The Effects of Guided Video Analysis on Teacher Candidates’ Reflective Ability and Instructional Skills during Field Experiences including Students with Disabilities

Preparing teachers to educate students with disabilities is a complex undertaking. Teacher preparation programs include field experiences where teacher candidates apply theory to practical settings. Field experiences frequently are considered the most important component within teacher preparation programs, but there is limited understanding of effective field experience activities because the vast majority of the research on this topic is descriptive in nature. Two commonly described field experience activities are reflection and videotaping. The two activities are combined during video analysis to promote critical thinking and improved instructional skills. Without guidance during video analysis, teacher candidates often remain technical rather than transformative in their reflective abilities. Research on video analysis as a way to target reflective abilities and instructional skills during field experiences is extremely limited, likely due to the many challenges involved in studying authentic teaching contexts. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to understand the effects of guided video analysis on teacher candidates’ reflective ability and instructional skills during teacher preparation field experiences that included students with disabilities. Thirty-six teacher candidates were split into two comparable groups with similar prior experience. Teacher candidates in both groups participated in semester long field experiences where they videotaped their own instruction four times and wrote four reflections using a rubric. Teacher candidates in the treatment group (n = 17) also received guidance and support. Both groups felt they made significant improvements in their teaching ability, but only the treatment group demonstrated significant growth in reflective ability and instructional skills overtime. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed

The Effects of Guided Video Analysis on Teacher Candidates’ Reflective Ability and Instructional Skills during Field Experiences including Students with Disabilities

Preparing teachers to educate students with disabilities is a complex undertaking. Teacher preparation programs include field experiences where teacher candidates apply theory to practical settings. Field experiences frequently are considered the most important component within teacher preparation programs, but there is limited understanding of effective field experience activities because the vast majority of the research on this topic is descriptive in nature. Two commonly described field experience activities are reflection and videotaping. The two activities are combined during video analysis to promote critical thinking and improved instructional skills. Without guidance during video analysis, teacher candidates often remain technical rather than transformative in their reflective abilities. Research on video analysis as a way to target reflective abilities and instructional skills during field experiences is extremely limited, likely due to the many challenges involved in studying authentic teaching contexts. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to understand the effects of guided video analysis on teacher candidates’ reflective ability and instructional skills during teacher preparation field experiences that included students with disabilities. Thirty-six teacher candidates were split into two comparable groups with similar prior experience. Teacher candidates in both groups participated in semester long field experiences where they videotaped their own instruction four times and wrote four reflections using a rubric. Teacher candidates in the treatment group (n = 17) also received guidance and support. Both groups felt they made significant improvements in their teaching ability, but only the treatment group demonstrated significant growth in reflective ability and instructional skills overtime. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed