The Case Method
Cases are a powerful way to transform mindsets by asking readers to put themselves in another “family’s shoes.”
What It Is
The case method of instruction uses realistic stories that invite critical thinking and problem solving. Unlike most stories, cases do not have a neat or resolved ending. Instead, cases are open-ended and leave readers with lingering questions and dilemmas to ponder. Through the questions they raise and the emotions they call into play, the stories can change viewpoints and even ways of acting. Business, medicine and public health, and education have a long history of using cases as teaching tools.
How It Works
Users of the case method read, interpret, and analyze realistic scenarios and grapple with the dilemmas that each situation raises. The instructional emphasis is not on arriving at a “right” answer, but instead, thinking through the decision-making process. The cases challenge learners to apply knowledge to practical situations and to consider alternative solutions for solving the dilemma. Cases also typically include a variety of “voices” and dialogue that allow the reader to consider multiple perspectives.
Case facilitators guide the discussions in which students are the primary participants. These discussions examine the relationships among people and events in the case, identify problems and options, and predict the effects of alternative actions.
Many case facilitators combine cases with activities to make the dilemmas in the case more concrete and visible. For example, visual organizers can be used in individual or small groups to help students make sense of the large amount of information a case often includes and help them arrive at tangible solutions. Role-playing activities such as mock meeting, readers theater, or fishbowls allow students to act out and then discuss various scenarios from cases.
A number of variations to typical case facilitation have also emerged in recent years.
- Live cases are a cross between a guest speaker and a teaching case. In live cases, someone from the instructor’s local community (for instance, a family member, teacher, or principal) who is confronting a family engagement dilemma similar to the one in the case that the students have read can present the problem situation to the class.
- Online discussion boards provide a venue for students to engage with teaching case issues outside of a typical classroom setting.
- Interactive cases are online cases that allow case users to reflect on dilemmas and issues according to their own timing and pacing.
- The process of writing their own cases helps students and practitioners reflect on experiences with families they have worked with and use this experience to teach and guide others. In this way, students not only read and interpret cases but use their lived experiences to create cases of their own.
What Changes
The case method has been linked to changes in student attitudes, self-awareness, application of course material, analytical skills, and reflective decision making, as well as a more positive affect when discussing family-centered issues.¹ By considering multiple perspectives and thinking critically about real-world issues, case users can improve their ability to communicate effectively; identify family strengths; and apply skills and knowledge about families in different situations.
Approach In Action
In a university course: connecting research, theory, and practice
Darcy Hutchins teaches the course Family-School Partnering (FSP) and Consultation at the University of Denver. The course is part of the master’s program for school psychologists and early childhood special-education majors. Two weeks out of the 10-week quarter are spent studying and discussing cases: one week focuses on cases related to universal FSP strategies, while the other week is geared toward cases that concentrate on targeted and intensive FSP initiatives. To prepare for case discussion, students are asked to come to class prepared to discuss the key individuals in the case, major issues to be addressed, contributing issues, and potential or possible next steps. In class, students work in different clusters of groups to share insights about the cases they have read. During the discussion time, students relate experiences they have encountered with the case studies at their practicum sites. Communication, climate, culture, and asset-based thinking are common themes that emerge from the discussion. As a culminating exercise, groups write papers summarizing their thoughts, perspectives, and recommendations. Hutchins explains:
Each year in course feedback, the students comment that the case studies are one of their most useful assignments. I believe this is because they are practical, and they begin to see families’ lives more clearly and take their perspective more.
In a community setting: Writing your own case for community learning
The Community Engagement Team (CET) at the Department of Human Service Programs, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a multi-agency collaborative that reaches out to underserved Cambridge families and connects them to community events and resources. It also develops community leaders and supports agencies in working with a diverse community. As part of a one-day networking event for multiple agencies throughout Cambridge, CET outreach workers — who are responsible for supporting families in the community, leading parenting workshops, helping schools connect with immigrant families, and a host of other special projects — wrote cases about their own experiences working with diverse families throughout the city.
CET outreach workers shared their cases with participants in the networking event, including police officers, librarians, city staff, and restaurant owners, among others. Their cases brought authentic parent stories into a larger discussion among community providers about family outreach. As a result of the cases, community providers better understood the challenges facing families who had recently immigrated to the area, and outreach workers developed new insights into their own roles.
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Endnotes
¹ Sanders-Smith, S. C., Smith-Bonahue, T., & Soutullo, O. (2016). Practicing teachers’ response to case method of instruction in an online graduate course. Teaching and Teacher Education, 54(1), 1–11; Snyder, P., & McWilliam, P. J. (1999). Evaluating the efficacy of case method instruction findings from preservice training in family-centered care. Journal of Early Intervention, 22(2), 114–125; Snyder, P., & McWilliam, P. J. (2003). Using case method of instruction effectively in early intervention personnel preparation. Infants & Young Children, 16(4), 284–295.
