything has sequence of actions. “ethogenic is another variant of the view that renounces quantitative methodology” and support the idea of taking scientific evaluating approaches to understand what happen in a classroom.

In another hand, what might be the quality and effectiveness of qualitative methods? A quality and effective observation should be one that avoids judgments about teachers. It should be one that focuses on the effectiveness of teaching methods, learning environments, and also, students’ scores around the quality of learning taking place at that moment of the observation.

In the use of qualitative methods, the observer must look for quality results from things such as verbal interaction of teachers with pupils, body language that could reveal more than words, the critical events that could happen. The observer should look for specifics instance of classroom behaviors that could let them know more about the way teachers manage their classrooms, and how they deal with diverse students’ personalities. The observation is written down on a pro-forma sheet, that helps to gather information about the event and what the outcome was. This mostly contains data about the classroom observation like teacher’s name, date, class, what happened? What led up the event? What was the outcome? interview with participants. Always, use neutral language and respect to ask questions.

The purpose of the observation should be made clear for the observed teacher to let them know we want to improve rather than judge them. That we are there to learn for improvement of our professional skills, this could help us in the process of gathering observations information. It is important to prepare and make a plan for our futures observation, this helps us to have better quality and effectiveness of the process. At the end of all, the product of many qualitative observations should be a notebook or journal full of information written down, or any evidence such as video, notes, sounds, recorded audios to support as evidence of our work. This will help us to identify the situations, events, or points of view about the observation realized. All this with the purpose of having good quality and effectiveness of qualitative observation. This leads to quantifying the qualitative, which is the analysis of all the work done. Helping us to see the purpose, strategies, results and mor about the observation.

Qualitative methods are other techniques that would help us to grow as future teachers by observing classroom management, environment, and teaching strategies that will reinforce our commitment to educate future students in this way that we could acquire better teaching skills.

I remember the time when my classmates and I as English school students went to Renacimiento High school, we made a motivational speech and a survey using quantitative and qualitative methods of gathering information. This helps me to understand how it works, and I know that my role as observer would be related to this event, because at that moment we were spectators, looking at and observing the behavior of students, and how other teachers manage the situation. I know that everything is related with my future profession to become a great English teacher; and quality and effectiveness of classroom observation is the key for a good work, and get more experience, knowledge and skills to teach in a way that all students deserve. (Katherin Jiménez)

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SUMMARY OF: qualitative methods in class observation. 

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SUMMARY OF: qualitative methods in class observation. 

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-CINERETH BEITIA

The qualitative methods focus on recording detailed descriptions of the teacher-students interaction, without using numbers or statistical data.

It is important to understand and grasp the fundamental aspects of qualitative methods. As future observers, we need to develop a solid understanding of these methods. While these concepts may be new and complex, they are essential for conducting effective observation.

I wil employ clear and precise language. Three points emerged as particulary interesting and significant for me: The critical importance of careful observation, the necessity of understanding and interpreting body language, and the recognition of our role as observers rather than active English teacher.

First of all, It is important to always keep in mind that things can be viewed from different perspectives, and that our perceptions or beliefs greatly influence our observation of a specific behavior. We cannot take things lightly because this can affect our observation scores. In school environment, many factors influence the development of a lesson, and we must recognize this.

Example: If the teacher finishes explaining a new topic, and the twenty students do not have questions, it may mean that the children are nervous or embarrassed to ask but have doubts, it does not always mean that the teacher explained a topic clearly.

secodly, knowing how to understand and interpret the body language of students and teachers helps us as observers gain a borader view of what is happening in the classroom. both teachers and students do not communicate everything they think or feel in words, but they do so through postures, looks, gestures, and expressions. observing body language can tell us whether the learning acquisition process is taking place. it tell us whether students feel motivated or not. I am pleased that this point is supported by the first one because I emphasize that we cannot just rely on words, but rather on what the body conveys. We have to remember that only 7% of communication is verbal, 38% is tone of voice, and 55% is body language and gestures.

Third, even if e have knowledge of teaching methods, techniques, and strategies, as observers we must not interfere in the classroom or act as if we were the teacher, doing so would alter the natural dynamics between the teacher and the pupils. Our role as obserers is to analyze and understand specific aspects of what happens during a class and those who are involved. We can draw on this experience for our future, but at this tie, we cannot interfere because the observation could lose it is objectivity, and the purpose of observing a lass is to learn, record and analyze later.

I remember last semester that we had an acivity in which we gave a micro-class to first-year English students about linguistics. From the momet I walked in, I read the environment and realized there were two groups of students: Those who had expectations of something different, and those who wanted to teach us. As I was explaining my topic I noticed that I had the attention of the students in a good way, and I thought ´´They are just young people who are motivated and want to learns, they are just young people with a lot of energy in their first year of college, they are just young people with high expectations, maybe like we were´´ I continue making the my part in the micro-class more interactive by asking questions and listening their ieas, but I always set a limit. ´´right now, I am the one teaching´´ and even if they know more than me, at that moment I am fulfilling my role as ´´teacher´´ even if is for an activity.

I think that this story reflects very well the three points I took into account: observing deeply because I did not just focus on their gestures, silences, or giggles, but I interpret that they were at the forefront of something different.

From the second point, which is understanding and interprating body language, I understood that although some of them wanted to sound more knowledgeable, I interpret their body language as unresolved internal emotions.

and from the last point, which is understanding my role at the moment, is that I led my claa and had control over it, but if I had been and observer, I would know that silence, a notebook and a pen is my ally in a corner of the classroom.

To conclude this academic summary, I want to make it clear that each method is important, but I wanted to emphasize the three points I outline because I think they are the perfect summary of what qualitative methods are.

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Qualitative methods seeks to go beyong the superficial to unover meaning interpretation and Explanation about what happens in class on life, perceive and interpret events, even if these interpretation are subjective.

There are any key concept in quantitative methods.

First concept is phenomenology is an approach that focuses and how people interpret and make sense of the World around them, how people perceive and make sense of the daily routine, it is where they express their ideas and belief, not what structures the observation.

Symbolic interactionism it focuses on the self, especially simbols, such as the language and gestures we use when interacting with other, our action are influence by how we believe other will interpret them.

Verstehen it focus means understanding how on action is understood and how it is accompanied, recognizing how students and teacher interpret signal, for example the teacher tone of voice whether their voice is interpreted as patience humor, anger or if they establish total contro inside the classroom.

Naturalism other concept is the Naturalism tha tries to see life as it really is it seeks to study phenomena in their natural context, without manipulating them.

Ethogeny studies human behaivor as part a system of social rules and analyzes how rule of behaivor are establish and maintain ed.

These concept show that qualitative research in their classroom, not only describes facts but also seek to interpretet meaning and perception recognizing the influence of subjectivity.

In the qualitative method we do not observe how many time an action occurs instead it all depend on how a class in viewed, whether its good or easy, how the teacher was prepared how the class was taught, what the student Learned, each observer can see different think and the imparted thing is to use observation to improve teaching not just to evaluate.

I may not recall a personal experience but I remember my sister saying that he math teacher just taught the lesson without checking if the students understood, many students did not grasp the material and failed perhaps the teacher did not use future strategies or technique to help student understand and make learning easier.

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❖ 𝑸𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒅𝒔 ❖

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❖ 𝑸𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒅𝒔 ❖

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── ❖ ─ ✦ ─ ❖ ──

While I was reading the chapter about this topic, I couldn’t help but think about how important it’s to be observers, because many times we look, but we don’t really observe, we just look.

“Observe what is with undivided awareness.” (Bruce Lee)

However, this is one of the essential things we must do: observe, because this is the only way to truly reach our future students and we should start doing the same.

That is why I’m going to focus on the following aspects that I found very useful when making an observation: critical events, body language, and transcripts.

When I explored these points, I realized that critical events help us to identify key moments in a class that reveal much more than it seems… for example: how a teacher manages discipline or how they begin to build trust with the students. But what exactly are critical events? Well, they are small or specific situations that show something about how the teacher handles the class. At the beginning of a class, the teacher sets rules for how a task should be done and you can see that the way the teacher presents the rules says a lot about them. Or when a discipline problem happens, we can see how the teacher manages the situation. These are specific moments we can observe to understand how the teacher handles different situations.

In this case, the observer should see what happened before the event, during, and what the final result was. We can ask the teacher questions about what happened at the end of the class, because we must remember to always be careful, wait the perfect moment to ask.

How do critical events help us? They help us see patterns or problems in the classroom and analyze what might happen in another context, because maybe the situation would be different, right?

Body language is also important because sometimes the gestures or posture of the teacher and students say more than their words.

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” (Peter F. Drucker)

We are used to just listening and judging based on what we hear, but what about what we see? If we observe those gestures, we can learn a lot about how people feel, we need to understand them and also to understand body language a little… we should know it is divided into different aspects, which help us analyze what is happening with a person:

➥ Posture: Posture says a lot because it can show interest or boredom. For example, teachers often bend down to be at the children’s level, or when they need to put order, they adopt a more rigid posture.

➥ Gestures: We can observe the hands. To indicate or point at something, they use a finger. A calming gesture with the hands shows an effort to lower emotions.

Finally, transcripts help us analyze what happened in a more effective way because sometimes we notice small signals in the moment, maybe in body language and we write them down but we don’t pay much attention… so this tool help us reflect and have time to analyze what happened in the class and see what could be improved.

Now I’m going to share a small experience that reminds me why I must be a good observer before wanting to help someone improve.

This was not an academic experience but a more personal one, and I consider that it’s very meaningful…

About a year ago, I met a very wonderful girl. She is very creative, so much that sometimes she doesn’t know where to put all her creativity. It’s like she has a box of surprises in her brain, and every day it opens, showing a new idea. What’s the problem with this? People like her start something, for example a craft, and a few hours later leave it unfinished, unless it’s a responsibility. These people are known as multitaskers or creative procrastinators…

So this girl came to my house and saw the piano in a corner. With big eyes like Bambi, she said: Teach me to play the piano. I sat her down and taught her the Do major scale. In a few minutes, she was doing it correctly with good hand position. But then she got up, saw a Guache (box of paints) and started painting flowers. After 15 minutes, she wanted to do something else.

My reaction was not knowing how to keep her engaged, because I saw her potential and wanted to guide her, but at the same time I gave up in that moment, until I realized that I am like her… Would I give up on myself?

That’s when I began to understand why it’s important to observe to understand others. She had no problem… on the contrary, she had the gift of creating. She just needed a guide, a compass, you know. I remembered how I make myself work: I give priority to one activity. When I find it hard to concentrate, I make a list of priorities and use techniques like Pomodoro.

Then I understood that with people like her and also with myself, the key is to observe creativity, not to stop it but to guide it to the right place. Observe the child… what catches her attention, and when she gets distracted understand that it’s not lack of effort, she needs direction.

So the lesson is clear: observing is the way. Before giving any instructions, we must observe carefully and we can do that following the three points that I explained before, because it allows us to connect with people and understand why they act the way they do. Keeping in mind the points I mentioned will help us become good observers.

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In summary, the qualitative observation method is important because it helps us improve student behavior and creates a better environment. As shown in this image.        

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The use of qualitative methods.    Ariel Espinoza

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The use of qualitative methods.    Ariel Espinoza

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Critical Events

Critical event is one of the most useful methods when recording student behavior and although its name suggests it is related to the behavior of teachers, students and even the environment.

The ‘critical events’ approach is based on the ‘critical incidents’ technique developed by Flanagan (1949). The observer writes down on a pro forma what led up to the event, what happened and what the outcome was.

Body language

Body language, as the theory states, is one of the most efficient methods for achieving a deeper observation of what occurs in a critical event, for example: gestures, posture, facial expressions, eye contact. In summary, all of these tools are used to obtain a more accurate observation of a student's behavior in class. Observers use it because it provides them with information quickly and accurately. They can do all this in less than a second, as the theory in the book states. It also helps them decide what to do and how to act in the moment with students and teachers. And to be able to correct it more effectively and smoothly.

Posture

Posture is related to movement, as specified in the book. Teachers often use it with their students. For example, to maintain control in class, teachers tend to stand up straight to express their greater height or dominance over students, especially those who are not very well-behaved in class. Teachers often use a quick movement posture when calling out a misbehaving student.

Gestures

Gestures are commonly associated with body language. Teachers often use them depending on the subject or the class in general. A teacher may use hand gestures to signal or give a reason to students that they should be quiet while the class is in session. On the other hand, a gesture can be a teacher helping a student to calm down or offering assistance in a moment of stress. In short, there are many types of gestures, and this can be one of them. visual contact

Eye contact is a body language that teachers often use to get students' attention. While there are some teachers who do not use it, it is actually used to strengthen emotions, for example, a student who looks away from the teacher may show embarrassment or discomfort about the class. It can also help to identify if a student is feeling insecure in order to take a better approach and help students learn and feel better.

Critical Event; I have been learning more about the critical event since one of the topics it addresses is about body language where it deals with three types of body language: posture, gestures, and eye contact.

Body language is one of the most efficient ways observers use to record classroom, student, and teacher behavior. Observers rely on these techniques because it gives them a clearer and more realistic picture of what is happening in the classroom. For example, the gestures of a student's attention can be visualized as a teacher uses his or her hands to point to a student who is making a lot of noise in the classroom. On the other hand, the posture that some teachers use in the classroom can denote whether it is a self-confident teacher or lack of security at the time of giving a topic or express to their students if they have mastery over the subject that they are teaching. All this I was able to learn and how these observation methods work.

In my experience these techniques are one of the methods that we use the most in our classes, because without even knowing that these observation techniques existed, we were already using them. For example, gestures, postures, visual contact. The gestures because when I was teaching and we saw a teacher with an upright posture towards a student who was making noise in class. This way we knew it was a call for attention. In the same way the gestures when he was pointing with his hands to explain a topic in class where teachers use very often and in this way express their dominance towards the topics... The method of qualitative observation is very notable for its advantages because it helps us to see the real state of each experience in class, to have a very moderate control in class and to make a more professional experience in class.