Developing Response-Ability On Noticing Angi Malderez

Our responsibility as Teachers is our Response Ability

Defining terms… /sharing meanings What’s the difference? Observing Noticing

Noticing - what ‘strikes us’ - what we pay attention to Observation - when we intend to notice, - when we set out to try to notice. Both include ‘see-noticing’ and ‘hear-noticing’

How does noticing support teaching? (Teaching = supporting learning) What learners do, say, & produce, + visible clues about their feelings and learning, helps teachers know what to do next, But only if they notice it …..

“OK, I have eyes ... and ears …” “yes, but ….”

3 Scenarios ‘It’ doesn’t register at all ‘It’ registers but we don’t give it any (conscious) attention ‘It’ registers and we ‘mark’ it, and can / do ‘re-mark’ on it.

On why we might not mark-notice Blinker 1: (ice-skater/coherence) Blinker 2:(‘getting up this morning’/ pink elephants) Blinker 3: (words in triangle) Blinker 4: (busy picture (i)) Blinker 5: (busy picture (ii)) Blinker 6: (picture (iii))

How can we become better noticers? Consider the nature of the barriers we have identified. What could you do to become a better noticer?

Becoming better noticers Communicate (S/R) with others about what you have noticed to: see the kinds of things you ‘mark’ (scenario 3) enable you to recall things you registered but didn’t ‘mark’ (scenario 2) And: ‘Feed the mind behind the eyes/ears’ (scenario 1)

Practise – it’s a skill - and e.g. ask yourself whether, over time: For your teaching you are noticing a greater range of things For your learning/researching what you notice gives you the information you need / suits your purposes better

How does noticing support teacher ‘learnacy’? Teacher Learning = On-going learning from our own and others’ experiences. It starts by: Re-viewing (seeing again) But we need to have seen/ noticed the first time!

Finally The desert travellers and the pebbles

Contact and references amalderez@googlemail.com Malderez A. & M. Wedell 2007 Teaching Teachers: Processes and Practices London/NY:Continuum Mason, J. 2002 Researching your own Practice: On the Discipline of Noticing. Routledge