Educational & Psychology Diagnostics in
Teaching Practice
2nd meeting
DAVID HAVELKA
8.10.2018
CONTENT OF THE LECTURE
What would you like to talk about/learn?
1) Observation – revision
2) When the diagnostic thinking could be of help…
3) Diagnostic interview
OBSERVATION - HOMEWORK
observation sheet + observation of a child / 2 child observations
OBSERVATION – COMMON MISTAKES
NONSYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION – REAL LIFE OBSERVATION
(holistic, unstructured, unfocused, only with some general ideas
what might be salient, trying to document as much as possible)
 wrong terminology
Emotional lability X emotional incontinence
Wrong interpretation
„The student was not replying to my questions, he was in opposition.“ X „The
student was not replying to my questions, he was paralyzed by anxiety.“
OBSERVATION – COMMON MISTAKES
Overinterpretation
„The student does not look me in the eyes, he is not communicatting with
other students and he is good at technical subjecst, he has autism spectrum
disorder“
Making theories instead of hypotheses
„Snapshot x whole movie“
Forgetting about our biases
Stereotypes, halo effect, pygmalion effect, etc.
Forgetting that observation is also about us, not only about
students
OBSERVATION SHEET – COMMON MISTAKES
SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION
Too broad definition of behavior
IMPULSIVITY X interrupts teacher, intrudes others, have difficulties waiting for turn
Lack of theoretical background
Too broad
60 items every 3 minutes 
https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1835/Classroom-Observation.html
About SCARED STRAIGHT
creation: 1970´s
authors: inmates in long-term inprisonment (esp. Richard Rowe)
Goal: prevention of juvenile delinquency
Application: USA, UK, Norway, Australia, Germany, Canada
Media: TV series Beyond scared straight (13. 1. 2011 – 3. 9. 2015)
Documentary film
- 1978: Arnold Shapiro
- Until the end of 1979 – spread into 30 USA jurisdictions1
A little taste
Program effectivity
12 statistically sound studies (1978 – 2010)2
Showed that Scared straight
!DOES NOT WORK!
No study proving opposite was published1
2 - Klenowski, P. M., Bell, K. J., & Dodson, K. D. (2010). An Empirical Evaluation of Juvenile Awareness
Programs in the United States: Can Juveniles be ‘‘Scared Straight’’? Journal of Offender Rehabilitation,
stránky 254–272.
1- Petrosino, A., Carolyn, T.-P., Holis-Peel, M. E., & Stern, A. (2014). Scared Straight and Other Juvenile
Awareness Programs for Preventing Juvenile Delinquency. Crime Prevention Research Review.
Why the program does not work?
◦ Disproportionate DOSING
◦ CONFRONTIERING nature of the program
◦ TRUE interest in juveniles
◦ CRUELTY of punishment is far less disparaging than CERTAINTY of punishment
◦ Lack of REHABILITATION components
◦ The program is not based on an explicit theory
◦ Nondelinquent X delinquent individuals
Lessons for diagnostic and teaching
practice
DIAGNOSTIC PROCESS AND DECISSION MAKING:
1) MUST BE THEORY DRIVEN – NOT BASED ON COMMON SENSE AND
INTUITION
2) MUST build on the life story and development stage of the child
3) MUST BE SOLUTION-FOCUSED – not just good-looking and
popular
4) SHOULD BE not only problem minimizing but also COMPETENCY
DEVELOPMENT based
Diagnostic Interview
(DI)
Why is DI so important?
Diagnostic interview is the most common, most
natural and probably the first way of gaining
information relevant for educational and
teaching proces…
DI
=
one of the most difficult diagnostic processes
EVENTHOUGH IT LOOKS EASY AND NATURAL….
- very different from casual conversation
◦ Focused purpose
◦ Clearly defined roles (teacher & student)
- no predefined scheme
- requires skills, experience, knowledge
GOALS:
◦ obtain information relevant for diagnostic proces
and educational planning
o establish contact with a child, deepen the
student-teacher relationship
Teacher´s behavior during an interview
MAIN PURPOSE: CREATE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT
- no judging or forgiving – simply accepting
„It is allright that you hit him, just continue please…“
(I am saying this because i need the whole story, not because I really agree that it is allright)
- acting:
◦ Tactful and considerate
„ Do not worry you can talk about being bullied in front of the classroom. I am here so
the bad boys can not hurt you.“
◦ Patient
„Come on, I really know it is hard for you to talk about being bullied but we only have a
break for it….“
- acting:
◦ Flexibly
„I commonly do not take students to my office, but the problem you are talking about
deseves it.“
◦ Inventive
„I see it is hard for you to talk about it, lets play with some toys…“
◦ NO cunning tone
◦ NO artificial adaptation to the language of child
What we do not need for the proces of education, we do not have
to ask….
Non-verbal component of the interview
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS…
Vitally important
Helps to interpret inner world of the child (especially in smaller kids)
I am
fine….
I am
fine….
I am
fine….
Types of DI
- SMALL TALK
Not in textbooks, but very valuable in everyday practice
- FOCUSED
- ESSAY
What can interview tell us?
information about the inner world that observation could not
provide:
- opinions
- attitudes
- wishes
- concerns
- developmental stage (moral, cognitive, etc.)
Deeper insight into the case of the child
Phases of an interview
1) initial phase
2) core of an diagnostic interview
3) termination + conclusion
Context of an interview
In a diagnostic interview it is not important only what we say….
but also how we say it….
how we act before an interview….
How we act during the interview…..
and how we act after the interview….
Techniques of conducting an interview
1) questioning technique
Open-ended questions; try to avoid WHY questions; more valuable
are HOW questions
Direct questions
Indirect questions
Projective questions
2) simple acceptance
Nodding (example – phone call)
Techniques of conducting an interview
3) capture and clarification
„I am not very good in PE.“
„Are you rather a studying type?“
4)paraphrasing
„I suck at math, I am totally hopeless.“
„You are not very good at math.“
5) interpretation
„I have three F in math.“
„ You have problems in math.“
Techniques
Magical techniques
Sorcerer with a magical wand
Miracle question
Transformation of a child into an animal
How to ask questions
From simple to harder topics
Open-ended (Do you like math?)
General (what is happening commonly)
Some children fight with their siblings, how about you?
What is the difference?
Do you have any good friends in your classroom?
Which friends from your classroom would you také
with you if you would have to stay at a desserted
island?
What is the difference?
What this question can tell us?
What would you like to do for living when you grow up?
Interviewing children via essays
EXCERCISE
Talk with your partner and try to find out as much
information about
SCHOOL HISTORY AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS EDUCATION
Problems in DI
- Child refuse to talk
- Child manipulates the truth / lies
- not enough time
-revealing a serious topic
Reasons for lying….
FEAR (from punishment, detaching from community
BENEFIT (to gain advantage)
ATTRACT ATTENTION
COURTESSY
COMPASSION
TACTICAL REASONS (influencing things that are going to happen)
SHAME
Missing knowledge, infantility
FORGET THE FACT, GO WRONG (make a mistake)
ASSIGNMENT FOR MEETING III
A) make a diagnostic interview with a child/adolescent
B) write an essay on topic: „How to improve school climate with the help of assessment“
Send it to 362303@mail.muni.cz until November 6th
Option A
ASSIGNMENT STRUCTURE
OBSERVATION DURING AN INTERVIEW
TRANSRIPTION OF AN INTERVIEW
CONCLUSION
Recommended interview dimensions
FAMILY & FAMILY HISTORY (family status, age and profession of both parents, realtionship with parents, siblings –
number, age, relationships, common activities, other important people in childs life)
SCHOOL (attitude towards education, school behavior, home preparation, marks, favorite and unpopular subjects,
etc.)
PEER REALTIONSHIPS (attitude towards other children, conflicts, possition in group)
ATTITUDE TOWARDS AUTHORITIES (teachers, parents, adults in general)
LEISURE TIME & HOBBIES (ways of spending time, hobbies, afterschool activities, etc.)
EARLY CHILDHOOD (before primary school, memories, nursery, etc.)
SELF-DESCRIPTION (character, strenghts, weaknesses, etc.)
FUTURE PROFESSION (what the child would like to be and why, other dreams)
POTENTIAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY (substance use, conduct disorders, aggression, way of solving the conflicts,
problems in social relationships)
OBSERVATION DURING AN INTERVIEW
APPEARANCE, ATTITUDE, ACTIVITY
MOOD/AFFECT (variation during an interview)
SPEECH/ LANGUAGE
COGNITIONS (attention, memory)
THOUGHT PROCESS + CONTENT
INSIGHT + JUDGMENT
TRANSRIPTION OF AN INTERVIEW
MAKE A TRANSCRIPT FROM AUDIORECORDED INTERVIEW
CONCLUSION
Make a short conclusion (max. ¾ of normal page – 1350 characters)
Pedagogical impressions
Case conceptualization
Teaching and education plan/ recomendations
Potential refferal to other provders
Inspiration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vohjjW5xA40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBtwOnB4HYw
https://www.pearsoned.com/clinical-interviews-for-student-assessment/
Option B
ASSIGNMENT
3 – 4 standard pages (5 400 – 7 200 characters)
Theory based (3-4 sources – research/review article, chapter
from scientific book, etc.)
Containing own thoughts
Recommended structure:
 short introduction
 critical reflection based on resources
Conclusion
 list of used literature
Possible topics
What areas of school climate can be measured in everyday
school practice.
Choose one area and describe how to assess it and propose possible interventions
School climate and inclusion of a student with special need.
What shall we be aware of and what to assess when there is a student with special needs in class.
What is important to assess (and how) to prevent school
problems (bullying, drop-out, truancy, etc.)
Topic of your own interest is preferred 
Inspiration
https://www.schoolclimate.org/about/our-approach
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5723344/
https://www.learningliftoff.com/how-a-schools-learning-environment-affects-student-
achievement/
Freiberg, H.J. (1998). Measuring school climate: Let me count the ways.Educational
Leadership, 56 (1), 22-26.
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09578230610642638/full/html?fullSc=
1
FINAL INSPIRATION
Teacher could be the second most influencing adult
in the life of the child, therefore……