Module 3: Description versus Interpretation
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As critical thinkers, we must be able to know the difference between what we have observed and our interpretation of what we have observed.
This is important for us as educators too. Good teaching requires accurately understanding what is happening with our students on an on-going basis. We need to adjust our lessons so that they are pushing our students towards more learning but not so “above their heads” that they cannot follow what is happening in class.
For example, imagine you are observing a class. You might, with your familiarity with classroom activity, look at the class and think, “They are learning,” while for one specific student you think, “She is unhappy” and for another student you might think, “He is bored.”
But do you know this with certainty? All of those are interpretations. Let’s look at each case and look at why we came to these interpretations.
Interpretation: "They are learning."
This was based on the observation, “They are answering the teacher’s questions correctly.”
It may be true that they are learning. But there are other possible interpretations that could also be correct. The students might be able to answer the questions correctly because they already knew the material before the lesson. Or it might be that the teacher is asking questions in such a way that the correct answer is obvious, even if the students don’t understand why.
Interpretation: "She is unhappy."
How about for our unhappy student? We based our interpretation on the observation, “She is frowning.” But perhaps this student makes a frowning face when she is concentrating. She may be quite content but simply concentrating.
Interpretation: "He is bored."
Finally, let’s look at the student who we think looks bored. Our basis for this conclusion was the observation, “The student is looking at the clock.” It is true that some people look at clocks when they are bored, but just because someone looks at a clock does not necessarily mean that they are bored. This student might simply wonder how far along in the lesson they are.
An observation is something you notice by watching or listening1. Our three classroom observations discussed here were:
- They are answering the teacher’s questions correctly.
- She is frowning.
- The student is looking at the clock.
It is natural to make interpretations based on our observations. Many times our interpretations will be correct – but not always. Critical thinking requires us to be able to distinguish between observation and interpretation. As we saw in “What Is Critical Thinking?”, if we want to think critically about a situation, we need to be aware of our assumptions, and imagine and explore alternative interpretations.
1 Observations can sometimes be made through other senses, such as touch or smell.
To cite this page:
World Learning. (2018). Description versus interpretation. In "Integrating Critical Thinking Skills into the Exploration of Culture in an EFL Setting" [Online course].
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