To orient students to the value of child study, I have them read a piece by Patricia Carini about the processes of observing, recording and describing used by teachers at the Prospect School. Since the aim of the school was to “tailor learning to the learner,” teachers had to see and study how children were going about their learning and how they were making sense of the world in order to shape an educational environment to support their learning.

When I ask students about the role of choice in teaching and learning, they mostly comment on its motivational power for students. No one mentions how it also enables teachers to learn about their students. Kim questions whether any of this applies to public school teaching which is a perfect opportunity for me to mention our upcoming study of Gillian Maimon, a 1st grade teacher in a Philadelphia public school who shares the Prospect philosophy. As students describe opportunities for choice in the classrooms where they are observing, Michal realizes how constrained the choices actually are in her classroom. I also ask students what criteria they might use in deciding which child to study, remind them to find unobtrusive ways to learn about their study child and introduce the “Descriptive Review of a Child” framework that will guide their inquiry.

See Child Study Assignment

Discussing Pat Carini's work Video Clip (9:47)	What are the opportunities for choice in your classroom? Video Clip (7:36)	Introducing the child study Video Clip (11:05)
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