The Cultivation of Teacher Presence Through the Process of Descriptive Review

• In Event: Teaching Toward Equity: The Teaching-Learning Research Stance and Its Practices

Abstract

Purposes
I have long been interested in how teachers learn to see—how they become present to
their students, their students’ thinking, subject matter, and the contexts in which these
all intersect. As I have gained purchase on the concept, I have simultaneously explored
how to teach presence to new teachers. In this paper I explore the power of descriptive
review, one of many descriptive processes developed by Patricia Carini and her
colleagues, in developing presence in teaching.
Theoretical Framework
I (2006) originally defined presence as “a state of alert awareness, receptivity, and
connectedness to the mental, emotional, and physical workings of both the individual
and the group in the context of their learning environments, and the ability to respond
with a considered and compassionate best next step.” Since then I have refined the
concept, bringing in Dewey’s (1934) notion of perception versus recognition, Greene’s
(via Merleau-Ponty) notion of “wide-awakeness,” and the popularized notion of
mindfulness (Goldstein, 2013). I have further delineated it by including specific attitudes:
open-mindedness, whole-heartedness, directness, and responsibility (Dewey, 1916,
1933), and properties like mutual vulnerability (Keet et al. 2009), the permeability of self
and world (Dewey, 1938; Dreyfus, 1991), and actions like inquiry (Groopman, 2007;
Kahneman, 2011) and love (Hansen, 2004; Hawkins, 2001; Freire, 2011).
Methods and Techniques
My research is in my teaching. Rather than teaching about presence, I have, following
Dewey’s structure of reflection (Author 3, 2002, 2016, 2020) sought to ground my
students (pre- and in-service teachers) in experiences that awaken them to the need for
and phenomenon of presence in teaching and learning. Primary among the many
experiences I structure for students is a semester-long observation and Descriptive
Review of a learner (Himley & Carini, 2000; Carini & Himley, 2010). Students are
instructed to view their learner from 5 different angles: physical appearance and
gesture; strong interests and preferences; connections to others; disposition and
temperament; and modes of thinking and learning. In each of the domains, I push
students to seek the particulars of their learners’ words, actions, and choices rather than
defaulting to school language of “strengths” and “weaknesses/areas in need of
improvement.” Evidence reveals that the more they see, the more they see, and the
more they become aware that the assumptions they have made about their chosen
individual don’t hold water. They become more present.
Data Sources and Findings
Drawing on students’ written work and discussions, my observations and responses to
their work I provide evidence of changes in stance and practice, and suggest that the
generosity and compassion that the process generates contribute to a more equitable
and joyful practice, and therefore a more democratic classroom.
Significance
Seeing and feeling seen are essential to students’ learning and development. Further,
with evidence in hand, my students have been able to speak back to policies and action
that do not comport with their observations. Sometimes this calls for change in the
“system,” sometimes it points to what needs to change in them. In both cases
democracy is served.

References for the three papers could not be included

Author

• Carol R. Rodgers, University at Albany - SUNY