Critical Incident Technique: A tool to analyze and interpret classroom situations

The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) is a method developed by Flanagan (1954). It is accepted that this strategy provides the steps for collecting the human evident actions which lead exploration with the intention of establishing possible solutions to the incident being observed (Flanagan, 1954).

In 2004, I started working at a state- fund school in the urban area in my city. I was in charge of first year of Secundaria Básica. Even tough there were no more than fifteen students in my class, things turned quite difficult as soon as I entered the school. I remember the Headmistress worked one shift so if any troublesome situation happened while she was absent, it was solved by the monitor.

The students were from twelve to fourteen years old. They had basic level of English but they seemed not interested at all about learning neither English nor any other subject. The monitor, a very hard-working person, informed me about the social environment of these students. From her recount, I knew the learners had serious discipline problems due to addictions, poor living conditions and aggression. Under the circumstances, I understood why learning ought to be approached in a special mode to be meaningful for this particular group.

Before meeting the students for the first time, I read about the prescribed aims for first year which covered specific contents. No sooner did I meet these adolescents, I knew I should work very hard to adapt the contents successfully while displaying appropriate strategies. On the contrary, this would turn one of the most difficult experiences in my career.

The second class began with a discussion on a comic about the purpose of learning English. My impression was that nobody was interested in it since they hardly made eyes at the photocopy. I must confess I did not know whether to stay or leave the class at once! Then, I decided to survey the students to grasp some information as regards their likes and preferences. After carrying out the survey, I noticed a different attitude on them. I understood then that no matter what the prescribed contents were, I had to adapt them to the students’ reality for them to be meaningful.

The following classes started with a short talk about the things they have done during the week. Then, we continued with warming up games, a song or a story. In that way, students were motivated to start working. As students were asked to work on more demanding tasks, they were organized in groups for them to feel they had a peer to work with. From then on, I felt it was worth trying to work with this unique group of learners who needed attention and care to be eager to learn.

On balance, I must confess this has been one of the most challenging while rewarding experience I have gone through. All the incidents faced with this particular class may be food for thought for teachers who are likely to experience similar situations. The way to tackle the problems may vary, but it has proved to be useful to consider the learners’ environment, needs and likes to address life long learning.

                                                      References

Flanagan, J. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51-4. Retrieved September 2010, from

http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/special/cit-article