Meet the researchers: Documenting the public school classroom

Interview with Tim Dzurilla

Communication and Culture major Tim Dzurilla '05 hones his video production skills by mentoring Clark students enrolled in Transformative Schooling: Documentary Video for Social Change (Education 112). In this course, taught by Professor Sarah Michaels, students gain hands-on film-making experience by documenting public school classroom interactions.

Tim, describe for us the Communication and Culture major.

The major has three areas of focus. One is visual communication, one is written communication, and the third is about how we communicate and how that affects culture. I think it's an excellent program. It helps you develop a critical eye and communicate more effectively by examining the type of language you use, the effect of juxtaposing ideas, etc. It's really interesting.

How did you become a mentor in the Transformative Schooling class?

The class is recommended for Communication and Culture majors. I signed up for Transformative Schooling my freshman year and really enjoyed the projects and the people. I was offered a chance to be a mentor in this year's class.

What project did you work on as a student in the course?

The video that we put together examined a technique called lesson study. Lesson study is a continuing process throughout the school year in which the participants come together to discuss problems and triumphs in the classroom focusing on a selected topic. A specific idea is taught to the teachers, in this case it was fractions, and the teachers then adapt that lesson to their own grade and class. One teacher will teach her adaptation of the lesson for her class while other teachers observe. Afterwards the group rejoins and discusses how the lesson went and what could have been done differently to improve the lesson.

The taping lasted over the course of a year as we followed teachers who wanted to improve their lessons and their understanding of the material they were teaching. As videographers in a classroom, we needed to try to accurately capture the atmosphere of the lessons without interfering with the process. On a few occasions students would ask us for the answers to the questions and our role as impartial viewers was changed. The most interesting part of the video is the reflections of the teachers on the process of lesson study and how it improved their ability to teach and to discuss teaching. The video takes an objective look at the process as an alternative to current teaching practices.

What are your responsibilities now as a mentor?

I show students how to set up a camera, lights, and microphone, and I warn them what to and what not to do. There's a lot of visual and auditory noise in a classroom. It's an unpredictable environment for filming. If you don't have a good sense of what you're doing, you're going to end up with some really horrible video footage. I also teach the students how to edit their footage using simple software.

The students interview teachers about education and learning. We're not always sure what the specific topic will be, but we want to get good interviews. I teach students how to conduct interviews, how to draw people out, what to ask, what not to ask, when to ask it. In the end we hope to put together a video based just on interviews. It's really the process that we're focused on, more than the product.

How did you learn video production?

I first picked up a video camera when I was about eight years old - I began to experiment. Then in high school I took some video courses. And I've done my own projects since then--a lot of trial and error! I'll be taking Professor Fred Simon's advanced course next semester. He co-teaches the Transformative Schooling class.

The Transformative Schooling class focuses on social change in education?

Yes, and that theme gives you a focus--and some limits, which I think is great. The more limits you put on a project, the more of a challenge it is. In the process of filming, you learn a lot about education and reform, what's being done.

Has taking the Transformative Schooling class and mentoring affected how you see your own education at all?

It has. I went to both private and public schools and just that experience made me see education differently. Transformative Schooling has been another layer that makes me critique education even more. I understand where teachers are coming from, how difficult it is to be a teacher. And I see the problems that are faced every day in the classroom and that don't need to be there.

Is this kind of active participation more interesting for you than traditional classroom learning?

Absolutely. The neat thing about Clark is that you can be everywhere, but I find that a lot of my projects cross over each other. The work you do for one project can be used for another. For example, I work at ITS [Clarkšs Information Technology Services] to train the teachers being videotaped in Transformative Schooling how to integrate their videos into electronic portfolios. I see the entire process of a lot of different projects. Because Clark's a small school, you find the same people doing related types of things. It's really great. So I'm kind of spread out, but I don't feel that I'm outside my own boundaries.