Interview Reflection

Going into the interview assignment, I assumed the task would be relatively simple and that the process would come naturally. I have served as a member of my school's recruitment team for years and usually enjoy conducting interviews and speaking with our interviewees.

This experience was the first time I used my students in a one-on-one interview setting and it proved to be a more challenging experience than I expected.

I went into the interview equipped with the following questions aimed to gather some feedback about classroom participation:

1. How many times did you raise your hand in today?
2. What period do you like to share in class?
3. Do you share more in one subject or the same in all subjects?
4. Do you like when a teacher calls on you in class?
5. Do you share more in a certain teacher’s class? Why or why not?

I honestly don't know how I missed some of the obvious problems I faced with such direct questions. I interviewed two students and both gave me short, one word answers. For example, 15, 1st and 6th, Yes etc... I think adding a few explanatory questions would have helped me develop more of the conversational experience I was hoping to have during the interview.

However, besides just the questions, I faced some problems with environment and my relationships with the participants. I held the interviews in the back of my classroom while the other students were participating in S.S.R. I often conference with students about their work or writing in this same setting, so I assumed the same calm and reflective setting would serve me well. However, both of my interviewees were a little nervous and anxious to get back to their seats during the interview. Even though I told both students they could take their time during each question, they rushed through the interview, constantly looking back at the rest of the class and after the last question asked me, "Am I done now?"

In addition to a little discomfort surrounding the setting of the interview, both students seemed uncharacteristically nervous around me during the interview. I have two theories regarding this occurrence, but I'm not sure what the true reason was for this discomfort. My first theory is that since I usually review student writing and classwork in this setting, the students were expecting to be evaluated. My second theory has to do with the questions themselves. Perhaps because I am one of the class's five subject teachers, the students felt nervous about honestly telling me which classes they participate more in and why. Both students I interviewed insisted that they share in some classes more than others because of the subject matter, not the teacher. Personally, I found this response to be surprising, because I know that my teacher's personality usually has some influence over my class participation (even in college), so I wondered if the students were telling me that because I was a part of the group (7th grade teachers) being discussed.

In the future, if I was going to consider continuing this research topic, I would ask my coach to conduct the interviews in her office away for the gazes of the class and the teacher. I'm curious to see of that process would result in more detailed responses. Perhaps I will try this out tomorrow!