ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the role of classroom observations in informing debates on the quality of teaching and learning in secondary education. Specifically, the document proposes a methodology for classroom observation in context (CoC) to address many of the epistemological limitations of mainstream input-output observation models in relation to the professionalisation of educators. To observe in context entails working with a non-structured observation strategy to identify patterns in classroom events and the subsequent opening of spaces for collaborative dialogues (among observers and between observes and observees) to reflect about the potential mechanisms behind these patterns. The results of an exploratory study of CoC in Northern Colombia indicate the potential of such a strategy in informing education policy debates beyond the classroom setting.
KEYWORDS:
classroom observation in context; methodology; secondary education; Colombia
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Notes: Categories preceded by a denial (not) describe situations in which there was an event to which the teacher did not react. For example, not-disciplining describes an event in which students were misbehaving, and the teacher did nothing about it. Source: Research database. Elaboration of the authors.
Note: Categories preceded by a denial (not), describe situations in which there was an ongoing issue and yet the student did not react. For example, not active participation means that there was a class event in which teachers asked a question to the class that students did not answer. There is also a distinction between classroom events reflecting bad behaviour and disrespect to the teacher. In the coding frame, the former accounts for episodes in which students were exhibiting aggressive behaviour towards their peers. The category of good behaviour captures moments in which the observer expressed that “students are well-behaved”. Source: Research database. Elaboration of the authors.