1 Observation Report Regarding Adolescent Development

Observation Report Regarding Adolescent Development

Albert V. Ahlf

Hunter College

Regarding the present observer’s observations at Hoodily Doodily High School, the

dynamic was definitely engaging and intriguing in relation to the different teaching styles, the

various behavior patterns, the educational roles that teachers played regarding development,

learning, and behavior, and the styles of communication that the students engaged in with

themselves and with their teachers. Generally, the environment observed was slightly

permissive and slightly authoritative regarding the dynamic between teacher and student. One

example of this was that the teachers would give commands to the students but at the same

time rarely if at all give punishments or direct consequences for persistent disordered behavior.

The present observer also noticed that the environment at the school was very family-like and

nurturing. There was a good deal of personal connection between teachers and students and

individualized attention, which was beneficial to kids who were struggling academically or

socially. The main teacher that teacher and the co-teacher that were observed both embodied

different aspects of different learning theories such as Walker’s parenting style theory and

Freiberg’s theory of student centered classrooms.

There was evidence of slightly authoritative and permissive teaching styles in the

observed classroom. This classroom contained a main teacher and a co-teacher. The main

teacher was absent one day so the the co-teacher subbed for him. One of the students upon
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entering the class said, “Where is this nigga, is he sick”? The co-teacher (CT) didn’t give an

answer and then stated the directions for the day in a soft spoken manner. In this Global

History class, there were noticeable differences in the behavior of the students when the Co-

Teacher was subbing for the Teacher. When the main teacher was present, the students

tended to be more apathetic and disengaged; this could partly be due to the co-teachers highly

permissive teaching style and somewhat passive vocal tone. It is easy to assume that a passive

tone and permissive teaching style would have a strong correlation between disengaged and

unfocused students. In contrast to the teaching style of the Co- Teacher, the main teacher

tended to teach in a much more pronounced and clear manner, with a moderate and directive

vocal tone and only slightly permissive teaching style with occasional firmness in order to keep

students focused and engaged. As a result of the main teacher’s (MT) more pronounced and

directive vocal tone, the students tended to be much more engaged and mentally present when

he was teaching as opposed to the co-teacher. The MT would have somewhat of a questioning

teaching style and would ask students questions related to the curriculum in order to solicit

answers from them and make them think/engage in concrete and formal operations. If they

didn’t know the answer, he would give a straightforward answer with an explanation and make

sure the other students understood. Some other things the present observer noticed with this

class seemed to include a consistently loose and permissive class-room environment. Some

further examples of this include some students consistently leaving the class in the middle of

the period in which the MT and the CT would never vocally respond and instead ignore it as if it

had not happened. Another example includes some students often being on their phones and

the teachers generally not saying anything directly about the distracted behavior and instead
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saying something casually to the student such as, “do you have your notes for today”? or “do

you have a pencil”? Sometimes if students were on their phones too much, the MT would say

something like “put you phones away guys, you aren’t gonna find any answers on your

phones.” Even if he directly told students to put their phone away and they still had them out,

there would not be any direct consequences. This is an example of slight authoritative teaching

styles because while there is some firm command, there are no repercussions for continued cell

phone use.

To provide further evidence for the slightly authoritative/permissive teaching style that

was observed in this class, the scholar will provide some quoted example between the CT (Co-

Teacher/Sub) and the students. The CT starts out the class one day as a sub for the MT by

stating that today’s class is supposed to help you understand what life was like before the

industrial revolution. She then asks the students, “what does the word revolution mean to

you”? (Several of the students are distracted and unfocused at this time). One of the students

responds to the question by saying, “I think that revolution means dramatic change”. The

teacher then in order to address this student and the rest of class regarding their distractedness

says, “I need a dramatic change because there are too many people talking and on their

phones”. This is an example of a slightly authoritative teaching style because it directly

addresses the issue and asks for it to stop. However, this also hints at permissiveness because

there were no consequences for students who continued to either be on their phone or talk to

each other. One of the students at this time was listening to music on is phone and it was

audibly coming out through his headphones which was distracting to others around him. The

CT did nothing to address this and permissively just ignored it and continued to teach/guide the
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students. Authoritativeness was shown in the middle of the class period when people

continued to talk to each other at a moderate volume level. The CT said, “Some people like to

work in silence, can you please give them that respect?” “I want your respect”. Her statements

to the class were partially effective as they partially quieted the class. The present observer

makes the following suggestion; if there were more consequences for distractible behavior,

there would be less of it.

On December 1 in this class, there was evidence of formal and concrete operations. This

is evidenced by the use of accountable talk stems in the lesson plan and constructing agree or

disagree arguments. The class started with students coming in, signing in on the attendance

sheet (encourages autonomy) and going to their “assigned” seats. The MT tells the students as

they get situated “today we are going to be working on using accountable talk stems when

engaging in debative discussions (formal operations)”. Several of the students come in late at

this time and then proceed to sign in. Before the MT officially starts the class, he makes some

small talk with the students regarding why he was absent the past few days. He tells them that

he was getting tested for ulcers because he wasn’t feeling well. He then explains to them what

an ulcer is and how to prevent them. He also explains to the students how he had to get

knocked out during the testing because they put a camera down his throat. Him making small

talk with the students about his ulcer testing promoted formal operations as some students

asked questions about ulcers and personal health. The MT shows the students in the class a

video clip of a place in Peru called Machu Pichu. After the video, the MT then has the students

engage in a task involving formal operations. The task involves the students being asked to use

accountable talk stems in order to state why they agree/disagree with some written statements
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about the Machu Pichu video. One of the students during the class time is unfocused and on

his phone. MT in order to address this, does so in a very non-confrontational and casual

manner by asking the student, “you have anything to write with”? This shows that MT cares

about the student academically. This gives evidence for a caring and supportive classroom

environment. One example includes when he asked the students to respond to a statement

pertaining to the Machu-Picchu video by using an accountable talk stem. The statement was, “I

can’t see why anyone would climb up a mountain with all of those rocks”. In order to encourage

a learning environment, MT has students share their personal responses to the statement. One

of the students responds to the statement by stating, “you can have a priceless view by

climbing the mountain”. This is an example of abstract/higher order thinking taking place in the

classroom.

There was evidence of Walkers parenting style learning theory in this classroom as well.

The following dialogue evidences this. The main teacher proceeds to explain to the students

how people climb the Andes mountains (which is where Machu Picchu resides). In regards to

climbing the mountains, he then says to the students in a personable and relatable manner, “do

you guys think you climb the mountains physically”? Some of the students respond in a joking

kind of manner which shows that the dynamic in the classroom is casual and friendly. An

example of Walker’s parenting style being used in the MT’s class was shown when he spoke to

the students in the manner of a concerned parent. He said the following to the students

regarding essay writing, “you guys need to apply yourself, you all have the ability to write these

essays, you just don’t believe in yourselves”. This moment during the class signifies that

perhaps the students identify with being weak/poor students. Perhaps Erickson would jump in
6 Observation Report Regarding Adolescent Development

here and say that the students potentially have an identity conflict that prevents them from

realizing full academic potential. It is important to notice how MT does not reprimand or

emotionally disown the students just because they may not be “applying themselves”. He

instead employs the use of caring firmness in order to motivate the students to put in more

effort. He continues by telling the students, “if you are unsure about something please come to

me for extra help.” This is a good example of MT using the Walker’s parenting style teaching

method in order to encourage cognitive development in the students.

In this class, there was also evidence of social development occurring and being

encouraged by the teacher. Sufficient evidence for this was shown one of the MT’s classes

entitled “family group”. This class period is collectively run in a democratic manner. There is

no specific curriculum in this class and instead there is open discussion which is guided by the

main teacher. The discussions can go through a variety of topics that interest and engage the

students thus promoting positive social development. The following information will provide

some quotes and direct evidence. The MT during the beginning of this class period hears a

student talking about marijuana and then jokes with the student by saying, “you weren’t

smoking bud in the projects right?” This comment from the main teacher shows that he is

interested in developing relationships with the students and that he is non-judgmental. The

main teacher starts the family-group class by using telling them about his ulcer experience. MT

tells the students about the science of the procedure and informs them about some medical

terminology. The class proceeds to discuss aspects of diet and nutrition. A couple of students

on the side engage in some side conversations that use hip-hop lingo. (This provides an

example of Erickson’s developmental stage involving mainly Identity. These students are
7 Observation Report Regarding Adolescent Development

passionately talking about hip-hop and sports with each other which shows that they share

common interests and they both to an extent derive their senses of identity from the same

“stuff”). Their voices are distractingly at a moderate volume level which interferes with the

class discussion. The main teacher at first ignores this behavior and then proceeds to continue

guiding the class discussion on nutrition. As MT proceeds to hand out a packet related to

nutrition, he asks the students who are talking with each other to join the class and get off of

their phones. The MT then poses the question to the class, “why do healthy foods tend to cost

more”? As he poses this question to the class, the students who he asked to join the class

continue to engage in distracting behavior. He says to the two students, “you guys gonna join

us? Sit with us”. One of the students turns towards the class and sits on one of the desks. MT

then asks the student to sit down in a chair because him sitting on the desk makes it look like

he is looking down on the students which can make some people feel insecure. By doing this,

the MT is encouraging social development by making the student socially aware of how his

actions can make others feel uncomfortable without even realizing it.

Towards the later portion of this class period, the MT made some side comments to the

present observer regarding classroom management and behavior. These comments provide

evidence of the contextual role of the MT with respect to classroom behavior in this particular

class period. He said, “Some of the other students in the class mentally flip me off because they

don’t care about this class. Sometimes I guess I don’t sell it right.” At this moment the MT

proceeds to sit down quietly and wait for the students in the class to settle down. This hints at

permissiveness in teaching style. After the students quiet down, one of the students talks

about she is trying to get her grandma to quit smoking cigarettes by having her drink marijuana-
8 Observation Report Regarding Adolescent Development

tea. The MT replies to this in a joking manner by saying “I think that will just make her really

high”. His reply shows that he is relatable and non-judgmental regarding the use of marijuana.

After this mini-convo about pot-tea, the MT says to me that he “feels like he is just being tuned

out by some of the students”. He then says to class in an authoritative manner, “Can I please

stop being interrupted”? The main teacher says to the students who have been talking to each

other most of the period, “tomorrow can you guys not sit next to each other? Because you

keep talkin’ to each other and not payin’ attention”. These direct quotations from the MT show

that the role of the teacher in respect to classroom behavior in this particular scenario is

somewhat like that of a casual debate moderator who at times authoritatively asks people to

be quiet when things get to chaotic. To make a philosophical reference to Freiberg, one could

say that the teacher in this class promoted a person-centered classroom. They did this by

allowing students to guide class discussions about various topics and by giving students

sufficient opportunities for self-discipline. The MT only became authoritative when a few

students consistently acted in an undisciplined and unfocused manner. This class period

embodies the environment of a supportive family with the main teacher as the head of the

family so to speak. The MT teacher respectfully and non-judgmentally listened to the opinions

and ideas of various students in the classroom and by doing this, he promoted a positive

classroom environment in alignment with Frieberg’s theory of education. This class period

provided good evidence of the MT being a teacher that cares about building genuine

relationships with the students which is shown by Frieberg to enhance academic success in the

students. The MT in this class did a good job of extending his role of teacher to also include

being a facilitator, encourager, and connector of learning (Frieberg).

9 Observation Report Regarding Adolescent Development

Further evidence of formal operations occurring in the main teacher’s global history

class was found when the topic of the protestant reformation was being taught to the students.

Also during this particular class period on Nov 16, there were instances in the class where there

was slight authoritative mixed with permissiveness used by the teacher to “control” the class so

to speak. One small example of this is when some late students entered the class and upon

entering, the MT told them “Don’t take naps during class or be on your phones today because

you guys didn’t get your work from last class completed”. This statement shows that Chris

cares about the academic well being of the individual students he is referring to and it shows

that he is also embodying nurturing elements of the Walker parent-style teaching theory (his

statement is very paternal sounding). The statement is also an example of tough love because

the MT only says to the students that they need to essentially be more focused and do their

work. He does not shame them or demean them emotionally/personally for not being

productive the way an authoritarian teacher would do. To get back to the main point, the

present observer will provide some quoted examples of formal operations occurring. The MT

starts the class by asking the students in the class what they would do if they were given a

death sentence by the courts. One student replies by saying, “I would have a fake heart attack

and fake my own death”. Another student says that he would “try and leave the country and

go where there is no government”. A third student says, “I would get someone to help me

escape and hide away that the government wouldn’t expect.”

Regarding suggestions that the present observer would make to the MT and the CT of

this class, the present observer (PO) thinks that if there had been more of a punishment/reward

system; it may have given incentive to certain students who were perpetually distracted to be
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more productive. Also, the PO would like to add that some of the students in the class

appeared to have emotional intelligence deficits. Perhaps there may have been more room for

emotional development had there been more group work in the class and if the material had

been presented in a way that was a bit more relatable. The reasoning for this is because it was

observed that a handful of the students seemed quite disinterested in the class curriculum to

say the least. To conclude with the suggestions, the PO believes that egocentrism in some

students may have been greatly reduced had there been more efficient use of authoritativeness

with consequences for persistent disorderly conduct.

References:

Walker, J. M. (2009). Authoritative Classroom Management: How Control and Nurturance Work
Together. Theory Into Practice, 48(2), 122-129. doi:10.1080/00405840902776392

Freiberg, H. J., & Lamb, S. M. (2009). Dimensions of Person-Centered Classroom Management.

Theory Into Practice, 48(2), 99-105. doi:10.1080/00405840902776228