ESLetter article

February 2006

Curt Sanford

"The scientific approach to the examination of phenomena is a defense against

the pure emotion of fear." Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

              Earlier this semester, an interdepartmental group of CCSF teachers were

in a workshop talking about the Reflective Teaching Project. After

learning about the project, an instructor from the Astronomy Department was struck

by how the inquiry process that we follow in our monthly teachers' groups

mirrors the scientific method. He went on to explain how the scientific method

(observing phenomena, analyzing data, forming hypotheses, making predictions,

developing new experiments) is essentially the same approach that we ESL teachers

have been using in our campus groups when we discuss phenomena related to

teaching and learning.

              A major function of the Reflective Teaching Project is to put one area of

student learning under the microscope with a group of colleagues to see if

something new can be discovered about the relationship between how we teach and

how our students learn. Instead of forming hypotheses based on the brief

exchanges we share when we meet in the hallways or break rooms, the structured

inquiry process that guides the campus groups helps participants address pertinent

issues in much richer, more nuanced ways.

    Because each campus group session involves thorough analysis of a

challenging issue confronted by an individual teacher (but often shared by many),

teachers report feeling a greater sense of understanding of the problems they

confront in the classroom. Our hypothesis is that when we undertake this kind of

critical inquiry, we  become better equipped to solve the problems we all face

in the classroom. If you’re interested in joining the conversations, contact your campus facilitator.