Pages: 16

This chapter introduces video-based action research as a tool for teacher development. It outlines how traditional professional development often fails to lead to meaningful pedagogical change as it is often disconnected from a teachers’ actual work. Instead, this chapter argues teachers need tools to do the intellectual work of connecting educational research with their own educational context in ways that are meaningful for their practice. The integration of video analysis and action research into video-based action research is presented as one model to engage teachers in development opportunities that can result in meaningful change. The chapter concludes with an overview of the book.

Pages: 16

This chapter introduces the challenges of traditional approaches to teacher development starting with teacher pre-service training through in-service teacher professional development opportunities. It makes the case for envisioning teacher development as an intellectual endeavor through engaging teachers in teacher research. Teacher research builds upon both teachers’ experiences and the research base for teachers to experiment and reflect upon their own practices in ways that can lead to change that can improve student learning. Through teacher research, teachers are intellectually engaged with their own development through systematic inquiry into their own practice. The chapter concludes with the journey of one teacher engaged in teacher research and how her journey contributed to her own increased agency as a teacher, ultimately leading to new innovative ways of instruction in her own classroom.

Pages: 14

This chapter introduces action research as one type of teacher research. It provides background information on the emergence of action research as an alternative to traditional research paradigms. As opposed to traditional research, action research emphasizes the improvement of practice. Although there are different types of action research, all action research shares common characteristics. The recursive relationship between action and reflection provides a foundation for the systematic, cyclical process of action research. Action research can also mediate the gap between theory and practice as teachers both consult and understand the research behind their practice. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the challenges that teachers face when engaging in action research.

Pages: 12

This chapter focuses upon the power of video as both a tool for teacher development and a tool for teacher research. It provides a review of the history of video in education for teacher development, tracing the beginning of the use of video through microteaching and discussing the evolution of the video to use for teacher credentialing. Next, research on the use of video analysis for teacher development is presented. As a tool for teacher development, video analysis has been found to improve teacher practice through greater accuracy of reflection which can challenge a teacher’s beliefs and actions. Finally, the use of video as a research tool is discussed. Within research, video can be used for multiple purposes including data collection, data analysis, and the dissemination of results.

Pages: 17

This chapter introduces video-based action research as a model for teacher development. It makes the case for the integration of video analysis and action research into one model that can provide a structure for teacher development. It outlines the benefits of the video-based action research model which includes the accessibility of the model for all teachers across the continuum of teacher development, the support afforded by video analysis within each stage of the action research process, the opportunities for teachers to connect theory to practice within the context of their own classroom, and the strengthening of reflection through a concrete artifact, allowing for reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. The chapter presents each of the stages of the video-based action research model and describes how video analysis is integrated within each individual stage.

Pages: 16

This chapter is designed to support the teacher researcher in identifying an area of focus in a video-based action research study. The first step in any research project is to gain the necessary permissions where the research will take place. The chapter describes how, after obtaining the necessary permission, the teacher researcher will work to determine an area of focus for the video-based action research study. The process of determining an area of focus begins with video and involves the teacher researcher using different lens to view their practice by considering their own perspective, their students’ perspectives, and other stakeholders’ perspectives. This chapter concludes with guidance on how to progress from an area of focus to an answerable research question that will guide the development of the action plan.

Pages: 15

This chapter focuses on the planning stage of a video-based action research study. The planning stage is comprised of reviewing the literature and developing the action plan. The literature review informs both the pedagogical approaches and the methodological approaches for the research study. It also helps the teacher researcher understand their area of focus within the broader field of education. In video-based action research, the action plan is defined as the steps the teacher researcher takes to implement a pedagogical action within their own context to answer their research question. The pedagogical actions taken in the context, usually a classroom, are captured on video for both methodological and reflective purposes.

Pages: 16

This chapter introduces the acting stage of the video-based action research study. Within this stage, the teacher researcher begins to implement their action plan and collect data. The chapter first focuses on developing a data collection plan that will ensure the trustworthiness of the results of the study. Since video is the central component of the video-based action research study, the chapter will emphasize how to use video as a data collection tool. The chapter also introduces other data sources that can be collected throughout the study. Finally, it provides guidance on beginning to enact the action plan.

Pages: 21

This chapter focuses on the observing and refining stages of a video-based action research study. Analyzing data is a multistep process in which the teacher researcher uses the data collected to arrive at understandings that can be used to answer the research question. In video-based action research, the analysis of video takes center stage in the analysis process. In addition, other data sources will be analyzed and triangulated with video data to identify themes. Throughout the analysis and refining stages, reflection on preliminary findings is critical for teacher development.

Pages: 20

This chapter focuses on the final stage of the video-based action research study, the reflection stage. Within the reflection stage, the teacher researcher completes a final interpretation of the data, reflects upon the cycles of inquiry, determines their next steps, and disseminates the research. The final interpretation of the data involves understanding what the results mean in terms of the overall study. This stage also involves determining how the results may inform a teacher’s understanding of their actions and how the new understandings will influence future practice. Finally, this stage involves disseminating the results of the study to others. This chapter outlines how this can be done through both text-based and video-based formats.

Pages: 11

This chapter returns to the premise of video-based action research that was laid out in the beginning of this book by following the journeys of three teachers at different points in their careers. Each of the teachers utilizes a different structural approach to video-based action research. However, as the cases illustrate, video-based action research afforded all the teachers the opportunity to take an intellectual approach to their development based upon their own experiences and within their own context. The chapter concludes by considering the benefits of integrating video analysis and action research within the context of the cases presented through the chapter.