In 2017-18, Young Lives conducted a Classroom Observation study in India. This built upon earlier Young Lives work on school effectiveness, with the aim of providing more information about what is happening within secondary school classrooms in Young Lives sites in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The study used the CLASS methodology, a standardised method of classroom observation developed by researchers at the University of Virginia. This method focuses on capturing and recording teacher-student interactions, allowing us to collect data on how teachers and students interact with and relate to each other, and investigate how these interactions relate to learning.  

Information about the Young Lives Classroom Observation study and the design and use of CLASS can be found in this Research Report and accompanying Technical Note. 

Videos offer a window into what is happening in classrooms

In addition to undertaking ‘live observations’ (observations conducted using the CLASS framework while sitting in the classroom), Young Lives also filmed a selection of classes. The resulting videos were coded using the CLASS framework, allowing us to identify short clips showing examples of each CLASS dimension in the Indian context.

The aim of these short videos is not to represent ‘best practice’ in teaching. Instead, we hope that they capture something about the realities of teaching and learning in Indian classrooms, with relevance to researchers, policy makers and others working in the Indian education system. The video clips offer an opportunity to consider and discuss the application of CLASS in India, recognising that interactions corresponding to the CLASS dimensions could look very different in different contexts. This is particularly important as the Young Lives Classroom Observation study represents the first usage of CLASS methodology in the Indian context.

Use of the video clips

Young Lives education researchers have begun sharing these clips in India and elsewhere, and have found that they offer a good foundation upon which to start a discussion about school effectiveness and teacher classroom practices.

The clips are available on the Young Lives YouTube channel for others to explore (see the links below). These clips can be reused (for non-commercial purposes only), on the basis that Young Lives is acknowledged as the creator of the content. If you do re-use any of the video clips, we would love to hear more about what you have done - please get in touch on younglives@younglives.org.uk.

Classroom Observation video clips

Teacher-student interactions in each video were assessed using the CLASS framework. The CLASS tool has three domains and 11 dimensions (in addition to student engagement, a separate dimension sitting outside the three domains), as shown below. Each clip shows one example of a dimension, as demonstrated in the Indian context.