Letters from the Director
Winter 2008
Learning the Discipline of Observation
by Jane Friedman, Director of Berkwood Hedge School
"We learn to see a thing by learning to describe it."
Raymond Williams, The Long Revolution
At Berkwood Hedge, providing our teachers with opportunities to learn deeply about children, to understand their students as thinkers and learners, and to observe children engaged in meaningful activities, is central to our progressive, constructivist approach to teaching. In order to truly tailor learning to the learner, to nurture individual strengths and identify areas for continued growth, we want to tap into the passions and interests of our students.
Every day, in every classroom, teachers guide the curriculum, and children take charge of the learning process. Within this context, teachers take the time to observe students carefully, paying attention to their questions, their interactions with peers, their approaches to problems, what inspires them, and what might frustrate them. Information gathered through careful observation informs and strengthens our teaching.
Jane Friedman, Director
To help us make sense of our observations, we collaborate in a process known as a Descriptive Review of a Child. Developed over 30 years ago at the Prospect School in North Bennington, Vermont, the Descriptive Review is a collaborative method for observing children in the classroom and watching learning, in all of its diversity and complexity, happen and subsequently sharing information and insights with other teachers and administrators.
We initially learned about this process from Barb Henderson, Associate Professor of Education at San Francisco State University, and parent of a Berkwood Hedge student. Sitting together in a circle at a weekly staff meeting, it is our practice to focus on six children over the course of the school year, one child from each classroom. We reflect on a word that describes the child and pool our knowledge about this child. Teachers share the children's writing, artwork, projects, and create a portrait of the children as specific learners in the classroom community.
We work on being observers rather than critics, and try to think about learning from the specific child's point of view. These meetings do not focus on particular problems or difficulties. Rather, they are opportunities to spend time getting to know a child better, to brainstorm, share knowledge and inspirations, discuss teaching strategies and challenges, and reflect on children's learning experiences.
At Berkwood Hedge these collaborative, descriptive reviews are equally beneficial to teachers and students. Teachers leave these meetings with new insights and perspectives on individual children and their classrooms, renewed enthusiasm for teaching in general, and a deeper understanding of their teaching practice.
For more information:
From Another Angle: Children's Strengths and School Standards, The Prospect Center's Descriptive Review of the Child, edited by Margaret Himley with Patricia F. Carini, Teacher's College Press, © 2000.