Education Studies Resource
Ethnography of learning environment journal
Even though all three environments that I observed in were in the same building, they were all very different and had very different goals and settings. The GED teacher was able to successfully operate her classroom and motivate her students while the living environment teacher struggled to get respect and attention from her students. Most of the time in the living environment class was spent trying to control the students rather than on the course material. The students in the GED program ranged in age from 16 to 22 and were seeking a general equivalence diploma. All of the work was individualized because all the students were at different levels. Each student sat on his own and worked out of a workbook while the teacher walked around checking work and answering questions. The second environment I observed in was a resource room. The students present varied from day to day, but the general procedure was usually similar. Each student would do work on his or her own while the teacher helped a few at a time. Finally, I observed in an alternative education living environment ninth grade classroom. The students in this class had been kicked out of their high schools for behavioral problems and their overarching goal was to return to their districts. I learned about how the overall goal of the students in the different environments influenced how the teacher conducted her class. The different goals caused the students to have different motivating influences, which, in turn, affected the teacher’s pedagogy in the classroom. Not only did keeping this observation journal, teach me how to observe a classroom and what details to pay attention to, but I also feel as though I'll be able to look back on this journal years from now to remind me of alternative education settings and the day to day practices of different programs.
"He who studies books alone will know how things ought to be, and he who studies men will know how they are."
Charles Caleb Colton