One thing that stood out to me in the beginning of the article is it describes what not to do when making observations. In doing so, the article almost instructs the reader how to be a child again. When we are children, oftentimes we do not have terminology, theories or scientific explanations for the things we observe. Part of the beauty of childhood minds is that they are curious, and observe things for what they are, rather than what they could or should be. As Bavelas put it, "'the subjects are always right', meaning people (or animals or phenomena) behave as they behave; it is our job to figure out how and why".
In the classroom, I think it's important for us as we're teaching scientific/technical subjects, to allow the time for our students to simply observe and notice. Additionally, when students are making observations, I think it's important to emphasize that there are no "wrong" answers, there are no wrong observations.
One of the solutions Bavelas posed for those of us (likely the majority) whom struggle with fostering and feeding our observations is to "try promising yourself that you will do all the proper scientific things later". Not only is this helpful for me, as someone who is so engrained in scientific methodology, I think this could be helpful for students who find comfort in seeing the world in a "black and white" way.
One of the other things I thought about while reading this article was why we don't explore our observations. Why do we so quickly search for an explanation for phenomena that are happening in front of us? Personally, I find comfort in being able to explain something that is happening in front of me, and I think this is true for many of us. If I have a rash on my arm, I don't just observe it and notice the types of bumps I'm seeing or the colour of the rash, I quickly think to why that rash is there: an explanation. Similarly, if I woke up in the morning and the sky was purple, I would quickly be on google attempting to find a scientific explanation as to why this is happening, to find some safety and some comfort as to what is happening.
In the classroom, I think it's okay to acknowledge this with students. I think it's okay to say that there is safety and comfort and knowledge. However, on that note, we can instead focus on how to ensure the knowledge, and theories, and answers we are looking at are correct.
A final note I just wanted to address about this article is the use of abortion terminology as a metaphor for ideas. I know it is a minor detail in an article that brings forth such important ideas, however, I found myself in the beginning being caught up in the triggering, traumatizing words, such that I was unable to fully engage meaningfully in the content of the article until she had moved past using such terms.
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