From classroom observation to the pedagogical gaze. A phenomenological reorientation

Abstract

Classroom observation is a fundamental practice in teacher education and teacher professional development that allows for systematic processes of evaluation, feedback, and individual and collective reflection on the pedagogical praxis to take place. Although digital technologies have greatly expanded the possibilities of this practice beyond the classroom, for example, using platforms and classroom videos, its theoretical assumptions have, at its core, undergone rather minor modifications. This article questions classroom observation in its conventional and standardized form, using its development in educational research in Chile as an example. The theoretical foundations of a phenomenologically oriented qualitative empirical approach to classroom observation are presented. It also discusses the experience of its operationalization in a workshop on video classroom observation, in which students and graduates of a pedagogical program in Chile participated. Through the continuous repetition of four methodical steps (description, reduction, intersubjective validation, variation), the phenomenological approach is able to: 1) rethink the conventional classroom observation, which is limited to the application of criteria, guidelines, protocols or rubrics given beforehand; 2) allow a critical reflection on previous experiences and biases of the observer; 3) open the observation experience to the contingency and specificity of tacit events or events that have been overlooked in the observed pedagogical situations. Thus, this approach trains the pedagogical gaze inside and outside the classroom and is feasible to implement in initial teacher education. © 2024 Universidad de Murcia. All rights reserved.