1. Seeing the classroom as culture: using Open Space and video cameras
Willy Cardoso

2. In what ways might I exploit the social reality of the classroom as a resource for the teaching of language?
(Breen 2001: 122)
Every great accomplishment starts with a great question, it seems.
I’ve been very inspired by this one.

3. By finding out what my students want to talk about.

4. OST examples
Which is still sort of a transmission culture, a transmission view of the “being in a classroom” business.
With this, there was a lot I could do, but there was little they could do.
Could I prepare vocabulary sheets about the topics? Find online videos? Set up role plays?
Yes. But I’d done that many times and it wouldn’t really help me answer the question.
And I would be giving my students more of the same.
But how could I then engage them? I wanted them to have ownership of the content, I wanted them to invest on it: socially, intellectually, meaningfully.

5. Open Space Technology

6. Open Space Technology Conditions:
A real issue of concern, that it is something worth talking about.
A high level of complexity, such that no single person or small group fully understands or can solve the issue.

7. OST examples

8. OST examples
These mini posters were posted on the wall and students chose the topics they wanted to talk about.
Often, there were three or four conversations happening at the same time.
Teacher still active, helping students at the point of need and collecting emergent language for a post-conversation feedback.

9. In general, the way we structure the curriculum – the experiences that are included and the relationships that are or can be established among them – will shape the kinds of knowledge-in-action that students develop. At the beginning, their understanding of the conversational domain may be partial and incomplete, but it will grow as the conversation continues.
Arthur Applebee (1996: 67)

10. Video cameras
&
Language reporters

11. Work in groups of 3.
But where is the third student?

12. Language reporter’s role:
Listen carefully and take notes of: interesting comments, good use of language, poor use of language, etc.
Write at least one sentence verbatim.

13. Watch recording
Speakers’ self- evaluation
Language reporter’s comments
Teacher’s input and feedback.
Focus on language and communication:
Accuracy (grammar, lexis, phonology)
Body language, voice, pace, etc.
Compensation strategies.

14. Classroom Research

15. Classroom as context cultural intertextual linguistic interactional
situational
cultural
Classroom as
context
What’s in a context?
Halliday defines context as ‘the total environment in which a text unfolds’
Moreover, the notion of context is a relational one. (p. 67)
::::
Kramsch: five dimensions of the communicative event:
linguistic – The choice of one linguistic form over another
situational – includes:
Setting: the time and place
Participants: the roles of speakers and listeners
Ends: short and long-term learning goals and outcomes.
Act sequence: the form and content of speech acts.
Key: tone and manner of utterances (e.g. ironic, serious, etc); it also includes non-verbal expressions.
Instrumentalities: whether the communication is oral or written, and if it is in L1 or L2.
Norms of interaction and interpretation: how students and teacher participate in the lesson and understand spoken and written texts.
Genre: the type of communicative activity, e.g. open discussion, lecture, essay writing, etc.
Interactional – how perceiving what listeners attend to and are aware of shape the speaker’s utterance; how shared knowledge or lack thereof promotes or hinders further communication.
These three dimensions focus more on individuals’ choices and their immediate surroundings. There are two other dimensions that are shaped by larger contexts, according to Halliday:
Cultural – the context of culture is ‘the institutional and ideological background knowledge shared by participants in speech events’ (p. 42). This means people’s expectations about how the world works, which is built based on their individual and social experiences.
Intertextual – the relations of a text with other texts, and how prior texts shape present intentions, expectations, and other factors that will constitute a communicative act.

16. Every lesson is built on the assumption of earlier lessons in which topics have been explored, concepts agreed upon and defined At a deeper level, the entire school learning experience is linked by a pervading ‘intertextuality’ that embodies the theory and practice of education as institutionalized in our culture.
(Halliday 1989: 47)

17. Context should therefore be viewed not as a natural given, but as a social construct.
(Kramsch, 1993:46)

18. In what ways might I exploit the social reality of the classroom as a resource for the teaching of language?
(Breen 2001: 122)

19. Situational understanding for Context-sensitive pedagogy
how
what
where
who

20. Who am I teaching? Where am I teaching? How am I teaching?
What are my students’ motivations, blocks, exposure, etc?
What is the social context? Do students share a common language? Do they know each other? If so/not what are the implications for practice?
Who am I teaching?
What contextual and cultural factors influence the way I can teach and my student can learn?
What are the institutional expectations, constraints, and opportunities?
Where am I teaching?
Do my students need exposure to a specific variant of English or ELF?
Which communicative skills need emphasis?
How can I best connect my students’ life goals to language learning goals?
What am I teaching?
Allow the above to influence planning, methodology and assessment.
How am I teaching?

21. [ insert your thoughts ]

22. Observation Tasks Through their eyes
E.g. How many times did the teacher correct me in this lesson?
Willy Cardoso –

23. Involving learners Data for learners’ reflection - development
e.g. Was there little correction because I didn’t speak a lot in this lesson? Or because my level is too good for this lesson? Etc.
Data for teacher’s reflection - development
e.g. Why did I correct this student five times more than all the other ones?
Why did this student think I corrected her only 3 times whereas I did a lot more than this? Should I make corrections more explicit then?

24. Involving learners
What aspects of my teaching would I like my students to notice and feed back?
How can I turn that into an observation task?

25. A goal:
To decrease the gap between teacher’s intention and learner’s perception.

26. The story so far…

27. Classroom life develops as a mini-culture
Videos are powerful
self-assessment tools
Context is socially constructed
Open(ing) Space
is the
Lesson Plan
We need to take the back seat
to see ‘through their eyes’

28. How can you exploit the social reality of your classrooms as a resource for teaching and learning?