ANECDOTAL RECORD: CHARACTERISTICS, ADVANTAGES AND EXAMPLE - ECONOMÍA - 2025

An anecdotal record is a short text that an educator writes to record a significant incident that he or she has observed in relation to a student. They usually contain both descriptions of specific behaviors, as well as direct quotes from what the child expressed.

Anecdotal records are easy-to-use and easy-to-write educational tools, making them very popular within the teaching system. Its main function is to allow teachers to store qualitative information about a student, such as data on their behavior or their interactions with other students.

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Thanks to the data collected with an anecdotal record, the teacher can plan activities, experiences and interventions that are adapted to the needs of each student. They also allow the transmission of important information to other educators who will be working with the same student at some point.

Although it is relatively easy to carry out an anecdotal record, it is necessary to follow a series of guidelines to do it correctly. Otherwise, the data collected may not be valid, so that it could not be used for anything. Next we will see how this educational technique works.

characteristics

Are written objectively

The main goal of an anecdotal record is to talk about the behavior of a student, so that the same teacher or another person who will be working with the same student has all the information necessary to help him in the best possible way.

Because of this, a good anecdotal record has to be written in a totally objective way. That is, the teacher has to limit himself to describing what happened, without adding his own opinion about the situation or writing down his ideas about why the student has been able to behave in this way.

To do this, educators have to receive training that teaches them the correct way to record anecdotally. Some examples of techniques in this sense are the avoidance of subjective descriptions or an excess of adjectives. Where possible, it is helpful for multiple educators to record the same events.

They are created after the fact

Another of the most important characteristics of anecdotal records is that they are not carried out at the same time as the events that are going to be discussed occur.

Rather, the teacher will write about the scene they consider important after it has occurred, usually after class or after their day is over.

This implies several things. The most obvious of all is that anecdotal records are generally written in the past tense, which helps make them even more objective. On the other hand, the fact that they are carried out afterwards means that it is not necessary to stop the class to be able to use this educational tool.

However, this also means that teachers have to be attentive to everything that happens in class, as well as having a good memory and avoiding contaminating their memories of what happened with their subjective beliefs or ideas.

Include as much data as possible

For an anecdotal record to be truly effective, the teacher conducting it has to be able to include as much data as possible. This implies that the educator has to be attentive to the behavior and reactions of the student about whom he is going to write; but also to their interactions with their peers and their actions.

In addition to this, it can also be very useful to transcribe literally what each of those involved in the situation has said. In case of doing so, it will be necessary to put the quotation in quotation marks, with the name of the author, his age, and as much information as possible from the context.

Finally, it is usually advisable to include some extra information such as the date, time, day of the week and the class or place where the incident occurred.

Advantages and disadvantages

Anecdotal records can be very helpful if done correctly. Among other things, they allow all teachers who go to work with a student to have more data than usual about their behavior, their way of speaking, and their interactions with the rest of their classmates.

In addition, by having to be done after each incident occurs, it is possible to use the anecdotal record without having to stop the rhythm of the lesson, contrary to what happens with many other educational tools.

However, not all are advantages when using this tool. On the one hand, teachers have to learn to carry them out correctly. This requires not only some investment in training, but also a conscious effort on the part of the educator until they have mastered the use of anecdotal records.

On the other hand, if done incorrectly, a student's record may incorporate false or subjective information about him. This can be detrimental to the student in many ways, such as making it difficult to deliver useful interventions on him.

Example

Next we will see an example of an anecdotal record in which we talk about the behavior of Juan, a preschool student in a public school.

Details of the situation

- Student's name: Juan López.

- Observer: Manuel Sánchez, Spanish language teacher.

- Age of the child: 4 years and 2 months.

- Date: March 7, 2015.

Events occurred

During language class, the students were practicing reading with a book about trains. At one point, while the rest of his classmates were reading in silence, Juan pointed to a photograph on a train, stood up, and shouted, "Whoo, whoo!" Imitating the sound of the machine.

Upon hearing this, the teacher caught Juan's attention and told him that it was necessary for him to respect the concentration of his classmates, and that if he needed to vent, it would be better if he left the classroom.

The rest of the students were looking at Juan; and this, after a few seconds, sat down again and continued with the activity without interrupting again.

References

1. "Record of significant events" in: Educar Chile. Retrieved on: March 31, 2019 from Educar Chile: educarchile.cl.
2. "The anecdotal record" in: ABC. Retrieved on: March 31, 2019 from ABC: abc.com.py.
3. "Anecdotal record" in: Evaluation Strategies and Instruments. Retrieved on: March 31, 2019 from Evaluation Strategies and Instruments: Estrategiaseinstrumentos.blogspot.com.
4. "Anecdotal records" in: Infants & Toddlers. Retrieved on: March 31, 2019 from Infants & Toddlers: toddlers.ccdmd.qc.ca.
5. "Anecdotal records for students" in: Your Article Library. Retrieved on: March 31, 2019 from Your Article Library: yourarticlelibrary.com.