How To Use Video To Enhance Lesson Observation
Video can be used to facilitate collaborative CPD sessions by providing specific reference points for analysis and rich discussion about teaching and learning.
Video CPD aids schools in creating a strong professional learning culture, as well as helping practitioners hone their analytical skills.
It also enables lesson observation to take place as a collaborative and developmental professional learning activity.
Using video, multiple teachers can be involved at a time that suits all without the need for lesson cover. For example, video can be used to enhance a twilight CPD session and facilitate developmental and empowering discussion about teaching and learning.
Choosing a video for collaborative lesson observation
If you’re starting out using video as a tool to facilitate discussions about teaching and learning, it’s often a good idea to begin by setting norms around discussing the video.
Teachers may be unsure about recording themselves so watching a lesson clip from a neutral setting in the first instance can offer a risk free introduction to the benefits of video lesson observation.
However, even more engaging, is using a lesson clip from your own context and environment. If you’re running a group session, perhaps you could lead by example and share something with a specific learning focus for the others to review and discuss.
Whichever lesson clip you choose, it may be more productive to present it as an example of real practice rather than best practice, since best practice is often subjective and focuses the attention on the teacher’s performance more than the learning.
The video should be long enough to facilitate a rich discussion about the teaching and learning taking place, but not too long so as to lose focus.
To make the most of the time in the session, participants could be encouraged to watch the video beforehand, with snippets rewatched in the session to provide context to the discussion. The ability to pause, rewind and replay video enhances discussion by putting comments into context and using the video as a reference point for conversation.
Top tips on embedding video in lesson observation
At the start of a session where video is to be used as a discussion point, set out and agree on a few ground rules.
It is essential that feedback and discussion is constructive, non-judgemental and professional. This will help to build a culture of trust and eliminate any fear of judgement so that practitioners can develop confidence to share and discuss videos of their own teaching in the future.
When watching the video, participants should be invited to respect the teachers and pupils in the videos; examine interactions and how they are linked; suspend judgement, and focus on the learning.
Also, if you’re running the session, have some questions ready to facilitate the discussion. Think about how you can open up the dialogue and encourage participants to really analyse the lesson beyond their initial impressions and reactions.
Using video to support teacher training and leadership development
Getting practitioners together, regardless of career stage, for collaborative discussion about a lesson means teacher trainees can learn from more experienced practitioners.
It is also an effective leadership development activity as it gives those with leadership aspirations the opportunity to plan and facilitate CPD sessions, share their knowledge with trainees and offer peer-to-peer coaching and support with any follow-up activities.
It’s important to recognise that a one-off CPD session is unlikely to result in sustainable changes in the classroom.
Try to keep these sessions relatively intimate to give everyone the opportunity to get involved in the discussion. If you have a larger group, try and split them into multiple sessions or working groups.
Further Viewing
IRIS Connect has already created a ready-made professional learning programme. Film Club is a free learning programme providing schools with video clips, resources and questions for teachers on topics such as Look Who’s Talking Too (Learner Talk and Collective Thinking) and The Empire Talks Back (Classroom Talk). Film Club is available to everyone at discover.irisconnect.com/film-club.
Whitecote Primary School has used film club to develop a culture of openness and improve staff self-efficacy. Read their case study here.
Christophe Mullins is Head of Education at IRIS Connect. He has nine years teaching experience and completed a Masters degree on effective professional learning. You can find him on Twitter at @ChristopheMulli.
Research shows that the session needs to be followed up with additional CPD opportunities, including the chance for practitioners to practice in their own classroom and receive feedback from others. Video is a great tool to connect workshop sessions with this broader learning activity.
Start Here
A video-based CPD session will only be successful if there is buy-in from all participants. It is likely to work best when embedded into a school’s CPD plan, allocated time and calendared. Further to providing a place for talk on pedagogy and develop positive professional relationships, it is also a space for aspiring leaders to develop facilitation skills by running sessions.
Try to keep these sessions relatively intimate to give everyone the opportunity to get involved in the discussion. If you have a larger group, try and split them into multiple sessions or working groups.
Further Viewing
IRIS Connect has already created a ready-made professional learning programme. Film Club is a free learning programme providing schools with video clips, resources and questions for teachers on topics such as Look Who’s Talking Too (Learner Talk and Collective Thinking) and The Empire Talks Back (Classroom Talk). Film Club is available to everyone at discover.irisconnect.com/film-club.
Whitecote Primary School has used film club to develop a culture of openness and improve staff self-efficacy. Read their case study here.
Christophe Mullins is Head of Education at IRIS Connect. He has nine years teaching experience and completed a Masters degree on effective professional learning. You can find him on Twitter at @ChristopheMulli.
