B3448 - Methodologies of Observation and Pedagogical Reflexivity

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student:
knows and is able to apply tools for observing, interpreting, and qualitatively analyzing experience; is capable of using their observations/descriptions in professional collaboration with other practitioners, following a logic of professional reflexivity; is able to identify elements for designing educational pathways based on the analysis of experience; knows and is able to apply the concepts of "networking", "active listening", "needs analysis", "integrative background", "documentation and narrative assessment"; is able to reflect on the construction of the professional identity of socio-pedagogical educators; knows the role, areas of intervention, and professional specificity of the socio-pedagogical educator; is able to analyze the context and identify its institutional, social, cultural, educational, and individual dimensions; is capable of reflecting on practice with critical awareness and appropriate decentring, drawing on their disciplinary and relational skills in relation to the constraints, challenges, problems, and/or resources and potential of the context; is able to identify and analyze educational emergencies within the socio-historical-cultural context in which they are called to operate;
is able to recognize and address the dimensions of environmental and social sustainability related to the profession of the socio-pedagogical educator.

Course contents

During the course, four key actions will be explored:

OBSERVING

- What does it mean to observe an educational context?
- How do you observe an educational context?
- What is the purpose of being able to observe contexts and the interactions between individuals, settings, and institutions in one’s professional practice?

DESCRIBING
- How and in what form should an educational context be described?
- The genres and conventions of writing in educational practice
- Archives and sources of educational writing


LISTENING: giving voice, speaking, taking the floor
- Collecting life stories
- Interviews
- Autobiographies
- Signs and traces: art as a mediator of the self
- The writings of others: letters, stories, thoughts, diaries


REFLECTING
- How do you interpret an observed context or a described situation?
- How can professional writing be used as a tool for collective reflexivity (within the professional team and in group settings) and within one’s own practices?
- How can writing be used as a tool for building relationships with others?

The issues addressed during the course will emerge from the practice of these four actions and through dialogue with those who have practiced them before us.

Readings/Bibliography

Insegnare al principe di Danimarca / Carla Melazzini ; a cura di Cesare Moreno, Palermo : Sellerio, 2011

Additional materials will be announced by the instructor at the beginning of the course, and an archive of materials will be provided in the course's virtual resources.

Teaching methods

The course adopts an experiential teaching methodology applied to processes of observation, analysis, interpretation, and writing within educational contexts. It also involves critical reflection on one’s own observational standpoints, projections, and intersectional positionalities.

Themes such as monographs, case studies, life stories, récits de vie, critical exploration of language, narrative approaches to medicine and to the sciences and practices of care, as well as methodologies that facilitate the oral and written self-expression of individuals encountered in one’s professional practice, will all be explored.

In addition, the collection, preservation, and communicable documentation of educational experiences—through a plurality of interwoven languages (written texts, images produced by participants, audiovisual materials)—will be central to the course. Other areas of focus include collective writing practices, autobiographies, the archive as a repertoire, and popular cultural productions that offer insights into the processes of subalternization of dominated groups.

All of these topics will be addressed through a practical, workshop-based approach structured as a writing atelier.

Work will be conducted in groups and will involve readings, discussions, and the analysis and interpretation of texts.

Seminars with external guests—some as subject-matter experts, others as participants in writing groups—along with visits to archives and engagement with local communities and field experiences will be integrated into the course. These elements are designed to bridge the inside and outside of academic spaces, promote horizontal exchanges of knowledge across practice, experience, and theory, and foster exploration of the urban, social, and cultural contexts in which students live and learn—as students, professionals, residents, or users of the city, and as interns.

Assessment methods

The assessment of the work produced during the course will be conducted in groups, using a self-assessment and co-assessment model that will be developed collaboratively with the participating students.


A final oral exam will be held for attending students, which will be supplemented by the group assessments completed during the course. Attending students are required to submit a written assignment, which will be the basis for the oral discussion. This paper must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the exam.


For non-attending students, the exam will consist of both a written and an oral component, as it does for attending students. However, non-attending students are asked to contact the instructor for instructions regarding the submission of the written assignment.

 

In accordance with the university's guidelines, the final grade can also be specified as follows:

Analytical skills that emerge only with the help of the teacher, expression in generally correct language → 18-19;

Ability to analyse independently, correct language → 20-24;

Ability to carry out critical analysis, mastery of specific terminology → 25-29;

Ability to carry out critical analysis and make connections, full mastery of specific terminology and ability to argue and self-reflect → 30-30 L

Teaching tools

Audiovisual materials and collaborative tools for writing and online project work will be used throughout the course, with a preference for non-proprietary software (such as the Framasoft popular education network). The Microsoft Teams virtual platform will be employed and organized as an archive, allowing for open and easy access to and sharing of course materials.
Resources will be produced and made available on the platform to support working students and non-attending students. For this reason, the list of study materials will also include podcast-format content, and attending students will be encouraged to share their own study materials (e.g. notes, reflective writings, graphic recordings) with all students in order to facilitate access for non-attending peers.

Students with DSA or disabilities: it is recommended that they contact the responsible University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon as possible. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, considering the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Fulvia Antonelli