Teaching Composition (Fall 2009)

The class ethnographies that you will be doing this semester, are in a sense, just “class visits with notes.”  But this activity also represents a particular way of thinking about what happens in our classrooms — one that focuses less on evaluation or apprenticeship and more on creating robust maps of activity that allow us to consider both the material, social, and conceptual implications of our interactions in the spaces we call “classrooms.”

Project Goals: The primary goal  of this project is to observe the complex activities that are part of the processes of writing instruction, including issues related to space, human interaction, human-tool interaction, etc.  For the class participants (as teachers) the goals for this project will also include improving your understanding of how classroom practices related to reading/writing might impact both writing-content courses and courses where writing/reading support other content goals.

For this class, participants will be asked to complete an ethnographic account of a classroom. The construction of your account might involve more than one visit to a particular classrooms space, but it must include an analysis of at least one class period.  The goal of this account is to observe both the physical and emotional interactions in the space, and also to consider the relationship of reading & writing to these interactions.

Steps in the Process:

(1) Find a class to observe.  The class (or classes) you observe must be focused on Composing. The overall content of the course might be anything, so long as the class(es) you observe are directly focused on the production of some sort of textual artifact.   Note: In researching the class you want to observe, it will be critical to find an instructor who focuses on writing in some kind of sustained, robust way.  That is to say, you don’t want to observe a class where the discussion of writing happens for only 20 minutes of an hour and 2o minute class.  You will also need to interview/chat with the instructor before and after the class, so make sure the person you observe is willing to give you about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes of time outside of class.

(2) Meet with the Instructor. Before visiting the class(es) you are going to observe, have a conversation with the instructor about how writing in the classroom is treating.  What are his/her goals, and what is his/her sense of the activities you will be observing (their value, and their place as part of the larger writing activities that is ongoing in the class).

(3) Observe Class.

• Your observations should begin with a description of the classroom.  I have found that taking photographs of the space is a good way help remember later what the space looked like.  Drawing diagrams of the space (noting where people are sitting, windows, etc.) can be very useful.
• Spend at least a portion of the class doing nothing but noting what you observe.  Who talks, and when, what different kinds of activities take place, and who participates in them.  Make sure to note or “flag” any kinds of activities that seem particularly interesting in relation to our ongoing discussions of attitudes towards and practices of writing instruction.  In this portion of the observation DO NOT make any kind of value-judgement statements in your notes.
• When class is over, spend some time reviewing your notes (and images, drawings, recordings, etc.).  What did you see?  What do you remember that you didn’t note? Add any further notes into a new section of your report.
• Remember to reflect on the relationships of space, technologies, and people.  What forces do you see shaping this classroom.  Remember that while the instructor is the center of our traditional notions of classroom space, this power shifts and alters throughout any class meeting.  So think about and note where the power appears to be moving, and how discussions and activities are shaped by different interactions.

(4) “Write it up” (in draft form). Clean up your report so that it is in a form you can share with the instructor.  Since the focus of this observation was not evaluative, you shouldn’t have evaluative statements in your report.  Only observations and reflections on those observations.

(5) Meet with the instructor. Discuss your observations with the instructor.  What does he/she have to say about your observations. Does any new information come up? If the instructor is willing, you should have him/her write a short response to your observation.  What does he/she think about what you saw? What did he/she see differently?

(6) Create a Final Report. Add your notes on the meeting with the instructor to the report. Your final report could have the following sections (although you could choose to arrange your report in some different way):

• Class Information (general information about the class, the students, the instructor).
• Physical/Geographical Information (where is it, what does the classroom look like).
• Original Observations (The notes you took in the class(es) — these will be “tidied” but should be altered as little as possible (keeping in mind that the class instructor is one audience).
• Reflections (Your additional notes and reflections taken after the class(es).
• Teacher Response (these could be your notes on the conversation, with (ideally) an added written response from the instructor).
• Final Notes (In this final section you would “sum up” your experience with the observation — This is the only section of the report where evaluative statements could occur, should you choose to incude them).

Some Additional Notes:

(1) Make sure to inform the instructor that while you will be collecting a great deal of information, none of it will be published in any form for public consumption.  This is a class exercise, rather than a true research project.  However, the information from the class (via your reports) will be shared with others in the class, including the instructors.  Make sure the instructor is aware of, and comfortable with this audience. Make sure to explain the the goal of the project is close observation, NOT evaluation.

(2) You might choose to do this project in some alternative mode, using sound/image, etc. (rather than as a primarily textual report).  If you have ideas about doing something different, make sure to discuss this with Cheryl or me before proceding.