DEFINITION METHOD - Learning Forward

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CASES

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DEFINITION

ASE-BASED professional development involves using carefully chosen, real-world examples of teaching to serve as springboards

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for discussions among small groups of teachers.

good case is carefully

Through the predicaments presented in a case, teachers have

opportunities to engage in careful reasoning and to make subtle

judgements. Cases can help teachers discover ambiguity, conflict, and

designed for instruction and

poses fundamental issues

that reach beyond the

particulars in the case and

motivates ongoing

reflection and inquiry.

Carne Barnett is principal investigator of the Mathematics Case Methods Project with WestEd. She can be reached a t WestEd, 500 12th St., Suite 340, Oakland, CA 94607, (510) 587-7329, fax (510) 5877373, e-mail: [email protected].

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complexity within a deceptively simple-looking teaching situation. Note that we are focusing here on discussing cases, not writing them. Writing cases can be extremely rewarding professional development work, but the task is complex and time-consuming. Writing a good case, one that holds valid lessons for a broad audience of educators, means engaging in a lengthy development, editing, and field-testing process. In many instances, educators find their time will be better spent examining and discussing cases that have already been shaped by this process.

GOOD CASES AND HOW TO USE THEM

Not every story or video clip is a case. A good case is carefully designed for instruction and poses fundamental issues that reach beyond the particulars in the case and motivates ongoing reflection and inquiry. There is also an important distinction between cases that are constructed to exemplify particular ideas and cases that provide opportunities to examine and apply theories in context. The latter cases are particularly valuable because they evoke generative learning through analysis, inquiry, and reasoning, rather than simply illustrating a point. Cases can be presented in a variety of formats. Some are written in first person, others in third person. Some are accompanied by questions or study guides, while others include commentaries. Cases can be presented through a variety of media, including narratives, videos, and computer-based presentations. Case discussions can be used for professional development in a variety of ways. For example, in the Mathematics Case Methods Project, a group of 6 to 15 teachers meets once a month for about two hours to discuss a case which they read before the meeting. The case, selected from a book of field-tested cases written by teachers, describes a classroom experience that had an unexpected outcome or ran into difficulty. The author of the case uses dialogue and student work to describe how her instruction was planned and what actually happened.

METHOD ✔ Before beginning the discussion, group members work on a math problem related to the case for a few minutes. ✔ As they work, they are asked to think about what might be confusing or difficult from the student’s point of view. ✔ Teachers note their insights, so they can be brought up later. ✔ Then participants pair up to identify issues from the case and frame them as questions. National Staff Development Council

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RESOURCES RATIONALE AND THEORY Barnett, C. (1998). Mathematics teaching cases as a catalyst for informed strategic inquiry. Teaching and Teacher Education, 14(1), 81-93. Christensen, C. & Hansen, A. (1987). Teaching and the case method. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing . Colbert, J.A., Desberg, P., & Trimble, K. (Eds.). (1996). The case for education: Contemporary approaches for using case methods. Needham Heights, MA:Allyn & Bacon. Harrington, H.L. & Garrison, J.W. (1992). Cases as shared inquiry:A dialogical model of teacher preparation. American Educational Research Journal, 29(4), 715735. Merseth, K. (1996). Cases and case methods in teacher education. In J. Sikula (Ed.), Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 722 - 744). New York: Macmillan. Shulman, J. (1992). Case methods in teacher education. New York: Teachers College Press. Sykes, G. & Bird, T. (1992). Teacher education and the case idea. In G. Grant (Ed.),

(We have found that framing issues as questions stimulates discussion by inviting multiple points of view.) ✔ These issues are posted on chart paper and used to focus the discussion, which continues for about an hour. The discussion facilitator is usually a teacher from the group who has attended a facilitation seminar and is very familiar with the case and its facilitator guide notes. The facilitator’s responsibility is to ensure that issues are carefully examined so the discussion is a productive learning experience. One teacher describes the discussion process this way: “Everybody in the group is looking at the same experience or piece of information, so what you get is everybody’s input into what they see, what the situation means, and, most important, how to change the situation to help a child learn.” Here are tips for getting started: ● Don’t assume you already have the skills or knowledge to successfully JSD Summer 1999

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Review of Research in Education 18 (457521). Washington DC:American Educational Research Association. Wasserman, S. (1993). Getting down to cases: Learning to teach with case studies. New York: Teachers College Press.

CASEBOOKS Cases have been developed for a variety of content purposes. The resource guide below, for example, includes cases that focus on cooperative group learning, teaching diverse student populations, mathematics pedagogy, assessment issues, and challenges faced by novice teachers. Barnett, C., Goldenstein, D., & Jackson, B. (Eds.). (1994). Mathematics teaching cases – Fractions, decimals, ratios, and percents: Hard to teach and hard to learn? Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. (Facilitator’s guide also available.) General education case series (1996). Boston:Allyn and Bacon. Goldman, E., Barron, L., Basles, O, Cobb, P., Bowers, J., McClain, K., Robinson, C., St. Clair, J., Wilson,A., Harwood, J., & Altman, J. (1994). Investigations in teaching geometry [CDROM program]. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University.

choose and use cases for professional development. Use the resources listed above to learn more about cases. Attend a seminar for facilitators. Find out where cases are being used, ask to see them in action, and learn how they were introduced to teachers. ● Teachers may not understand the goals or see the value in case discussions at first. If possible, invite a teacher with case discussion experience to explain the purpose of the discussions and how members of the group can work together to learn from someone else’s experience. ● An open mind, for both the participants and the facilitator, is essential for a successful discussion. All must be willing to suspend judgement, question their own assumptions, and listen carefully before forming conclusions. Participants must be encouraged, and must feel it’s safe to present a minority viewpoint. ● The facilitator’s role is to ask for

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Kleinfeld, J. (1990). Case series in crosscultural education. Fairbanks,AK: Center for Cross-Cultural Studies, University of Alaska. (Separate cases available). Merseth, K. (in press). Windows on teaching: Cases of secondary mathematics classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press. Miller, B. & Kantrov, I. (1998). Casebook on school reform. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Shulman, J.H. & Colbert, J.A. (Eds.) (1987) The mentor teacher casebook. San Francisco: Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development. Shulman, J.H. & Colbert, J.A. (Eds.) (1988). The intern teacher casebook. San Francisco: Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development. Shulman, J. & Mesa-Bains, A. (Eds.) (1994). Diversity in the classroom: A casebook for teachers and teacher educators. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Silverman, R., Welty, W.M., & Lyon, S. (1994). Case studies for teacher problem solving. New York: McGraw-Hill.

WEB SITE WestEd Publications: www.fwl.org/wested/resources.html

amplification of statements and specific examples, and to probe those ideas further to find out where they lead. However, this is not enough. The facilitator must also push participants to consider divergent ideas, whether or not these ideas are popular with the group, and to make tough decisions that take into account competing goals or conflicting consequences. Remember, the goal is not to reach consensus, but to deepen knowledge about complex issues and the tradeoffs encountered by teachers. ● It takes time for teachers to learn how to learn from cases and to develop the trust to address delicate issues. Therefore, dropping one or two cases into a professional development program may not be a very satisfying learning experience. Also, cases are sometimes designed to be discussed as a collection so teachers can apply what they learned from one case to the next, progressively developing more complex and interconnected ideas. ■ 27