Event

Take 1, take 2, take 3 -- a three-stage process for analyzing and reflecting on our teaching

Sunday, July 10th, 2005, 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM

Speaker: John F. Fanselow, President of International Pacific College, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, Teachers College

Action research has been advocated a great deal in the past decade. But analyzing interaction in language classrooms, a key component of action research, has been advocated for at least a quarter of a century. During the time when analysis of transcriptions has been advocated a few transcriptions with accompanying interpretations have been extensively referred to: Painting and a box from Richard-Amato (1988; 1996) and Carlos's trousers from Long (1980) and Hats and ties, an excerpt from Fanselow (1977b). In the workshop, we will re-examine these three transcripts and the original interpretations in a 3 step process. In the first step of our approach, Take 1, recreating interaction we select and prepare transcripts from our own or published sources which are intended to highlight a particular problem or issue that has arisen in the classroom. Take 2, reflection on action, comprises three stages. In stage 1, we interpret the transcript from an '-emic' perspective –i.e., with an insider’s knowledge of significant contextual features such as the background of the students, the teacher’s aim, the actual setting etc. In stages 2 and 3, we make alternative interpretations with no knowledge of the contextual features (that is, an '-etic' perspective), and by applying different theoretical perspectives from that taken by the original interpreter. In Take 3, reconstructing for action, we compare the three perspectives in Take 2 in order to generate an alternative classroom plan, with a view to dealing with the issue more effectively in our own professional practice. The goal of the workshop is to provide teachers with ways to deepen their understanding of their teaching practices and to learn how to generate alternative teaching practices that provide the results we and our students yearn for.

Organization: Teachers College Columbia University Japan (TC Columbia)

Cost: free, but reserve by email to office@tc-japan.edu

Venue: Teachers College, Columbia University, Tokyo, Mitsui Seimei Bldg 4F, 2-21-2 Misaki-cho, Chiyoda-ku, (03)3221-9771 Website: www.tc-japan.edu

Location: Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan

Contact TC Columbia

Teachers College Columbia University Japan Tokyo Office

Work phone: 03-3221-9771