SK>The seven conditions sound interesting. However, you do not say they
SK>are based on "research"
DT>I think you mistakenly believe that for research to be credible it must 
DT>follow strict criteria in order to be valid.  Control groups are not 
DT>used in every research study conducted nor is such an approach always 
DT>appropriate.  Conducting observations over time will yield a great deal 
DT>of data and such an approach to research is both necessary and 
DT>acceptable.  If I want to see how children use language in the classroom 
DT>to communicate I could simply observe them and over time I can make some 
DT>generalizations regarding what I have observed.  Such an approach would 
DT>not be hap-hazard but rather a systematic collection of information.  
I feel compelled to jump in here... "Research" MUST follow
strict criteria to be acceptable.  To suggest that someone
just "watch" and then draw conclusions is a poor way of
conducting "research".  This is not to say that one cannot
come up with valid ASSUMPTIONS based on such a process;
only that these ASSUMPTIONS would have to be verified by
real RESEARCH in order to be validated.  We get far too
much of the "Well, I watched how my classes ran, and how
my kids responded, so the way to do things is...."  Or ...
"I read this great book about how kids would really achieve 
if we just asked them nicely".  What it amounts to is that
someone just "feels" that something will work because it
SEEMS right... As teachers, we're often on the receiving
end of such "research" from administrators who have 
attended some conference somewhere, and we all know how 
that usually comes out...
DT>For example, that these "seven conditions."  In a classroom where 
DT>children are not encouraged to write before they can read, it seems 
DT>unlikely that one would see a continuum of developing of writing skills. 
"Seems"... I disagree... There will ALWAYS be a continuum of
skills in ANY human endeavor, regardless of the approach
taken.  This is exactly the type of flawed or limited 
conclusion which is often drawn in the absence of real 
research (I don't mean to be insulting, please don't take my
criticism as anything other than academic)...
DT> However, in a classroom where writing is encouraged and included in the 
DT>many daily classroom activities, one would expect to be able to observe 
DT>how children engage and process knowledge regarding writing skills.     
Certainly true.. One can only observe a behavior where and
when it occurs....
DT>Your own observations of children are research to a degree in-and-of
DT>-themselves and through these observations you have learned a great deal 
DT>about your area of teaching.
You're misusing the term - What we have done is to OBSERVE;
what remains is to form an hypothesis, design an experiment,
set up controls, collect data, repeat process several times
with different student samples.  Along the way we may have
to modify/improve the experimental process itself.  Jumping
from observations which are unstructured, to conclusions, is
inadviseable...
SK>However, in math instruction I'm fairly experienced, fairly opinionated, 
SK>and have my ideas what works in the classroom and what doesn't.
DT>And your ideas are valid.
No... It's valid for her to HAVE ideas, but it's not true
that her ideas are necessarily VALID... There are several
people here who have IDEAS, but I would seriously question
the VALIDITY of those ideas....
DT>I don't need a researcher to tell me everything about what is true 
DT>regarding early-childhood.  My experience has taught me a lot.  
Allow me, please, to clarify my point.... You sit in a car
(sans seatbelt) and turn the car (hard) to the left.  You
slide across the seat and impact the right-side door.  What
conclusion do you draw?  For MOST people, the conclusion is
that they were thrown to the right, outward from the turn.
Their conclusion seems verified by observation.  What 
actually happened is somewhat different, of course.  They
were continuing to move in a straight path, and the car 
turned into them and struck them on the right shoulder.  The
door continued to push them INWARD, and forced them to 
follow a curved path....  The danger in drawing conclusions
directly from observations in an uncontrolled situation, is
that there are often alternative explanations (conclusions)
which are, in fact, the CORRECT ones.  What seems "obvious"
is often INcorrect... In science, there are any number of
commonly-accepted conclusions which are shown to be in error
when subjected to rigorous examination...
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