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Thorsten Knauth

Approaching the concept of incidents and their analysis.

Conceptual remarks and example

Presentation on the RED-conference on video-taping

and analysis of incidents of classroom interaction

June 18-19 2007; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

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Approaching the concept of incidents and their analysis.

Conceptual remarks and example

1. Four basic sentences on the frame of defining incidents

2. Reflections on types of incidents

3. Example: The „muslim-teacher-incident“

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I Four basic sentences on the frame of defining incidents

1. Incidents are phenomena in the course of interaction. They represent structures which are lying under the surface of interaction

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„In the concept of incident-analysis an incident, for example in a teaching- lesson, represents a hidden aspect of the overall structure of the interactive happening. It serves as a key for comprehending the overall context , which is deeply rooted in the pedagogic tradition and the cultural concepts of the concerned country.“ (Herrlitz 1994, S.13)

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I Four basic sentences on the frame of defining incidents

2. Incidents are always related to research questions. They are cristallisations of aspects of the research question.

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I Four basic sentences on the frame of defining incidents

3. Incidents are independent from the way of collecting research data.

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I Four basic sentences on the frame of defining incidents

4. Incident analysis is a hermeneutical process

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Basic principles of conversational analysis (cf. Knauth 2000)

• Read the interaction as a (dialogical) text,

• Differentiate between the thematic and the interactive structure of conversation,

• Differentiate between the procedural and the holistic perspective of the interaction,

• Interpret sequences against the background of context and in the light of the whole interaction.

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II Reflections on types of incidents

My research question:

Which contextual factors contribute to respectively hinder fruitful processes of dialogical exchange and interreligious learning in RE?

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II Reflections on types of incidents

• Different levels of incidents

- „micro-level“ of immediate and direct communication

- „macro-level“: systemic, institutional and policy aspects of the research question

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II Reflections on types of incidents

• Different types of incidents

-„dialogue-orientated“ incidents,

- misunderstanding or failure in communication,

- power-relations/ inclusion-exclusion

- thematic incidents

- teaching incidents

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III The muslim-teacher incident. A „policy-incident“ on the macro-level

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III The muslim-teacher incident. A „policy-incident“ on the macro-level

• Controversy about the RE for all pupils in Hamburg

• Pilot project: integrating different teaching perspectives

• Teaching an islamic perspective on God

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III The muslim-teacher incident. A „policy-incident“ on the macro-level

Types of data collection * videotaping of three double-

lessons• Interview with the regular RE

teacher• Evaluative Interview with the

muslim teacher• Spontaneous feedbacks by the

pupils• Questionnaire on the

evaluation of the teaching unit• Group discussion on the

teaching unit -

Triangulation of perspectives

Pupils Researcher

Incident

Teacher(s)

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III The muslim-teacher incident. The perspective of the pupils

„ The interest of the muslim pupils was gradually increasing while the interest of the Christians was decreasing from lesson to lesson.“

(protestant girl)

„“This time we had more muslim pupils who participated than before because of their knowledge of Islam“

(muslim girl)