The use of video during professional experience for initial teacher education

This chapter reports an investigation of pre-service teachers’ use of video during professional experience as a tool for self-reflection and for the provision of feedback by their supervising teachers. Nine triads, comprising a pre-service teacher (PST), supervising teacher and university advisor participated in the study. Each week during a four-week professional experience placement, PSTs identified a ‘puzzle of practice’ and used smartphones to video a five-minute excerpt from one of their lessons. They annotated their video excerpt with time-stamped comments and uploaded it to a secure website. There, the supervising teacher and university advisor could view the video, read the annotations, and add their responses. Annotations were coded to identify the depth of the reflections using four categories: Descriptive; Evaluative; Reflective; Imaginative. Participants also provided feedback on their experiences through a survey. Results indicate that the process helped PSTs to reflect on classroom practice and provided opportunities for professional dialogue among triad members.