Reflecting on Teaching Practice Would Remain Important ‘even if the edTPA goes away tomorrow’ (AACTE 2017)
Preparing career educators
“Although we use Edthena to prepare our students for edTPA, every assignment we do with video, we try to craft something that we would use even if the edTPA goes away tomorrow.”
These are the words of Rebekah Stathakis, faculty at Northwestern University in Chicago. She presented how she uses Edthena with students at this year’s American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education Annual Meeting.
Rebekah detailed how exactly video is a key element of the teacher training experience.
“Video presents a chance for our student teachers to really think deeply about their practice using evidence,” she said. “And we have found that the more we do with video, the more the students are noticing in their classrooms.”
Teacher noticing was a common theme. Northwestern is home to researcher Miriam Sherin, a scholar known for her research on “teacher noticing” in literature about utilizing video for teacher learning.
Rebekah demonstrated how her teachers utilize Edthena to analyze learning environments, demonstrate student thinking, and practice subject-specific pedagogy.
Rebekah said video instills an appreciation for the importance of reflection with teacher candidates. This is a mindset that will sustain new teachers throughout their careers.
“We want our assignments to be focused on good teaching, and reflective practice,” Rebekah said. “It is preparing them for a life of being a career educator who really believes in the importance of deep reflection on practice.”
This video is part two of a presentation delivered at AACTE’s Annual Meeting about using video to support teacher development. To see part one of the presentation, click here.
