A good week in the field

I started my classroom observations in my new research site this week and my overall impression of the week is FANTASTIC! I'm enjoying being in the department and can certainly see that I've developed an increased level of confidence in my role as researcher and participant observer. Whereas previously I wouldn't really interact with students in the first week, usually restricting my interactions to a respectful distance as we got used to each other – this week by day two I was having meaning conversations with students and taking photographs (another activity I would normally leave until week two or three for fear of being intrusive). I just feel more in control of what I am doing and more comfortable in both the environment and my own skin. Of course it could just be me – thus all these changes have come about as a result of my own doing. But how can I discount the context as having some influence on my actions and behaviours? I could identify a range of contextual features that are probably contributing to this new found confidence and comfort I’m experiencing. So while I would like to credit myself for all these shifts in my researcher conduct, I think they only make sense because of the contextual realities of the research site.

I’ve also realised how much I am learning about my own teaching and learning approaches while I participate in other peoples’ teaching and learning environments. My irritations, anxieties and commendations of the teaching practices I observe all reflect back on my own practices and as a result this whole experience has been such a fruitful learning ground for me. I’ve realised that I am a rescuer – I always want to rescue students from ‘bad experiences’; when I see something going wrong – like miscommunications about a brief that causes students’ anxiety – I want to rescue the students and the situation by making the problem go away. Not everyone feels the need to do this, and often students just have to sit with that anxiety and find their own solutions. Thus during one such situation this week, I asked myself – how helpful is it to students when I constantly want to make their anxieties go away and is it realistic to make these anxieties dissipate? I was particularly proud of myself this week, when I confronted with this kind of situation that I just remained a ‘neutral’ observer and didn’t provide my opinion to students or go chat to a lecturer etc...to get some clarity on the situation. I didn’t allow myself to become embroiled in a situation and process that was really outside of my control. I think it was good fieldworker practice to maintain such a ‘neutral’ role in this instance, especially at such an early stage of the fieldwork period, where I stood the risk of possibly being seen as someone who interferes and therefore opening myself up to be manipulated or viewed with distrust.

Having such a positive week in the field is rather encouraging and I’m really looking forward to embracing my new found confidence as I continue to explore this really dynamic learning environment. Everyone should have a good week in the field.