Critical Incidents in Teaching

A critical but unforgettable experience

Four years ago, when I was teaching at a Private School in Bahia Blanca, I experienced some critical episodes in the classroom. I was the teacher of a first grade, I had thirty eight lovely kids, some of them were five and some were six years old. It was an excellent group, they were always so enthusiastic about learning and best of all… they loved English! We would have so much fun in the classes! We would sing and dance, play a game every class, act out stories and enjoy our one-hour meeting immensely. The kids would also enjoy listening to short stories I used to read to them. However, there was one boy who did not participate in any of the activities we used to do.

At the beginning I tried to observe his behaviour in my classes and I also watched him during the break. He was always all alone in the playground! He never played with any of his classmates nor even talked to them! I also realized that he never copied anything from the board, instead, he used to draw on his notebook and what is worst, then he used to make many black lines on in or paint it completely in black. I was so worried about him, so I decided to talk to him separately so as to try to help him. I was rather shocked by his answers, he just said angrily: ‘The thing is that I don’t know English’. But what surprised me most was that that was his reason for not copying, singing, or just playing with his mates. So I decided to talk to the teacher of the class and also to the English coordinator to find a solution to this problem. I was told that he had very serious behavioural problems; it was known that his dad had left his family and his mum was expecting a baby. On top of that, his mum had tried to commit suicide and once, this little kid tried to push a pencil into his mummy’s tummy saying that he did not want to have a baby brother. I was deeply dismayed to learn this and completely upset when I was told: ‘there is nothing we can do’.

Nonetheless, I was determined to do something to help this little kid, or at least to try. So, every single class, while the other kids were working I sat next to Martin and work with him. I also tried to encourage him, telling him that the other kids did not know English either but that they were learning while playing and having fun at the same time. Within days, I could say

he had a change of heart and began working like his mates. He started to participate in the class, play with us, and do the activities they were given too, always saying with a happy look on his face: ‘Miss look! I’m doing this!’

I cannot say he did great that year or that he got excellent marks, but at least he became involved in the class, he got interested in our games, songs and activities as well. As we used to do many pair or group activities he shared and talked with his mates too. However, what I can say is that many a time a small change in our attitudes can make a profound change in our pupils’ behaviour. And this, I believe, is one of the most rewarding aspects of our teaching professions.

Journal Entries in Teaching

Critical incidents, a useful tool for our professional growth

In our daily lives, any unpleasant or difficult situation is a tool for our personal learning and growth. However, the moment we encounter these situations, we cannot avoid wondering, why does it have to happen to me? What did I do wrong so as to be involved in this situation? Or why did I do this or that? At that moment, all these questions seem to be unanswerable, and yet, we should try to see the positive side of that particular incident. Indeed, we should remember that we can learn from that experience so that if we happen to be in a similar situation we would know what to do, or at least, what not to do. When it comes to teaching and learning can we also learn from an unusual event?

In classroom teaching, these unpleasant or unusual events which help us reflect and grow in our teaching professions are called Critical Incidents. And then, why are critical incidents so useful for our professional development? Fernandez et al., (2001) stated that they are crucial in our professional development since they give us opportunities not only to reflect upon those experiences but also to consider how we could react in similar, future situations (as cited in Fernandez, Elortegui, & Medina, 2003). After analyzing the main problem, the context in which it occurred, the possible causes and feasible and effective solutions, students in teacher training careers are provided with critical thinking tools which will allow them take decisions thoughtfully in their classroom teaching. Therefore, it is essential to include these methods in teacher training courses, so that future teachers can acquire the tools for sensible decision making and thus enrich their academic formation (Monereo, 1999; as cited in Fernandez et al., 2003).

So basically, as it happens with the problems we encounter in our daily lives, the difficulties we face in the classroom are a rich source for our learning and personal growth. Thus, reflecting not only on our experiences but also on our colleagues’ experiences can provide us with new insights into the causes and plausible solutions for future classroom difficulties.

References

Fernández, J., Elortegui, N., & Medina, M. (2001). Los incidentes críticos como estrategia de formación de profesores de Ciencias. Universidad de la Laguna. Retrieved October 2011.

Fernández J., Elortegui, N., & Medina, M. (2003). Los incidentes críticos en la formación y perfeccionamiento del profesorado de secundaria de ciencias de la naturaleza. Revista Interuniversitaria de Formacion del Profesorado, 17(1), 101-112. Zaragoza, España: Universidad de Zaragoza. Retrieved October 2011, from http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/src/inicio/ArtPdfRed.jsp?iCve=27417107

Monereo, C., Castelo, M., Clariana, M., Palma, M., & Pérez M. L. (1999). Estrategias de enseñanza y aprendizaje. Barcelona: Grao. Retrieved October 2011.