Kuma Chapter 13

In this chapter of the book, Kuma talks about monitoring teaching acts. The part that I am going to discuss is the part in the chapter where he talks about product-oriented models, vs. process-oriented models. In product oriented models, a description of the teachers behavior is necessary in order to build a classroom behavior profile of the teacher. The things that they would look for in these observations are if the teachers asks questions, their tone in voice, whether the teacher gives direction, etc. These models are good for a partial understanding of classroom activities. On the other hand in process-oriented models, the observations are based on the assumption that an interpretation of classroom acitivites is necessary in order to understand classroom processes and practices. They focus on classroom input as well as interaction. They treat the classroom as individuals and not as a collective mass. These types of models have strengthened our capacity to understand classroom events. I believe that both of these models are useful but in different ways. If I was to go into a classroom and observe the teacher and how she or he runs the classroom and what types of things they do to make the classroom run I would use a product-oriented approach to observing that classroom. If I wanted to understand the processes of the classroom and the fine tuning of how it was run and works together and look at specifics about the students I would use a process-oriented approach to observations. This part of the chapter was intriguing to me because I have been in the classroom plenty of times to observe and I always know what I will be looking for but I guess I really didnt know that there were specific models for the different types of observations you can do. It was news to me.