Page 302 - Beyond Methods

290 Monitoring teaching acts
(c) pertinent macrostrategies that help the achievement of specific learning and teaching objectives. Such an analysis and understand- ing will help them begin to theorize from practice.
Multiple Perspectives to Classroom Events
The traditional practice of classroom observation, which empha- sizes observer perception of observable teacher behavior, is a nec- essary but not a sufficient condition for a meaningful understand- ing of classroom events. This tradition has made us focus more on the observation of surface-level teacher performance than on a deeper understanding of teaching processes. Furthermore, it has also driven us to neglect the equally important task of understand- ing the learner perception of classroom events. In the context of meaningful classroom observation what we need, then, is a broader definition of teaching, learning, and observing.
As discussed in Chapter 3, the teaching act can be defined as an interactive activity by which learning opportunities are created by the teacher, the learner, or both. By logical extension, the learning act can be defined as a cognitive activity by which learning oppor- tunities are utilized by the learner. Observation, then, becomes an interpretive activity by which the successful, partially successful, or unsuccessful creation and utilization of learning opportunities are observed and analyzed. In such a view, monitoring classroom events entails an understanding of not merely how learning opportunities are created and utilized, but also how they are perceived by the learner, the teacher, and the observer. Only such a multifaceted, stereoscopic view will help teachers get a full picture of the intended and unintended outcomes of classroom events.
For a meaningful analysis of teaching acts, teachers, observers, and learners have to function as collaborative partners in the joint exploration of classroom discourse. These partners, by virtue of their prior experience and exposure, bring with them their own percep- tions and prescriptions about what constitutes teaching, what con- stitutes learning, and what constitutes learning outcomes. There- fore, one and the same classroom event can be, and in fact is often, interpreted differently by different participants.
A balanced understanding of different, even conflicting, teacher, learner, and observer perspectives of classroom events is not only feasible but also desirable. The emphasis on teacher perspective en-