According to Pintos and Crimi (2010), the phrase critical incident is used in a positive fashion: to help teachers reflect upon their current practices. Critical incidents, which are, in fact, unusual or unpleasant situations we may encounter in our work, should be used as sources of analysis and learning. Some years ago, I experienced a critical incident which I report below. In fact, I have experienced many situations which could be reported as critical incidents on my teaching practice and learning process.
I was in a state-run school in the Province of Buenos Aires. I was in charge of 1st year of Secundaria Basica. Most of students were 12 years old and the school was in a poor area. It was my first day with this group of students. I had great expectations!. Everything was going well except from an incident with one student.
The student did not seem to listen to a word I said. I had spoken about respect in the classroom and discussed my expectations for the group during the 1st period. I had decided I was not going to argue with him on that day. I did not confront him for keeping his head down or drawing something. I could see he was drawing something and it looked very nice. It seemed he was very good at drawing.
The next class he came into classroom and this time instead of paying attention to the class or following instructions on blackboard, he proceeded to put a sheet on his desk and started to draw again. With the other students on task, I walked over to him. He looked at me ready to challenge me at anything I said. I asked him where he had learnt to draw like that. He looked at me in surprise and I told him he was really good at that. I asked him where he had learnt so much and he began to tell me his father used to buy him comic magazines, but not anymore. I could feel the pain.
The student did not seem to listen to a word I said. I had spoken about respect in the classroom and discussed my expectations for the group during the 1st period. I had decided I was not going to argue with him on that day. I did not confront him for keeping his head down or drawing something. I could see he was drawing something and it looked very nice. It seemed he was very good at drawing.
The next class he came into classroom and this time instead of paying attention to the class or following instructions on blackboard, he proceeded to put a sheet on his desk and started to draw again. With the other students on task, I walked over to him. He looked at me ready to challenge me at anything I said. I asked him where he had learnt to draw like that. He looked at me in surprise and I told him he was really good at that. I asked him where he had learnt so much and he began to tell me his father used to buy him comic magazines, but not anymore. I could feel the pain.
Instead of scolding him for being off task, I surprised him and complimented him on his skills. Then, I asked him to show me what he could do connected to the task, which was something about a brochure. So, his help was worth it. He was amazing. I then asked him to help some of the other students with the drawings in the brochures, which he complied and did a great job explaining it and showing them how to do things he was asked by the other students.
This student had difficulty in so many other classes that he had been wrongly pointed or labeled as a diffucult student, thus he behaved like that. The next class he came into the classroom and from that point on, he was great.
Five years later, I saw him again. From a long distance, in front of his friends, he threw his arms out and came over to me and gave me a big hug saying "Hi, teacher Ana." We talked for a while and before he walked away, he had hugged me twice. This was a reminder to me for what had happened five years before in the class.
My goal or my challenge when I am in the classroom is not only to teach all the contents but to pay attention to students as people whose needs may be totally different. So far, I am in the last period of the year and I have only needed to step out one time with two students to have a conversation about their actions. I think they know I love them first. This was a challenging experience, very hard to me, but very rewarding otherwise.
This student had difficulty in so many other classes that he had been wrongly pointed or labeled as a diffucult student, thus he behaved like that. The next class he came into the classroom and from that point on, he was great.
Five years later, I saw him again. From a long distance, in front of his friends, he threw his arms out and came over to me and gave me a big hug saying "Hi, teacher Ana." We talked for a while and before he walked away, he had hugged me twice. This was a reminder to me for what had happened five years before in the class.
My goal or my challenge when I am in the classroom is not only to teach all the contents but to pay attention to students as people whose needs may be totally different. So far, I am in the last period of the year and I have only needed to step out one time with two students to have a conversation about their actions. I think they know I love them first. This was a challenging experience, very hard to me, but very rewarding otherwise.
References
Pintos,V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 2: Personal narratives in teaching. Retrieved September, 2010 from
http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7214
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