The Hidden Lives of Learners

Posted on January 22, 2008 by Mrs Thomson.
Categories: Uncategorized.
This is the title of a fabulous book by Graham Nuthall, a researcher in education from New Zealand. The Hidden Lives of Learners is a recent, but sadly posthumous publication which brings together in very readable terms the guts of Nuthall’s work over 30 or 40 years.

I first heard Nuthall’s name in the ACEL 2007 William Walker Oration by Viviane Robinson and found an excellent article to satisfy my curiosity. Nuthall and associates studied students in classrooms by using multiple video cameras and individual microphones. They got beyond what even personal observers could see and hear in that complex environment. Any practicing teacher will be fascinated by what they found. Much of the detail (there is more in the book) is eerily reminiscent of Summer Heights High - especially after watching some of the extra takes on the DVD of the series.

Here is an excerpt from the article referenced below:

“It was about this stage in my journey that I began to understand the significance of the difference between the teacher’s perception of the classroom and the students’ perceptions. In order to take responsibility for a class of 25 to 35 students who have different knowledge, skills, interests, and motivations, teachers have to develop ways of managing the class as a whole. It is impossible to focus on the individual learning of any one student for more than very brief periods.

“The ritualized routines of teacher-student interaction appear to have evolved to solve this problem. Teachers follow patterned action sequences (Bohannan, 1995) that work because both teachers and students have learned exactly what to expect of each other (Quantz & Magolda, 1997). Within these ritualized patterns, students learn how to manage their own private and social agendas. They learn how and when the teacher will notice them and how to give the appearance of active involvement. They get upset and anxious if the teacher is keeping more than a passing eye on them, as the teacher will get upset if the students do not respond in culturally expected ways (Hughes, 1973).

“I began to think of the class as an orchestra following a cultural musical score. So long as everyone knows his part, the whole works together effectively. Furthermore, when everyone is following her own score, the coherent sound of the whole orchestra makes it very difficult to separate out the sounds of individual instruments. In a classroom, we have found that even a trained observer finds it extraordinarily hard to focus on the continuous experience of an individual student without getting absorbed back into the performance of the class as a whole (Alton-Lee et al., 1993).”

Nuthall, Graham “The cultural myths and realities of classroom teaching and learning: A personal journey”, The Teachers College Record, Vol. 107, No. 5, May 2005, pp. 895-934(40)

If you are not able to acces this article then read the following which contains substantially the same material, although in an earlier and shorter form:

Nuthall, G. (2001, December). The cultural myths and the realities of teaching and learning. Unpublished Jean Herbison Lecture, 2001. Accessed online at Lead Space on 22nd January, 2008.

Or go straight to the book available promptly from the New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

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