My Learning Journey

Yuri Aikawa
EDEC 625
Observing Tool

I learned the importance of paying attention to pedagogy.

Shift from what to how

Before using the tool:
What would the teacher say?

After using the tool:

How would the teacher say that?
Observing Tool
After observing two teachers,
we revised our tool and
added using clear, easy-to-
understand language
Teachers always made
sure that the language
they used was easy for
everyone.
They were careful about
the speed, volume and
word choices.
They kept making sure
whether everyone could
understand what they
said.
 teacher educators are always teaching
about teaching on at least two levels: what
they are teaching teacher candidates
(content) and how they are teaching teacher
candidates (pedagogy) (Loughran, 2006; as
Observing Tool cited in Williams et al., 2012, p. 255).
This focus on understanding pedagogical
practice is essential for beginning teacher
educators not only for their own
professional learning and growth but also for
that of their students (Williams et al., 2012,
p. 255)
Enactment

I learned the importance

(and also difficulties) of
teaching toward
instructional goals
Enactment
We finished the originally-planned discussion earlier than I had expected
I asked learners a question that was not initially planned

Can you share your own experience of learning vocabularies,

like using the words outside school?

I chose the question because it was related to what we

had discussed (class discussion)
However, I realized that it was not directly related to
our instructional goal
I could have asked a question such as:
how could a teacher make sure that students have opportunities to associate the
vocabularies they had learned in class with their everyday lives?
Enactment
I should have been prepared for what I had not expected
(i.e. having too much extra time) and always consider how
my question would be related to the instructional goal.

Planning the lesson backward: One starts with the

endthe desired results (goals or standards)and then
derives the curriculum from the evidence of learning
(performances) called for by the standard and the
teaching needed to equip students to perform (Wiggins
et al., 2005, p. 1).
Coaching

I learned that a coach is

responsible for making the
session prospective.
Verbal move = categorized as
to its prospectiveness
(potential to extend the
conversation) (Heineke,
2013, p. 415)
 Coaching
Before the coaching session, I
thought that showing my
agreement was a good thing
because it would make a
teacher feel comfortable.
However, when I was
watching the video of our
coaching session, I noticed
that my comment shut down
the conversation about the
topic and I missed an
important point.
Coaching: prospectiveness
Y: I thought it would be better to ask some follow-up questions like why do you think it made you disappointed?

A: Do you think that would intimidate them though? to talk more about it? That was kind of like my fear

Y: so its too personal, you think?

A: Yea, that was sort of my fear. I mean, it would be nice to find the balance in there because I think its
kind of important to say why.

Y: Yea, I think its very difficult because some topics can be too personal. [] so I get the point that you were
nervous to ask those kinds of questions.
Coaching
Moves that function to simply
acknowledge, agree, or show
acceptance tend to close out or shut
down an exchange and thus are not
prospective in nature (Heineke, 2013,
p. 422)
When participants in a conversation
pursue meaning making through the
use of moves that are high in
prospectiveness, they set each other
up for further reflection, thinking, and
questioning, thus engaging in
collaborative knowledge building
(Heineke, 2013, p. 415)
Reference
Heineke, S. F. (2013). Coaching discourse: Supporting teachers' professional
learning. The Elementary School Journal, 113 (3), 409-43

Chapter 1 - What is backyard design? (pages 13-34) from: Wiggins, G., &
McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design, Expanded 2nd ed. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Willians, J., Ritter, J.,& Bullock, S.M. (2012). Understanding the complexity of
becoming teacher educator: Experience, belonging, and practice within a
professional learning community. Studying Teacher Education: A Journal of Self-
study of Teacher Education, 8(3), 245-260.