Preservice teachers are faced with many challenges when observing elementary classrooms and often jump to critical evaluation based on too little evidence. The authors wondered if preservice teachers could use observation methods from ethnography and sociolinguistics to delay their evaluations and interpretations of classroom practice and see from an insider’s perspective. The authors developed a study in which 42 preservice teachers learned how to observe through this approach and then observed 22 elementary teachers with fieldnotes and interviews. Classroom discourse was central to the research as observers recorded the “talk” during writing instruction. By analyzing the notes, interviews, and summaries, the authors found that preservice teachers were able to record talk and action in classrooms without critical evaluations. They used quotes from fieldnotes as evidence for their interpretations of what was happening. Their summaries included discussions of how discourse shapes instructional events and how teachers use talk to organize and manage classrooms.
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