The critical incident tecnique in our teaching practices

The importance of the critical incident technique for teaching practices

As educational settings become more complex, educational researchers are wise to consider employing a variety of research methodologies and techniques to address and inform about educational conflicts. For this reason, it would be worth mentioning one of them: the Critical Incident Technique (CIT). According to Flanagan (1954), the CTI consists of a set of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behaviour in such a way as to facilitate their potential usefulness in solving practical problems and developing broad psychological principles.
In general terms, critical incidents are any unplanned event that might also occur in educational settings. And, if we formally reflect on these critical incidents making use of the already mentioned technique, it may be possible for all educators to uncover new understandings of the teaching and learning processes.
That is the reason why Rahili and Saroyan (1997), as well as many other researchers, support the idea that CIT shows people meaningful experiences (...). What is more, “it allows collecting qualitative and quantitative data about classroom teaching and teaching thinking” (as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p. 9).
From my experience as a teacher, critical incidents, which take place in any educational institution, should be analyzed through the critical incident technique so as to help educators understand the factors which shape their daily practice. Moreover, when using it will be easier for teachers to identify and analyze rare events or circumstances that happen not only inside but also outside the school environment.
To sum up, the CIT should be included in most lessons with the purpose of helping students to understand and control their educational experiences. As Gonzalez, Elórtegui et al. (2003) stated, a Critical Incident is described as a pre-service and in-service teacher education strategy. The idea behind this technique is to integrate theory and practice.













References

Fernández, González, J., Elórtegui Escartín, N, & Medina Pérez, M. (2003). Los incidentes críticos en la formación y perfeccionamiento del profesorado de secundaria de ciencias de la naturaleza. Revista Universitaria de Formación de Profesorado, 17-001. Zaragoza. España: Universidad de Zaragoza. September 2010. Retrieved from
http:// http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/src/inicio/ArtPdfRed.jsp?iCve=27417107

Flanagan, J. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51- 4.
Retrieved September 2010, from
http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/special/cit-article


Pintos, V., Crimi, Y. (2010) Unit 2 Personal narratives in teaching, Retrieved September 2010, from

http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7214