From Theory to Classroom: Using Video Observation to Increase Teacher Self Reflection (AACTE 2017)
Reflection to inform the future
Video is often thought of as tool to provide teachers with immediate feedback on their practice. But Megan Kelley-Peterson, a professor in the University of Washington’s U-ACT program, thinks video reflection can have a much broader impact.
Megan shared how she uses Edthena to support first-year teachers at this year’s American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education Annual Meeting in Tampa, Fla.
In her presentation, Megan described how video helps teachers in her training program actively reflect on their teaching practice.
“With Edthena, we ask candidates to really deeply analyze their own teaching practice. We assign them very particular prompts. Sometimes we’ll ask them to comment on the videos. And sometimes we’ll ask them to write a written commentary or reflection. And we oftentimes will use prompts right from the edTPA,” Megan said.
The program goal is that teachers will learn to embody a set of core practices by committing to a vision of teaching guided by core principles and evidenced multiple times during the program through cycles of enactment and investigation.
The cycle for collectively learning to engage in an authentic and ambitious instructional activity is a four-step process:
- Introducing and learning about the activity
- Preparing for and rehearsing the activity
- Enacting the activity with students, and
- Analyzing enactment and moving forward.
Later in the presentation, Megan shared the different ways she believes video will have a career-long impact for candidates.
“Our goal is to help students understand the kind of teaching we want them to go out and try. But we also want them to use the video evidence they collect to inform what they’ll be trying in the future, as they continue teaching,” she said.
Teachers in the U-ACT program are full-time teachers of record working toward certification. They take their courses in the evenings, after teaching all day. Teacher candidates work in several placement areas across the state, so video observation helps ensure that the program coaches can provide ongoing feedback on a week-by-week basis.
This video is part one of a longer presentation about using video to support teacher development. Click the link at the end of the video to watch part two.
