CONTEXTS FOR THE USE OF CLASSROOM CASES

One can use classroom cases in at least three different ways: as instr uctional materials; as raw data in research on teacher cognition; and as catalysts that can promote change, particularly among experienced t eachers. Each of these uses is based on a different epistemological tr adition. Case-based instruction is an old concept in teacher education , the first casebook having been published in 1927. Classroom cases co ntinued to be used to educate teachers over the next 50 years: as crit ical incidents, vignettes, protocols, and simulations. In contrast, th e other two uses of classroom cases appear to be novel concepts in the field of teacher education, suggesting significant changes in the way we perceive classroom teaching and educational research. They appear to mark a growing acceptance of the ''qualitative '' in teaching and i n research. I use this term as Eisner (1991) does, to include that whi ch is naturalistic, interpretive, expressive, and attentive to the par ticular.