Elizabeth A. van Es

A Framework for the Facilitation of Teachers’ Analysis of Video

Video is being used more widely in professional development to help teachers learn to notice and systematically analyze teaching practice. Video captures the authenticity and complexity of teaching and can promote the examination of classroom interactions in a deliberate and focused way. However, simply viewing video does not ensure teacher learning. An important question concerns how to facilitate substantive analysis of teaching practice with video so that it becomes a productive learning tool for teachers. In this study, we examine the in-the-moment moves facilitators make in two different video-based professional development programs to offer a framework for facilitation with video. We then examine patterns in facilitation across both contexts and identify practices that are unique to the goals of each setting. The findings from this study have implications for the design of video-based professional development and for developing a knowledge base for professional education.

An Exploratory Study of the Influence That Analyzing Teaching Has on Preservice Teachers’ Classroom Practice

We designed a video-based course to develop preservice teachers’ vision of ambitious instruction by decomposing instruction to learn to attend to student thinking and to examine how particular teaching moves influence student learning. In this study, we examine the influence that learning to systematically analyze ambitious pedagogy in the course has on preservice teachers’ classroom practice. Analysis of preservice teachers’ videos from the Performance Assessment for California Teachers Teaching Event reveals that they engaged in more student-centered practices compared with a cohort of candidates who did not participate in the course—creating opportunities to see student thinking, noticing student thinking during instruction, and pursuing student ideas to learn more about their thinking. We also found that their probing of student thinking focused primarily on correct answers and procedural fluency. These findings have implications for defining a pedagogy of teacher preparation to develop beginning teacher competency.

Pre-service teachers’ use of tools to systematically analyze teaching and learning

Learning to systematically analyze the relationship between teaching and student learning is an important but difficult skill to engender in teachers. In this study, we examine how pre-service teachers who were introduced to a framework for analyzing teaching in a video-based teacher education course drew on this tool to analyze their own practice after the conclusion of the course. We conceptualize the framework as a conceptual tool that scaffolds pre-service teachers to learn to attend to particular dimensions of teaching and learning and to analyze how their teaching influences student learning. Using the Portfolio Assessment for California Teachers-Teaching Event of 14 English language arts pre-service teachers, we conducted a qualitative analysis to examine the extent to which they applied this framework to analyze their own practice after the conclusion of the course, as well as different strategies they adopted as they analyzed their teaching practice. Findings suggest that pre-service teachers made progress in using the framework to study their teaching, but development of sub-skills for all four facets are needed to develop more productive analyses of teaching and student learning. This study has important implications for the design of teacher education that intends to support pre-service teachers in developing tools for learning to learn from their teaching practice.

Making Visible the Relationship Between Teachers’ Noticing for Equity and Equitable Teaching Practice

This study examines mathematics teachers’ noticing for equity. Noticing for equity is a critically important practice given research that documents how particular groups of students feel more or less empowered to take up ambitious mathematics practices. We conducted classroom observations and a series of noticing interviews with four secondary mathematics teachers nominated as exceptional equitable mathematics teachers. Using qualitative methods, we conducted a cross-case analysis to identify common instructional practices these teachers enacted to close participation gaps in their classrooms, as well as the associated ways of noticing during instruction. These findings document the intricate relationship between what teachers committed to equitable mathematics instruction attend to, how they reason about observed phenomena, and how they use this information to make instructional decisions.

Using Video for Teacher-Educator Professional Development

ABSTRACT We draw on Engeström’s (2011a) formative intervention approach to bring together mentor teachers and university supervisors to construct a tool for structuring observations and mentoring student teachers. Data include videos and transcripts from seven meetings where participants discussed mentoring and viewed video records of teaching practice to articulate problems and solutions. We examine how video afforded opportunities for participants to precisely describe problems of practice, to develop a shared vision and language of ambitious instruction, and to collectively construct frameworks to guide their work. Findings have implications for design of professional development for teacher educators and programs of teacher preparation.

Bringing facilitation into view

The articles in this volume reflect the continued popularity of video in professional development and raise important questions about how to situate video productively in varied contexts. Together, they highlight the complexity of expanding video-based professional development beyond designers and the challenges that designers and facilitators experience as they prepare others to lead teacher learning in these settings. In this commentary, we examine how these papers advance research on facilitation of professional development, with a particular focus on the issues for using video productively with teachers. We conclude by raising several issues for future research.

Articulating Design Principles for Productive Use of Video in Preservice Education

Despite the potential of video for professional learning, the field lacks an integrated framework to inform teacher educators’ pedagogical decision making, particularly in the context of preservice teacher education. This article aims to make a conceptual argument about productive ways of using video in preservice education contexts. Drawing on situative and sociocultural perspectives, we theorize how and under what conditions video can be used productively. We discuss existing frameworks and tools that guide the design of video-embedded learning environments. We then present an integrated framework, the principled use of video (PUV) to specify principles, processes, and key considerations for creating a system of video-embedded activities. The merits and potential pitfalls of the PUV framework are discussed using an illustrative case. We argue that productive use of video that facilitates the desired learning of preservice teachers involves attention to both the learning ecology and underlying theories of preservice teacher learning.

Exploring the Influences of a Partner-Based Teacher Credential Program on Candidates’ Performance Outcomes

The study compared candidates in a 4-year undergraduate program for secondary mathematics and science teaching, based on the UTeach model, with candidates in a 1-year postbaccalaureate program at the same institution. Candidates in the undergraduate program participated in a partnership of university mathematics, science, and education departments and intensive field-based experiences in high-needs schools. We conjectured that this approach would better prepare prospective teachers to develop beginning teacher competencies. Analysis of the Performance Assessment for California Teachers Teaching Event identified few differences between candidates in both groups. Surveys revealed significant differences between candidates’ perceptions of their preparation for teaching. These findings suggest that different program models can offer differential support to prospective teachers but how the program features are enacted influences the impact that these programs have on teacher preparation.