This project examines the role of video in
teacher learning. More specifically, the project explores how
video can support the development of a particular kind of
teaching expertise, “professional
vision.Ó Professional vision involves the ways in which teachers notice and interpret classroom interactions and is particularly important today as teachers are asked to make many teaching decisions in the midst of instruction. The key goals of the project are to develop a theoretical framework for examining teacher learning via video and to apply this framework to several diverse video-based professional development programs. Thus far, three programs have been the focus
of investigation: video clubs, preparing portfolios for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and Video Cases
for Mathematics Professional Development.
Goodwin (1994) introduced the idea of
professional vision as “socially organized ways of seeing
and understanding events that are answerable to the distinctive
interests of a particular social group” (p.606). The idea
is that, as we become part of a professional discipline, we are
trained to look at and see a certain set of phenomena in a
particular way. An important goal of our research is to
characterize the nature of teachers’ professional vision.
In particular, we seek to understand how teachers notice and
interpret significant features of classroom interactions that
appear on video.
Towards this end, we find it useful to
describe professional vision as consisting of two main
processes: (a) selective attention — deciding what to
attend to, and (b) knowledge-based reasoning — reasoning
about what one notices. Furthermore, we argue that these
processes interact in a dynamic manner. Thus, what one notices
influences how one reasons about what is seen, but in addition,
one’s knowledge and experiences influence what one will
pay attention to.
We have also identified four key
dimensions of teachers’ professional vision, that is,
different kinds of issues that teachers typically notice in a
video excerpt. The first dimension concerns the agent, whom in
the video the teachers attend to (student, teacher, or other).
The second dimension refers to the topic of the teachers’
comments (pedagogy, mathematical thinking, climate, or
management). The third dimension concerns the stance that the
teachers use to analyze what is happening in the video
(descriptive, interpretive, or evaluative). The fourth
dimension refers to the level of specificity with which
teachers discuss particular events in the video (general or
specific).
Goodwin, C. (1994). Professional vision. American Anthropologist, 96, 606-633.
To aid in the development of
teachers’ professional vision, researchers and teacher
educators are increasingly turning to the use of video. Indeed,
if we believe that growth in professional vision is an
important aspect of a teacher’s development, the use of
video seems natural. Video appears to be able to capture much
of the richness of classroom interactions, and it can be used
in contexts that allow teachers time to reflect on these
interactions. However, although these arguments seem
compelling, there is little empirical evidence to support the
claim that video can be used to support teacher learning.
Furthermore, we lack adequate theoretical frameworks for
studying and describing the process through which teachers
learn as they reflect on video.
To address these issues, this research
begins to look critically at the ways that video can support
teacher learning. In particular, we are undertaking an
empirical program based on observations of mathematics teachers
engaged in several different video-based professional
development programs. In doing so, our purpose is to explore
how the ways in which video is used, in concert with the design
of a specific program, influences what and how teachers learn.
We investigate both the micro-dynamics of change within a
program as well as longer term changes that occur over time.
Thus far, four three programs have been
the focus of investigation: video clubs, preparing portfolios
for National Board Certification, and the published
professional development program, Video Cases for Mathematics
Professional Development.
Video clubs are professional development
environments in which teachers come together to watch and
discuss video excerpts of one another’s teaching. A video
club may focus on a range of issues related to teaching and
learning. Those examined for this project were designed to help
teachers to explore students’ mathematical thinking in a
detailed manner. To do this, the video segments selected for
viewing were ones in which students’ ideas about
mathematics were being explored in class. In the video club
meetings, a facilitator would direct teachers to discuss these
ideas and to try to interpret what they thought students
understood about the mathematics. In addition, the facilitator
would ask teachers to refer to specific events in the video
clips to support interpretations they made about the
students’ mathematical understanding.
The National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards (www.nbpts.org) recognizes highly accomplished teachers
through a process of voluntary performance-based assessment.
Teachers submit portfolios for review that provide
documentation of their practice in several areas including
samples of student work, excerpts of video, and written
analyses of their teaching. To receive National Board
Certification, teachers must also pass written examinations
that examine their subject matter and pedagogical content in
selected areas.
Video Cases for Mathematics Professional
Development (http://www.schoolsmovingup.net/cs/
vcmpd/print/htdocs/vcmpd/home.htm) is
a set of multimedia materials designed to help teachers explore
mathematics teaching and learning in grades 5-10. The materials
provide opportunities for teachers to explore mathematical
tasks and to view videos of students engaged in similar
activities. Discussions topics, readings, and activities
intended to serve as a bridge to teachers’ own classroom
are provided. Extensive facilitation notes also accompany each
module. The materials are published by Heinemann (http:
//heinemann.com/shared/products/E00682.asp).
