Prompt for this blog:
What role does observation of students play in your capacity to understand student’s developmental pathways/trajectory? Consider both the broad developmental progressions and specific progressions within your area of speciality.
The role that observation of students has in my capacity to understand students’ developmental pathways/trajectories is to create expectations based on trends of behavior. For a broad example, if I observe several 9th grade students acting less mature than a 12th graders, I can draw the conclusion that I should expect less/more from individuals at the respective ages. I can also observe the physical height differences from a middle school and high school aged kid, with the understanding there are always exception to this.
Now, in regards to my specific area of specialty -instrumental string music education-, I think it gets complicated gauging overall trends, apart from the pedagogical milestones we have set. HOWEVER: it is just as important to observe individuals in order to evaluate student capability. In other words, you should observe more on an individual scale, in order to know where each student is at in regard to technical capability and musicality.
