Chapter 9: The Use of Video for Teacher Education and Professional Development: Past Experiences and Future Directions

The use of video for teacher education and professional development has seen significant changes since the 1960s. Teacher learning from video was earlier based on modeling and imitation of what researchers considered to be best practices; today such learning includes reflection on and critical analysis of videotaped lessons. Teachers’ learning experiences have shifted significantly from “training” to “professional development programs.” The former are focused on student-behavior management and specific teaching skills selected by the “trainer”; the later are centered on improvement of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and on exercise of their professional judgment. While video today offers promising directions for dealing with the challenges of improving teaching, still barriers will need to be overcome. A large variety of alternative video examples will be required, as will empirical evidence on the effects of video use on instructional improvement. Teachers will also need the contexts and time in which to engage in video analysis. The chapter concludes by proposing hypotheses on the exploitation of emerging digital and internet-based technologies in bringing this kind of teacher learning to scale.