Video Research in Disciplinary Literacies

The Pedagogy of Using Video to Develop Reflective Practice in Learning to Teach

Science
Gail Chittleborough, John Cripps Clark, Paul Chandler,
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 THE PEDAGOGY OF USING VIDEO
TO DEVELOP REFLECTIVE
PRACTICE IN LEARNING TO
TEACH SCIENCE
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Gail Chittleborough, John Cripps Clark and

Paul Chandler

ABSTRACT

Purpose The purpose of this chapter is to identify the pedagogical

approaches that foster critical reflection using video among the pre-
service teachers during tutorials.
Methodology/approach The research is situated in a school-based
teaching programme in which pairs of pre-service teachers taught small
groups of primary aged children over a period of seven weeks. Volunteer
pre-service teachers videotaped their lessons and selected video excerpts
to share with their peers in the tutorial. The educator guided the pre-
service teachers’ reflection using the video. A case study drawing on
interviews with pre-service teachers and audio recordings of tutorials,
charted the development of pedagogical decisions made by the educators
to promote reflection.

Video Research in Disciplinary Literacies

Literacy Research, Practice and Evaluation, Volume 6, 95 115
Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved
ISSN: 2048-0458/doi:10.1108/S2048-045820150000006005
95
 96 GAIL CHITTLEBOROUGH ET AL.

Findings The pre-service teachers had difficulties undertaking deep

reflection of their own and peers’ teaching practice. The response by edu-
cators was to promote collaboration among pre-service teachers by dis-
cussing specific aspects of the teaching in small groups and to use a jigsaw
approach. This enabled a deeper analysis of particular elements of the les-
son that were then integrated to produce a more holistic understanding of
the teaching. The video data are most suitable for reflection and provide
valuable evidence for pre-service teachers to develop their practice.
Practical implications For pre-service teachers to develop effective
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skills to analyse their own practice they need to experience teaching in a

safe but challenging environment, over a sustained period; have opportu-
nities to develop a shared understanding of what constitutes quality
teaching; have opportunities to critically analyse their teaching in discus-
sion with peers and educators and be able to be guided by a framework
of reflective strategies.
Keywords: Reflection; video; science; teaching; pre-service teachers;
pedagogy

INTRODUCTION

Reflection can be a powerful mechanism for improving practice and is

recognised as an essential skill for learning (Schön, 1983); however, reflec-
tion is personal, often confronting and challenging. This chapter explores
the pedagogical strategies that were used to promote reflective skills among
pre-service teachers while teaching science to a small group of children in a
primary school. The pre-service primary teachers, working in a school-
based programme, videotaped and critiqued their own practice and shared
their analysis with peers. They worked and taught together and then
reflected on their practice. The aim of the project was to investigate the
pedagogical approaches the teacher educators used to foster the effective
use of video data for pre-service teachers’ self and peer reflection when
teaching science.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Pre-service primary teachers commonly have poor background knowledge in

science and often lack confidence in teaching science (Goodrum & Rennie,
 The Pedagogy of Using Video to Develop Reflective Practice 97

2007). Confidence can be developed through authentic science teaching

experiences where pre-service teachers have to learn the content and peda-
gogy of science teaching (Kenny, 2012) and then reflect on the experience of
teaching. Reflection is an important skill that pre-service students need to
help transform themselves into more effective teachers. Reflection provides
the opportunity to map practice to learning outcomes (Harford &
MacRuairc, 2008) but it needs to be developed and embedded in practice to
be sustainable.
Reflective skills develop with experience and instruction. The reflective
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practitioner intentionally thinks about his or her own practice by systemati-

cally observing what they’ve done and interpreting the consequences of
their practice informed by educational theories to improve their teaching
practice (Howitt, 2007). This includes understanding children’s thinking
and motivation, pedagogical content knowledge and assessment
(Bartholomew, Anderson, & Moeed, 2012). Reflection leads teachers
towards a deeper understanding of their motivation and identity, which
enriches the aesthetic understanding of themselves as professionals (Dewey,
1933).
An understanding of the types and nature of reflection itself aids the
process of reflection. Schön (1983) distinguishes when and how the reflec-
tion occurs and this has been elaborated to produce a classification focused
on reflection-in, on and for-action. Reflection-in-action, describes a ‘con-
scious thinking and modification while on the job’ (Hatton & Smith, 1995,
p. 35), reflection-on-action describes ‘looking back upon action some time
after it has taken place’ (Hatton & Smith, 1995, p. 35), and reflection-for-
action describes looking forward, anticipating what may take place
(Grushka, McLeod, & Reynolds, 2005). This framework has been used
extensively as a basis for developing reflective skills. Grushka et al. (2005)
scaffolded reflection through suggested questions for each type of
reflection.
Video has been used to promote reflective practice among student tea-
chers (Rich & Hannafin, 2008; Rickard, McAvinia, & Quirke-Bolt, 2009).
O’Connor (2010) reported on the collegiality that developed through
sharing videos and the professional and supportive learning environment
that ensued. Harford and MacRuairc (2008) found that within the con-
text of a community of practice, peer videoing in a classroom acted ‘as a
catalyst for reflection and critical dialogue’ (p. 1890). Tochon (2007) sug-
gests that the video used needs to be authentic; situated in lived experi-
ence; pedagogically relevant and including all the necessary and relevant
information.
 98 GAIL CHITTLEBOROUGH ET AL.

Similar to Harford and MacRuairc (2008), this project also used video
to catalyse reflection and critical dialogue and promote a reflective commu-
nity of practice. Teaching pre-service teachers how to reflect warrants
intentional teaching strategies by a more ‘knowledgeable other’ (Gelfuso &
Dennis, 2014). Having a more knowledgable other scaffold learners
through the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978) while reflect-
ing through video is critical because teachers rarely want to provide one
another with critical feedback (Shanahan & Tochelli, 2012). Furthermore,
Bannink and van Dam (2007) and Howitt (2008) argued that pre-service
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teachers had to be made aware of their own beliefs about what constitutes
good teaching in order to be able to reflect on their own teaching. Howitt
(2008, p. 3) suggests challenging pre-service teachers by ‘providing experi-
ences that help to clarify, confront, and possibly change such personal the-
ories’ and beliefs. There is scant literature providing pedagogical detail on
how best to use video data when instructing pre-service primary teachers in
science education, yet video data are increasingly being used in authentic
teacher assessment (Dixon, Mayer, Gallant, & Allard, 2011).
Tripp and Rich (2012), in their review of research on teacher reflection
using video, identify the selection and scaffolding of the tasks that direct
reflection; whether reflection should be individual or in groups; the length
and number of video segments and assessment of reflection as the dimen-
sions which merit further research. We concentrated on investigating the
first two dimensions and the organisation of the groups. From the meta-
analysis of 63 studies involving video, Tripp and Rich (2012) reported
that having teachers select their own video and providing a reflection fra-
mework enhanced the quality of reflection. They also reported that tea-
chers preferred a collaborative setting ‘discussing their reflections with
others over reflecting individually on their videos’ p. 687. The pedagogi-
cal approaches used by the teacher educators in this study build on these
findings in several ways. A framework was used with the pre-service tea-
chers that focused on the pedagogical content knowledge for the teaching
of science was used as a reflective tool. Furthermore, the teacher educa-
tor, as the ‘knowledgeable other, ’ led the discussions and responded to
the needs of the pre-service teachers, and group work was used, but the
number, the members and the focus of the groups was varied to find the
best ways to promote reflection. The design of this study is important
because it adapts known features about how best to use video for reflec-
tion in teaching, to the science discipline area, and the results of this
study will help to identify optimal conditions for reflection in learning to
teach science.
 The Pedagogy of Using Video to Develop Reflective Practice 99

CONTEXT OF THIS RESEARCH

This investigation focused on how we, as the teacher educators, modified

our pedagogical practices to promote the quality of reflection of pre-service
teachers’ teaching. This research is unique because the setting is a group
learning community, in which pre-service teachers reflected while they were
teaching, reflected on their teaching during the tutorial and for their teach-
ing in subsequent lessons. The teacher educators aimed to build the confi-
dence of the pre-service teachers to teach science. The teacher educators
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scaffolded science specific pedagogical content knowledge and the process

of reflection over the series of seven lessons.
Science uses a distinctive range of literacies to communicate scientific
ideas that include verbal language (e.g. oral and written), visual language
(e.g. graphs, tables, drawing, diagrams), mathematical language
(e.g. symbols), embodied language, (e.g. gestures, role-play) (Gee, 2004).
During the school-based session and the tutorial, pre-service teachers learn
to use these, often unfamiliar, scientific literacies. In this project, classroom
video, captured managed and controlled by the pre-service teachers them-
selves, provided data that they could use to reflect on what is happening in
the classroom, the strengths and weaknesses of the pedagogy, and insight
into children’s responses. Critical feedback from peers and the teacher edu-
cator aimed to help the pre-service teachers to develop their science teach-
ing practice.
Teaching science commonly uses a guided inquiry approach that is based
on the constructivist theory of learning (Duit & Treagust, 2003). It includes
probing children’s understanding of the assigned science topic, evaluating
children’s learning needs and creating opportunities so the children can
construct their own understanding (Driver, Asoko, Leach, Mortimer, &
Scott, 1994). The pre-service teachers tap into children’s curiosity, asking
questions and encouraging them to talk about the science topic, they
undertake activities that explore aspects of the science topic and show rea-
soning, negotiating ideas, so eventually the scientifically correct under-
standing is reasoned as correct. This teaching approach relies heavily on
the discourse in the class and requires careful scaffolding through question-
ing and the modelling of scientific thinking (Tytler, Haslam, Prain, &
Hubber, 2009).
This research provides teacher educators with pedagogical frameworks
to consider in their own facilitation of pre-service science teachers’ reflec-
tions. In addition, this study also provides pre-service teachers with
mechanisms to better identify evidence in their own practice of the impact
 100 GAIL CHITTLEBOROUGH ET AL.

of their teaching on children’s learning of science concepts, with the objec-

tive of making them more reflective about their own teaching. The research
question is: How did the teacher educator set up and subsequently modify
their pedagogical practices to foster the development of reflective skills
among pre-service teachers?

METHODS
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The two teacher educators and the project researcher (the authors) worked
collaboratively to plan, research and deliver this project. The pre-service
teachers who were in the third year of a four-year Bachelor of Education
degree programme were invited to participate in this project to videotape
themselves in the primary school setting while teaching science. The project
describes the way two teacher educators reflected weekly on the success of
the teaching approach and responded to feedback from pre-service teachers
and the research associate’s observations.

Context

The research took place over seven weeks in a school-based teaching unit in
which pre-service teachers had a tutorial class in primary science that
included instruction by the teacher educator and teaching science in pairs to
a group of between five and eight children. The school-based teaching was
intentionally designed to provide pre-service teachers with an authentic and
rich learning environment that would build their knowledge, skills, confi-
dence and experience in teaching science (Kenny, 2012). They taught the
children one hour per week for seven lessons. Over this period the pre-
service teachers built a relationship with the children in their group and had
the opportunity to reflect on their teaching and on the students’ learning.

Data Sources and Collection

Data were collected from three tutorial classes to provide a rich description
of the teaching and learning experiences. The data included: (a) interviews
with the pre-service teachers about their experiences, (b) the videos of
teaching with small groups, (c) audio recordings of the discussion during
the tutorial, (d) copies of the posters generated through the discussions and
 The Pedagogy of Using Video to Develop Reflective Practice 101

shared with the peers, (e) the observational record of the lessons by the
researcher and (f) reflections in the weekly meetings of the teacher educa-
tors and the researcher about the teaching approach.
One or two pairs of volunteer pre-service teachers from each of the
tutorial classes videotaped their lesson, during their school-based teaching
sessions. The students then edited their videos, selecting a suitable excerpt
to show to the tutorial class the following week. This was repeated every
week for another four weeks. The pre-service teachers selected the excerpt
to correspond to the pedagogical focus of the tutorial for example, probing
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children’s understanding, identifying scientific misconceptions, examining

the value of hands-on tasks, and strategies to aid in the development of
scientific ideas. The video data provided visual and audio data that could
be used by the tutorial group to model and practice reflection.

Data Analysis

The analysis of the teacher educator’s pedagogy included identifying the

changes to the teaching approach in response to feedback from pre-service
teachers over the period of the study. The field notes and record of the
researchers’ meetings record the weekly change in the pedagogy and this is
mapped to the feedback from the interviews with the pre-service teachers
after each session 3, 4 and 5.
Nine interviews (approximately 45 minutes each) were conducted with
10 pre-service teachers in two groups of four and one of two, after tutor-
ials, in consecutive weeks: 3, 4 and 5. Questions were asked, such example:
‘What did you think about the use of the video by [the teacher educator]
and the feedback you got’, and ‘What aspects of the discussion did you
find useful?’. The transcribed interview data were reviewed for any evidence
of reflection. The interview provided insight into the pre-service teachers’
experiences in the tutorial and their opinions about the pedagogy that was
used. The interview itself prompted the pre-service teachers to reflect and
added to the data for the case that contributed to generating a rich picture
of the case (Stark & Torrance, 2005). Each reference to reflection in the
interviews were coded according to the context of the reflection. The list
evolved deductively from the data and 11 categories were identified for this
case as listed in Table 1. Each category was described according to the con-
text and the type of reflection-in, on and for-action. The analysis was cross-
checked by at least two researchers. The source of quotes is indicated by
the interview number, and identifying number.
 102 GAIL CHITTLEBOROUGH ET AL.

Table 1. Types of Reflection Identified in the Interview Data of

Pre-Service Teachers.
Code The Context of the Reflection Reflection-in, -on and for-
Action

Reflection by pre-service teachers on the experience of teaching children

R1 Reflection on teaching in the classroom setting Reflection-in-action
R2 Reflection of team work relating to placement and Reflection-on-action
recording
R3 Reflection on lesson plan/activity Reflection-on-action
R4 Reflection on class management Reflection-on-action
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R5 Reflection on their own behaviours and practices that they Reflection-on-action;

would like to change or acknowledge Reflection-for-action
Reflection by pre-service teachers on participating in the tutorial delivered by the teacher
educator
R6 Reflection on pre-service teachers’ engagement and Reflection-on-action
learning outcomes
R7 Refection on peer discussions as a result of reviewing the Reflection-on and for-
video action
R8 Reflection of benefits and issues of the use of video as a Reflection-on-action
learning tool
R10 Reflection on factors influencing the pre-service teachers Reflection-for-action
decision to volunteer to take video
R11 Reflection that links learning theories to the classroom Reflection-on and for-
environment action

An example of the coding is shown in the following excerpt from an

interview:
Researcher: What sorts of things were you able to identify that you could do better,
and the things that you thought you were doing well?
Pre-service teacher: We’ve got really, pretty spot on kids, they’re not messing around at
all, but you could see where the minds kind of wander off, (R4) so you could think,
okay well next time I could have part of the group doing one thing, repeating, maybe
doing something else. (R5) (I1.08)

FINDINGS

Throughout the course, the research team and teacher educators recursively
engaged in ongoing reflective conversations that resulted in changes to the
pedagogical approaches adopted in the tutorials. With the aim of deepen-
ing the reflection, we included feedback from the pre-service teachers in
 The Pedagogy of Using Video to Develop Reflective Practice 103

the reflective process. The characteristic elements of the pedagogy that the
teacher educators used included: (a) the development of reflective frame-
works; (b) a staggered approach to scaffold and develop skills in reflection;
(c) modelling the teaching of science concepts; (d) group work, scaffolding
a jigsaw strategy and (e) linking theory and practice.

Responsively Teaching Reflection: Developing Reflective Frameworks

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Over the weeks of instruction, a staggered approach was used that focused
on gradually building skills necessary for reflection, because many pre-
service teachers were nervous at having to teach, and particularly teach
science. In week 1, pre-service teacher’s learnt new vocabulary and con-
structs from literature to give them a shared professional language and a
structure to approach the task of reflection. This included the type of reflec-
tion (in-, of- and for-action) (Grushka et al., 2005) and the nature of reflec-
tion (Hatton & Smith, 1995).
In whole class discussion the reflections were initially shallow and parti-
cipation level low, so the teacher educators introduced a group strategy to
promote deeper reflection. Enacted during weeks 2 and 3, the pre-service
teachers worked together to discuss their ideas in the class; however, the
responses were still limited, so the teacher educators used smaller groups
with more targeted discussion, in the following weeks. The pre-service tea-
chers were placed into four groups and each group was assigned one
aspect to focus on. They were then asked to view the video and then discuss
their observations with members of their group, before reporting to the
whole tutorial. One pre-service teacher reflected positively on this approach
saying:
… I think it made people think a bit deeper rather than just looking at the person ask-
ing the questions. (I12.38)

Another commented:
… like for someone like me it’s kind of hard to talk in front of a whole group, but
when you divide into small groups, I had a chance to actually give out my idea. (I16.98)

With weekly experiences of watching videos of their own or a peer’s prac-

tice, the pre-service teachers began to appreciate the value of the video for
reviewing (reflection-on-action). One component of that growing apprecia-
tion was that the video record can give a different perspective to the recol-
lection of the teaching experience (e.g. sometimes the lesson went better
 104 GAIL CHITTLEBOROUGH ET AL.

than pre-service teacher came out thinking, other times not so well). This
excerpt from the interview with two students who were teaching Chemical
Change illustrates this:

After I viewed the video, I felt like it didn’t go down as well as I’d probably hoped, just
because, it was just minus stuff, like I wish we’d kind of developed the experiment to
the point where we got all of the Mentos in the coke bottle before it exploded and so
we did the experiment to the, I don’t know, to the right criteria, I don’t know what
words to use. (I10.185)

These comments demonstrate developing reflective skills, including a grow-

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ing vocabulary to describe their practice, and a growing confidence to

reflect in a group situation.
The development of the pre-service teachers ability to reflection on peda-
gogical content knowledge was scaffolded by a reflective framework for the
teaching of science that was adapted from Grushka et al. (2005) and
Hatton and Smith (1995), and served as a tool to scaffold the pre-service
teachers’ reflections on four aspects of their science lessons:
• Technical: the organisation of the lesson and timing, physical set-up and
resources;
• Questioning: understanding the effectiveness of various types of ques-
tions and teacher responses;
• Children’s understanding of science: children’s representations of science
ideas and evidence of children’s understandings of science concepts;
• Science pedagogical content knowledge: the pre-service teachers’ use of
explanations, investigations and representations to predict, make claims
and explain scientific phenomena.
These four aspects in the reflective framework highlight pedagogical skills
that are particularly important for teaching science through inquiry. They
complement the five E’s instructional model (engage, explore, explain, ela-
borate and evaluate) that is commonly used in teaching science (Bybee
et al., 2006). The teacher educator increasingly linked each aspect with the
stage of the instructional model over the period of the study. For example,
to show how the discourse changes through the lesson, the teacher educa-
tor, focussing on the question aspect of the framework explored the type of
questions the pre-service teachers asked the children in each stage of the
lesson. This helped the pre-service teachers recognise the link between the
type of question they were asking, the type of discourse it generated and
the stage of the instructional model. Inquiry lessons will often starting with
dialogic discourse in the engage and explore stage and move towards
 The Pedagogy of Using Video to Develop Reflective Practice 105

authoritative discourse in the explain and evaluate stage (Hackling, Smith, &
Murcia, 2010). The data suggest that the highly focussed scaffolding by the
teacher educator of significant aspects of the lesson in the context of small
supportive groups, and the regular weekly practice of reviewing video
excerpts aided the development of reflective practice as well as science
pedagogy.

Modelling the Teaching of Science Concepts: Learning Pedagogical

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Content Knowledge

The aim of the university course is to prepare primary teachers to teach

science, but thinking and speaking science does not come naturally to most
pre-service teachers. Students commented on the difficulty in explaining
science concepts. For example, the pre-service teachers had difficulty
explaining the science concepts of the Mentos experiment (Coffey, 2008),
which was mentioned earlier. This is an experiment in which Mentos
(a lolly with a rough surface) liberates the carbon dioxide in carbonated
liquids (such as coca cola) described as a physical change.

the problem was that when we then came to the explain part, because the science in it
was too, you know, we don’t even understand it. (I12.163)

This lack of science knowledge was common among the pre-service tea-
chers and compounded the difficulties pre-service teachers had in learning
how to teach science with a constructivist approach and explain science
concepts.
Each week both teacher educators demonstrated pedagogical science
knowledge, by modelling questioning techniques, conducting hands-on
activities with the pre-service teachers and explaining the science concept
in the most appropriate way. For example, one week the teacher educa-
tor modelled a role-play to explain how an electric circuit work, had
pre-service teachers construct a simple electric circuit and construct a simu-
lation of an electric circuit on the interactive whiteboard. These weekly
activities provided an opportunity for the pre-service teachers to act as lear-
ners. Led by the teacher educator, the tutorial groups engaged in discus-
sions that highlighted significant aspects of teaching science such as the
(a) big ideas of the science topic; the links between concepts (e.g. ‘how the
two systems work together when teaching body systems’); (b) development
of inquiry skills such as ordering/categorising, hypothesising and predicting;
 106 GAIL CHITTLEBOROUGH ET AL.

use of scientific language; (c) role of experimentation and (d) use of repre-
sentations such as analogies and models.
Understanding the science concepts that were being taught was a signifi-
cant part of the lesson planning. The teacher educators modelled explana-
tions and experiments and encouraged the pre-service teachers to ask
questions in science and to learn about thinking scientifically through
inquiry. Each week the pre-service teachers presented the lesson plan for
the lesson they were teaching to the teacher educator for comment. The tea-
cher educator commonly asked the pre-service teachers to describe the
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science concept in simple everyday terms, identify any new words they
expected the children to use and what they expected the children to say and
to represent, in response to planned questions and tasks. The targeted view-
ing of the video highlighted the four aspects. One student reflected on the
value of watching the video in the interview:
one of the girls was really great; she was driven in asking questions, so to draw the
answer out of them and I really felt like it opened my eyes and made me more aware of
how to go about doing that. (I15.56)

The posters (Figs. 1 and 2) show science concepts as a focus in the

record of group discussions about the video excerpts. The pre-service tea-
chers began to realise that they were not alone in their experiences
(e.g. fumbling over the content, students not fully engaged, some teaching/
learning activities not working). Solidarity gave confidence and reassur-
ance, and out of individual communal reflection came recommendations
for future practice. The posters showed the pre-service teachers growing
repertoire of pedagogical content knowledge referring to the use of ana-
logies, the role of the experiment, importance of linking ideas together, spe-
cific inquiry skills such as predicting, scientific method and hypothesising.

Responsive Teaching Reflection: Modifying Pedagogical Approaches

The organisation of the tutorials varied from whole class teaching to small
group and individual tasks to enhance the quality of reflection by the pre-
service teachers. The teacher educators adapted their pedagogical
approaches to the needs and to feedback. Initially a large screen (via data
projector) was used and the whole tutorial group (approximately 25 stu-
dents) viewed the video selected by each pair of students. Feedback from
students indicated that this was not the best way to develop both trust and
a shared understanding and acceptance. A number of pairs were reluctant
 The Pedagogy of Using Video to Develop Reflective Practice 107
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Fig. 1. Example of a Poster Record of the Group Discussion.

to participate because they didn’t want to ‘see themselves on the large

screen’. Those who participated were those who were prepared to ‘bury
their pride’ but even these students felt ‘threatened’. Students contrasted
this with viewing their teaching on the camera screen although they
acknowledged that it was too small to be suitable, even for individual view-
ing. Through serendipity rather than intentional planning, the students
used laptops, viewing was undertaken in small groups around laptop
screens. This proved large enough for everyone to see and yet small enough
to promote a feeling of intimacy within the group and resulted in richer dis-
cussions, and the teacher educators were quick to maintain this approach.
 108 GAIL CHITTLEBOROUGH ET AL.
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Fig. 2. Example of Poster Record of Group Discussion.

As the project proceeded, it became increasingly apparent that the stu-

dents within each tutorial did not know each other well. The pairings for
the small group teaching, which occurred before or during the initial tutor-
ial, were either spontaneous, from recognising a familiar face or because of
some already-established friendship. Students subsequently worked within
a variety of groupings: individually, in pairs (teaching and videoing), in
small groups and as a whole tutorial. A key difference between these differ-
ent social contexts was the sense of safety. To review a video of yourself
teaching in front of the whole class was to put yourself on public view in
the company of strangers. Students had not had an opportunity to develop
shared understandings and therefore trust, so while it was true that all stu-
dents were ‘in the same boat’, students expressed concerns around two
issues:

• Appreciating the context of the lesson excerpt chosen; and

• Developing a shared understanding of how quality teaching might be
understood.

The videoing student provided the context of the lesson, explained the pur-
pose of the lesson, the characteristics of the children in their group, and
why a particular excerpt was chosen (because it was exemplary or needed
to be understood, because it was particularly successful or unsuccessful).
 The Pedagogy of Using Video to Develop Reflective Practice 109

When students worked in smaller groups, these issues were much more
easily addressed, particularly when the pairs who had conducted the video-
ing were present, they could spend time in discussion to explain the context
and to develop shared understandings. In this setting, it was much easier
for detailed discussion to proceed and extensive feedback to be provided.
Even if the videoing pre-service teachers had some residual anxiety in trust-
ing the opinion of their classmates, these anxieties were much easier to
express and discuss in this setting. As they worked together planning
lessons, teaching children, and undertaking the tutorials, they shared
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experiences that helped to build professional/peer relationships among the

pre-service teachers.
Among the videoing pre-service teachers, viewing of videos on their own
was unanimously regarded as valuable, but reflection alongside sympathetic
and diligent others (peers or teacher educator) was regarded as a richer and
more valuable experience of professional development. The development of
a common understanding of ‘what constitutes good teaching’ needed sus-
tained discussion among students, scaffolded by the teacher educator with
a deliberate attention to particular, observable elements. Group work was
an important strategic approach which involved using small groups and
small screens so that all students had a voice and were more willing to con-
tribute and creating multiple sharing opportunities that helped to build rela-
tionships among the tutorial members, and drawing on the expertise of the
videoing students. This was further enhanced with the use of the jigsaw
strategy.

Scaffolding Reflection Through a Jigsaw Strategy

Once the reluctance of students to reflect on their teaching in the social

environment of the whole tutorial has been overcome by moving into small
groups viewing the video of teaching around a laptop there remained the
problem of the superficiality of the discussion. Even after the strong scaf-
folding, described above, was provided whereby pre-service teachers
within each group were allocated a particular reflective aspect the depth
of reflection was still inadequate, so the pedagogical approach was modi-
fied to include a jigsaw strategy (see https://www.jigsaw.org described in
Fig. 3).
This arrangement started with the same group discussion as before, then
one student from each speciality group joined a new reporting group to
discuss the video and comment using the themes: issues, qualities and
 110 GAIL CHITTLEBOROUGH ET AL.

Pedagogical Focii

Group C Group D
Group A Group B Children’s Explaining
Technical Questioning understandings science
issues of science concepts
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Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5

Nature of Quality Teaching

issues, quality, recommendations

Fig. 3. Jigsaw Teaching Approach.

recommendations. This collaborative approach further supported the build-

ing of trust among the community of learners, as discussed above. The divi-
sion of labour means individuals focussed on particular aspects and then
shared their ideas and understandings with a group. The close attention to
particular pedagogical aspects (e.g. questioning) helped the pre-service tea-
chers identify quality teaching in the teaching excerpts they were viewing.
Groups recorded their ideas on butcher’s paper and then these were posted
on the wall for all students to view. This approach, moving from individual
to small group, to another small group and then to the whole tutorial, pro-
duced much more effective reflection and the summary on the poster was
visible to all pre-service teachers and thus able to be shared in a manner
which, because it was the product of a group, was not as personally con-
fronting. Thinking metacognitively about a complex teaching experience is
challenging. One pre-service teacher commented on feeling overwhelmed
and how important it was to break the task into smaller bits to be able to
recognise and master the components of reflection.

when you’ve got … things to look at it just helps filter out … because by itself it’s just
really overwhelming to try and look at everything. (I17.99)

The interview data revealed six aspects of the jigsaw approach that pre-
service teachers appreciated:
 The Pedagogy of Using Video to Develop Reflective Practice 111

1. Working in multiple small groups meant that everyone had to partici-

pate and contribute.
2. The jigsaw approach meant that feedback from the entire class was
heard and summarised on the poster.
3. More reflections were generated through the double reflective process in
the jigsaw approach.
4. The teacher educator led the jigsaw approach to target significant
aspects of teaching science.
5. Experiencing the jigsaw approach provided a model of a structure with
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which to reflect.
6. The jigsaw approach broke a large task into manageable pieces.

A pre-service teacher illustrates the impact of the jigsaw approach on her

thinking in this excerpt from the interview with the researcher:

I think the jigsaw is really useful when your first few weeks when we’re just told oh
look at the video and we’ll focus on this point you look at it and there’s so many things
go through your mind and you’re seeing so many different things and there’s so many
different points of view that will come across whereas the jigsaw you can say okay this
group look at this, this group look at this, this group look at this then you put it all
together so you can only get individuals that will have a specific topic to focus on then
you just put it all together and instead of it all being mumbled in your own head from
the start everyone can put everything together in a group setting and it will all I
found it just makes everything make more sense. (15.22)

The jigsaw provided a focus on the four aspects of the framework in the
video excerpt; it allowed all pre-service teachers to make contributions that
were included and it allowed for individual and group reflection. The use of
verbal (discussion) then written (poster) and finally visual (viewing the pos-
ter) provided multiple forms and opportunities to reflect. During weeks
5 7 the tutors focussed on encouraging pre-service teachers to negotiate an
understanding of what constitutes good science teaching (see Fig. 4). The
organisation of ideas in the posters shows the importance of the scaffolding
provided by the teacher educator for the categorisation and prioritising of
pre-service teachers thinking.

Linking Theory and Practice

Unpacking teacher practice analysing what you do and how and why
you do something, is informed by the theories of learning and instructional
 112 GAIL CHITTLEBOROUGH ET AL.
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Fig. 4. Example of Poster Record of Group Discussion.

models of teaching this is reflection using a professional lens. In the

interviews with the pre-service teachers they reflected, for example:

I think it was good that they got the children to think of their own questions, what they
wanted to find out about the body, and like that gave the children more responsibility
of their own learning. (I5.68)
Sure, to have to stop and review what you’re going to do, and I think the main thing
that I look at when I look at the videos is the student’s, how they’re responding, what
are they doing, are they involved, and what can I do better. (I12,243)

The findings have focussed on the pedagogy used by the two teacher educa-
tors to incorporate video into their practice to actively encourage the pre-
service teachers to interrogate their own teaching approaches and that of
their peers. This included analysing the use of questioning, the positioning
in the class, the organisational strategies, their own understanding of
science concepts and the use of resources.
 The Pedagogy of Using Video to Develop Reflective Practice 113

CONCLUSION

Reflection is a personal practice, it is also an essential professional skill. By

observing video of themselves or others, pre-service teachers were able to
look critically at aspects of teaching and deeply attend to matters of ‘qual-
ity’. While some pre-service teachers were initially reluctant to be videoed
when first invited, by the end of the project whether they had been
videoed themselves or not they all acknowledged the reflective power of
the video analysis in highlighting aspects of their own teaching. This chap-
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ter argues that to develop reflective skills among pre-service teachers the
teacher educator played a critical role. The teacher educator provided:

• a safe but challenging environment;

• opportunities to develop a shared understanding of what constitutes
quality science teaching;
• an opportunity for pre-service teachers to video their own practice;
• multiple opportunities to critically analyse their teaching in discussion
with peers, for example using a jigsaw approach;
• a reflective framework that targeted four key aspects of teaching science
(Technical issues, Questioning, Children’s understanding of science and
Teaching and explaining science concepts);
• examples modelling science teaching through inquiry in the tutorials
and provided explanations of science concepts;
• an authentic teaching opportunity to trial teaching science lessons;
• feedback and professional advice as the ‘knowledgeable other’.

This project provided pre-service teachers with an opportunity to reflect

on their science teaching. The pre-service teachers were challenged to iden-
tify evidence of the impact of their teaching on children’s learning of
science concepts. Doing and talking science was foreign to many students
and the school-based sessions provided a safe but challenging, authentic
learning environment. Science has a distinctive pedagogy commonly based
on a student centred, inquiry teaching approach that requires a unique set
of teaching skills such as questioning, conducting experiments and drawing
conclusions. We argue that the video used in conjunction with multiple
group discussions scaffolded by the teacher educator, provided an opportu-
nity for the pre-service teacher to reflect on the teaching of science and
develop a more sophisticated and robust set of pedagogical tools for teach-
ing science thereby building their capacity to teach science.
 114 GAIL CHITTLEBOROUGH ET AL.

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