27 Volume 17, Number 2, Fall 2008 Professional Vision in Action: An Exploratory Study Miriam Gamoran Sherin, Rosemary S. Russ, Bruce L. Sherin, & Adam Colestock Northwestern University Issues in Teacher Education, Fall 2008 For the past two decades, much of mathematics teacher education and professional development has focused on helping teachers develop their subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1987). The idea has been that teachers need a deep under- standing of mathematics, and one that is pedagogical in nature. More recently, researchers and teacher educators have begun to consider how teachers apply this knowledge in planning for and carrying out instruc- tion (Franke, Carpenter, Levi, & Fennema, 2001; Lampert, 2001). Of particular concern are the ways in which teachers employ knowledge in the very moments of instruction, when they are leading discussions or interacting one-on-one with students. Given the current context of reform in the U.S, the in-the-moment demands that mathematics teachers encounter have become increasingly great. Rather than carefully follow a pre-planned lesson, mathematics teaching today calls for a great deal of on-the-fly decision making (Smith, 1996; Wallach & Even; 2005). Teachers must be able to quickly diagnose students’ thinking, decide whether or not to pursue an unexpected tan- gent, and continually assess the progress of an on-going lesson. Other researchers have also noted the importance of this kind of expertise both Miriam Gamoran Sherin and Bruce L. Sherin are associate professors, Rosemary S. Russ is a post-doctoral fellow, and Adam Colestock is a graduate student, all with the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
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Miriam Gamoran Sherin, Rosemary S. Russ, Bruce L. Sherin, & Adam Colestock 27
Volume 17, Number 2, Fall 2008
Professional Vision in Action:An Exploratory Study
Miriam Gamoran Sherin, Rosemary S. Russ,Bruce L. Sherin, & Adam Colestock
Northwestern University
Issues in Teacher Education, Fall 2008
Forthepasttwodecades,muchofmathematicsteachereducationandprofessionaldevelopmenthasfocusedonhelpingteachersdeveloptheir subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge(Shulman,1987).Theideahasbeenthatteachersneedadeepunder-standingofmathematics,andonethatispedagogicalinnature.Morerecently,researchersandteachereducatorshavebeguntoconsiderhowteachersapplythisknowledgeinplanningforandcarryingoutinstruc-tion (Franke,Carpenter,Levi,&Fennema,2001;Lampert,2001).Ofparticularconcernarethewaysinwhichteachersemployknowledgeintheverymomentsofinstruction,whentheyareleadingdiscussionsorinteractingone-on-onewithstudents. GiventhecurrentcontextofreformintheU.S,thein-the-momentdemandsthatmathematicsteachersencounterhavebecomeincreasinglygreat.Ratherthancarefullyfollowapre-plannedlesson,mathematicsteachingtodaycallsforagreatdealofon-the-flydecisionmaking(Smith,1996;Wallach&Even;2005).Teachersmustbeabletoquicklydiagnosestudents’thinking,decidewhetherornottopursueanunexpectedtan-gent,andcontinuallyassesstheprogressofanon-goinglesson.Otherresearchershavealsonotedtheimportanceofthiskindofexpertiseboth
Miriam Gamoran Sherin and Bruce L. Sherin are associate professors, Rosemary S. Russ is a post-doctoral fellow, and Adam Colestock is a graduate student, all with the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
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forexploringteachers’professionalvision.First,videoappearstocapturemuchofthecomplexityofclassroominteractions.Whiletheperspectiveofthevideographercertainlyinfluenceswhataspectsofclassroominter-actionsareportrayed(Goldman-Segall,1998),videohasthepotentialtorichlyrepresentclassroomenvironmentsandthemultipleactionsthattakeplacesimultaneously.Second,videoprovidesapermanentrecordthatcanbeviewedrepeatedly.Thusunlikealivemomentofteachingthatisoverinaninstant,videoallowsonetopreserveaninteractionforlaterconsideration.Andratherthanhavingone’smemory—whichcanvary—serveastherecord,videodocumentswhattookplaceinanunwav-eringformat(McAdams,1993).Third,whenviewingvideo,teachersdonotneedtorespondwiththeimmediacythatistypicallyrequiredduringinstruction.Insteadwatchingvideocanbeatimeforteacherstoengageinextendedreflectiononwhatistakingplaceinalessonandwhy. Giventheseattributes,wehypothesizedthatvideohasthepotentialtoprovidebothameansofstudyingprofessionalvisionandofdevelopingteachers’professionalvision.Inparticular,inpriorresearch,weexploredthepossibilityofusingvideo clubsasacontextinwhichtostudyandattempttoenhanceprofessionalvision.Invideoclubs,groupsofteacherswatchanddiscussexcerptsofvideofromtheirclassrooms.Wespeculatedthat,byreflectingonvideooutsidethedemandsofinstruction,teach-ersmightestablishnewwaysofnoticingandinterpretingclassroominteractions. Muchofourresearchhasinvolvedorganizingyear-longvideoclubsfocusedonmathematicsteachingandlearning.Moreover,severalofthevideoclubswestudiedweredesignedwiththegoalofhelpingteacherslearn to closely attend to students’ mathematical thinking.Towardsthisend,aresearcherwouldtypicallyvideotapeoneoftheparticipatingteacher’sclassroomsandthenselecta5-7minuteexcerpttoshowatthenextmeeting.Whileweoftensolicitedteachers’helpinchoosingclipsforthevideoclub,theoverwhelmingresponsewasthatitwassimplytootime-consumingforteacherstoreviewavideotapepriortothevideoclubmeeting.Alsonoteworthyisthatafacilitatortypicallyattendedeachvideo clubmeetingandprompted the teachers todiscusswhatstoodouttotheminthevideoandtolookcloselyatthemathematicalideasraisedbystudentsinthevideoclips. Analysisofteachers’discussionsinthevideoclubshavebeenre-portedelsewhere(Sherin,2007;Sherin&Han,2004;vanEs&Sherin,2008).Ofparticularinterestisthat,overtime,teacherscametopayincreasedattentiontostudents’thinkinginthevideoclips.Thus,forexample,SherinandHan(2004)reportedthatteachersinitiallycom-mentedonpedagogical issues thatwereapparent in thevideo clips,
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describingwhattheteacherinthevideowasdoingorsaying.Lateron,however,teachers’attentionbecamemorefocusedonthemathematicalideasraisedbystudentsinthevideo.Atthesametime,theteachersdevelopedanumberofstrategies for interpretingstudents’ thinkingincludingdiscussingthereasoningbehindstudents’methods,comparingdifferentstudents’ideas,andlookingacrossalessonatthedevelopmentofaparticularconcept.Inrelatedwork,vanEs&Sherin(2008)foundthatitwascommonforteachersinavideoclubtoinitiallyevaluatewhattheyviewed,ortosimplylistkeyeventstheyidentified.Overthecourseoftheyear,however,teachersbegantomoreofteninterprettheeventsthattheynoticed,andincreasinglyusedvideoasasourceofdetailedevidenceformakingsenseoftheseevents.
Issues in the Study of Teachers’ Professional Vision
The Camwear 100 Awiderangeoftechnologicaladvanceshavetakenplaceinthelastdecade,manyofwhichhaveinfluencedtheeasewithwhichresearchersandteachereducatorscanusevideowithteachers.Ofparticularinter-esttouswasthedevelopmentoftheCamwear100byDejaview(Reich,Goldberg,&Hudek,2004).TheCamwear100consistsofasmalldigitalvideocamera,approximatelyone-inchlong,andaseparaterecordingmodule,thatisaboutthesizeofacellularphone,andthatcanbewornonabelt.Becauseofthecamera’ssmallsizeitis“wearable,”andcaneasilybeaffixedtoone’sglassesortothebillofahat.Inaddition,theCamwear100features“after-the-fact”technology,whichallowsonetocapturetheprevious30seconds.Essentially,therecordfeatureofthecameraworksnonstop,butthecameracontinuallyrecordsoveritselfafter a short period of time. Pressing the“save” button, in contrast,storesthemostrecent30secondsofactioninadigitalvideofileonthememorycardhousedintherecordingmodule.Thenumberofclipsthatcanberecordeddependsonthesizeofthecardinsertedintherecordingmodule.Thecardweusedcouldholduptoforty-eight30secondclips.Thestoredclipscanbedownloadedontoacomputerandviewed.
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Piloting the Camwear 100 Toexplorehowthese featuresof the cameramightpermitus toinvestigateteachers’professionalvisioninanewway,werecruitedonehighschoolmathematicsteachertotestthecamerainhisclassroom.Theteacher,RayBryant,1wasinhisfifthyearofteachingatanurbanpublichighschoolinalargeMidwesterncity.Mr.BryanttaughtYears2and3oftheInteractiveMathematicsProgram(Fendel,Resek,Alper&Fraser,2000)whichcoversarangeoftopicsfromalgebra,geometry,andstatistics.Classperiodsattheschoolwereorganizedintoblocksof90minutes,witheachclassmeetingthreetimesaweek.IntheclassMr.Bryantselectedforthisstudy,studentswerearrangedinsixgroupsoffivestudents.Typicallessonsinvolvedstudentsworkingintheirgroupstopreparepresentationsonthepreviousnights’homeworkorin-classproblemsandthenpresentingthosesolutionstotheclass.Thepresen-tationswerefollowedbywhole-classdiscussionoftheproblemsaswellastheintroductionofconceptsandmethodsbyMr.Bryant. Priortothisstudy,Mr.Bryanthadusedvideotoreflectonhisteach-ing.Inparticular,duringthepreviousschoolyear,Mr.Bryantappliedfor(andreceived)NationalBoardcertification.Aspartoftheprocess,Mr.Bryantneededtoselectvideoexcerptsfromhisclassroomandpreparenarrativeanalysesoftheexcerpts.Inaddition,Mr.Bryantparticipatedinweeklymeetingswithothermathematicsteacherswhowereprepar-ingNationalBoardportfolios.Inmanyofthesemeetings,theteacherssharedexcerptsofvideofromeachothers’classroomsanddiscussedhowtheexcerptsillustratedNationalBoardcriteriaforeffectiveteaching. Aspartofthisstudy,Mr.BryantvolunteeredtousetheCamwear100inoneofhisclassesonthreeseparatedaysinMay2007.Priortoeachclass,Mr.Bryantmetbrieflywitharesearchertodescribetheday’slesson.TheresearcherthenaffixedthecameratoahatthatMr.Bryantwouldwear.(Sincehatswerenotpermittedattheschool,Mr.Bryantexplainedtheresearchstudytohisstudentsandspecifically,hisreasonforwearingahatinclass.)OurinstructionstoMr.Bryantwerefairlysimple:weaskedhimtocapture“interestingmoments”bypressingthe“save”buttononthecamera.Noinstructionsweregivenconcerningthenumberofclipstosaveorthecontentoftheclips.Priorto the third testdate,Mr.Bryantasked foramorespecificpromptfromtheresearcher.InresponsetheresearcherofferedMr.Bryantanumberofchoicesfromwhichtheteacherselected“momentsofconfu-sion—yoursandyourstudents”and“momentsinwhichyouchangedyourplannedinstruction.”Aresearcheralsoobservedandvideotapedeachofthethreeclasssessions.Thevideotapingtookplacefromthebackoftheroomaswehaddonepreviouslyandwasintendedtopro-
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Collected Clips Tostart,wedescribetheclipsMr.BryantselectedinordertogivethereaderasenseofthekindsofthingsthatMr.Bryantnoticesinhisclassroom.Wediscusshowfrequentlyhecollectedtheclips,thekindsofactivitydisplayedintheclips,andtheroleoftheparticipantsintheclips. Number and frequency of the clips.OnthefirstdayofusingtheCam-wear100,Mr.Bryantsavedtenclipsduringthe90-minutelesson.Onthesecondday,heselectedsevenclips,andonthelastdayatotalofnineclipsweresaved.Inallcases,hecapturedmomentsspreadthroughoutthe90-minuteperiod.Sometimeshechosemomentsveryclosetooneanother(withintwoorthreeminutes)andatothertimestheclipsweremuchfartherapart(aroundtenminutes).Figure2illustratesthistimedistributionoftheclipsforeachclassday. ThefactthatMr.Bryantcollectedbetweensevenandtenclipsshowsawillingnessonhisparttoengagewiththetechnologyandintegrateitintohisteaching.Sincehecapturednearlyasmanyclipsonthelastdayashedidonthefirst,wespeculatethathiswillingnessdidnotwaveroverthecourseofthisshortintervention.Inaddition,hiscollectionsuggeststhatusingthecamerawasnotsointrusiveonhisteachingastostophimfromcollectingclips.Mr.Bryantconfirmedthisinhisinterviewsaying“itwasnobigdeal”tocapturethemoments.ThemoderatenumberofclipscapturedalsosuggeststhatMr.Bryantwasbeingsomewhatselectiveinthemomentshechose.Incontrast,wecanimagineadifferentteacher
whomightsaveaclipeverytimeastudentanswersaquestion,whichwouldresultinamuchlargernumberofclips. Thisdistributionrulesouttwoproblemswemightimagineoccur-ringwhenateacherusesthecamera.First,thefactthattheclipsarespreadthroughouttheclassperiodsuggeststhattheteacherdoesnotstopusingthecameraashegetsfurtherintoinstruction.Weretheclips“clumped”atthebeginningofthelessonwemightimaginetheteacherwasattentivetointerestingmomentsatfirstbuteitherforgotaboutit,lostinterest,ordidnothaveenoughtimeinthemidstofinstructiontocaptureclips.Second,thefactthattheclipsareunevenlydistributedsuggeststhatMr.Bryantwasnotjusthittingthebuttonafteragivenintervaloftimehadpassed.Itappearsthathewasalwaysonthelookoutforinterestingmoments,whethertheyhappenedimmediatelyafteroneanotherorwithlongstretchesbetweenthem. Classroom activities represented in the video clips.Mr.Bryantselectedavarietyoftypesofclassroomactivityusingthecamera(seeTable1).Hecapturedwhole class discussionsthathemoderatedfromthefrontorsideoftheroom.Healsochosemomentswhenstudentswereworkinginsmall groupsashecirculatedtoanswerquestionsorcheckprogress.Studentpresentations,whicharecommoninhisclassroomandinvolveagroupofstudentsusingwhiteboardstoreporttheirproblemsolutionstothewholeclass,werealsoselectedanumberoftimes.Finally,Mr.Bryantcapturedwhatwecharacterizeaspredominantlyteacher talk.Incharacterizingtheseclipsassuchwedonotmeanthatthestudentsaresilent,butonlythattheteacherprovidesmostofthesubstantiveconceptualideas.
Teacher’s Reflections on Clips Collected Mr. Bryant’s reflections on his clips provide additional informa-tionconcerningwhathenoticesintheclassroom.WefirstdescribethevariedreasonsMr.Bryantofferedforchoosingtheseparticularclipsasinteresting.Nextwediscusstheformthathisreflectionstook,thatis,theapproachesMr.Bryantusedtodiscussthesavedclips. Reasons offered for selecting clips.Mr.Bryant’sreflections intheinterviewprovidefurtherevidencethatheattendstoavarietyofkindsofeventsintheclassroom.Weidentifiedinhisreflectionsarangeofrea-sonsforselectingtheparticularclipshecapturedincluding:(a)student
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contrast,ateacherstrategyreflectionidentifiedaclassofinstructionalroutines that the teacher commonly used. Finally, we characterizedMr.Bryantasselectingaclipbecauseofstudentengagementwhenhisreflectionfocusedonthequalityoramountofstudentparticipationinagivenmoment.WeshouldbeclearthatMr.Bryantdidnotexplicitlyusetheseterms;thecategoriesareourresearchercharacterizationsofhisreflections.Table2listseachofthereasonsweidentifiedandacor-respondingquotefromMr.Bryant. Form of reflection: Identification of singular event versus narrative.WenowturntoadiscussionoftheformofMr.Bryant’sreflections,thatis,thewaysinwhichhediscussedthesereasons.Inparticular,wefoundthatMr.Bryant’sreflectionstookontwodistinctforms,eachofwhichmayindicatedifferentaspectsofhisprofessionalvision.For11outofthe26clips,Mr.Bryantidentifiedasingulareventwithinthe30secondsthathe foundnoteworthy.Inthese“focusedreflections,”Mr.Bryantusuallydiscussedparticularmomentsintheclasswhenhewasstruckbysomething—eitherstudents’thinking,hisownthink-ing, orhis teaching.Forexample, inone reflectionMr.Bryant saidthathecapturedtheclipbecausehewaspleasantlysurprisedbyonestudent’sarticulationofadifficultconcept.Thoughthecameracaughtanexchangeinvolvingmultipleparticipants,Mr.Bryant’sreflectionfocusedonthesinglemomentwhenherealizedhowwellthestudenthadsummeduptheidea. Incontrast,for15outofthe26clipsMr.Bryantprovidedamorecomprehensivenarrativeofthe30secondsthatmayhavealsoincludedadiscussionofthetimeleadinguptoandfollowingtheclip.Inthese“extendedreflections,”heoftentoldastoryabouttheclassroomactivitythatdescribedtheactionitself,themathematicalcontent,thestudents’commentsandquestions,anyartifactsorrepresentations,theteacher’sresponses,andtheteacher’sthinking.Forexample,Mr.Bryantdescribedoneclipinwhichstudentswerehavingdifficultyansweringahomeworkproblem. Indoingso,he talkedabout theproblem itself, its relationtopreviousproblems, thestudents’methods, thecorrectmethod,hisintervention,thestudents’response,andthetypicalbehaviorofoneofthestudentsintheclip.
Impressions of the Process of Capturing Clips Finally,wereportonthreegeneralthemesthatMr.BryantraisedindiscussinghisexperiencespilotingtheCamwear100.Theseincludethefeasibilityofusingthecameraduringinstruction,theusefulness,fortheteacher,ofthecameraperspective,andfinally,Mr.Bryant’simpressionthatusingthecameramayhaveinfluencedhisteachinginpositiveways.
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Using the Camwear 100.Itseemedlikelytousthataskingateachertowearacameraanddeliberatelyselectmoments fromtheclass torecordwouldbemoreintrusiveonhisteachingthanmerelyallowingaresearchertotapetheclassfromthebackoftheroom.Yetoverall,Mr.Bryantdidnotfindthecameraoverlydistracting.Furthermore,hereportedthattheprocessofpushingthebuttonwasquitestraightfor-wardanddidnotinterferewiththeongoingnatureofhisteaching.Asheexplained,“[It]wasalittlestrangebutitdidn’t,Idon’tthink,reallygetinthewayofanything.” Mr.Bryantalsocommentedexplicitlyontheinfluenceofthecameraonthestudents.Hereportedthatinitiallythecamerawassomewhatdistractingtostudents.“[Onthefirstday]itwasontheirmindsquiteabit…It’sdifferentthanwhenyouhavethecamerainthebackoftheroomwhereIthinktheydoforgetaboutit…Ithinkinthiscasetheywerealwaysthinkingaboutwhether,itwasn’tlike,Idon’tthinktheywereperformingoranything,buttheywereclearlyawaretheywerebeing recorded.” By the second day of taping however, the situationeasedupasMr.Bryantexplained“[Today]Iwas…abletocapturemo-mentswithoutpeoplenoticingquiteasmuch.”Thus,fromapracticalperspective,usingtheCamwear100seemsquite feasible.Ofcourse,thefactthatMr.BryanthadpreviousexperiencebeingvideotapedmayhaveinfluencedhiseasewiththeCamwear100.Nonetheless,usingaCamwear100was, inseveralrespects,asubstantialdeparture fromMr.Bryant’spriorexperience.Mostimportantly,wearingthecamera,andselectingmomentstorecordashetaughtwerenewrequirements.Anditispreciselytheseuniquerequirements—andaffordances—oftheCamwear100thatwewishtounderstandinthispreliminarystudy. Usefulness of the camera perspective.Mr.Bryantstatedthathefoundtheperspectiveof thecamera, fromtheteachers’point-of-viewquiteinteresting. In contrast tohisprior experienceswithvideotaping, inwhichacamerawasinthebackofhisroom,theCamwear100providedadifferentoutlook,onethathefoundbeneficial.
Thecamera’sperspectivealsoseemedvaluablewhenMr.Bryantwasaskedtodiscussthesavedclipsintheinterviews.Specifically,whenviewingtheclipswiththeresearcher,Mr.Bryantsawtheinteractionexactlyashedidinthemomentofinstruction. Influence on teaching.Whenreflectingonusingthecameraforthefirsttime,Mr.Bryantindicatedthathechangedhisteachingtocreatemoremoments to capture.Hecomparedhowheconducted theclasswhileusingthecameratohisoriginalplanfortheclass.
Thus, rather thanfinding the cameraanannoyance,Mr.Bryantthought“actually itwasagood thing.”Heallowed thediscussion tocontinueinthehopesthatinterestingmomentswouldcomeoutofit,orashesaid,inthehopesof“findingsomethingtoworkwith.”Thatsomethingassimple,andpotentiallyintrusive,asaskingateachertocaptureinterestingmomentscouldcauseateachertofostermomentswherestudents’thinkingismadepublicisextremelyexciting.Itsuggeststhatprofessionaldevelopmentencouragingteacherattentiontovariousaspectsoftheclassroommaydomorethanhoneteachers’professionalvision,itmayalsopersuadeteacherstocraftclassroomactivitysoastoallowmoreofthosemomentstohappen. WhileweareencouragedwiththisreportedshiftinMr.Bryant’steaching, we do not imagine that this attempt to create interestingmomentswouldbepermanentorevenlonglasting.Wesuspectthatasthecamerabecamemorecommonplacefortheteacher,hisattemptstofosterinterestingclipswoulddecrease.
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Discussion
Whathavewelearnedabouttheviabilityofthisnewtoolasameanstostudyandenhanceprofessionalvision?Canwebegintodrawanynewconclusionsaboutthenatureofprofessionalvision?Withrespecttoviability,theresultsofthisfirst,verypreliminarytrialweregener-allypositive.Manyofourmostseriousconcernsfailedtomaterialize.Theteacherandstudentsdidnotfindtheuseofthecameratobeoverlydisruptive.Furthermore,thefactthattheteachercollectedamoderatenumberofclips,distributedthroughoutmanypartsoftheclassroomsession, is suggestive of the tool’s viability. It suggests, for example,thatitmightbereasonableforateacher,workingwithouttheaidofresearchers,tocollectclipstousefordiscussionswithcolleagues.Suchclips could be shared in a variety of contexts including departmentorgrade levelmeetingsto illustrateparticular lessons,materials,orpedagogicalapproaches.Inaddition,thecamera’scapabilitieshavethepotentialtosupportvirtualteachercommunitiesthatexploreissuesofteachingandlearningovertheinternet. Inaddition,thenumberanddistributionofclipssuggeststhatthetoolmightbeusefulforthepurposesofresearch.Atleastinthiscase,theteacherwasnotcollectingclipshaphazardly.Instead,itseemedtobepossibleforhimtocollectclipsinathoughtfulanddeliberatemanner.Thissuggeststhatthroughtheuseofthistoolwemightbeabletotapintoimportantpartsofateacher’sonlinethinking. Whathavewelearnedaboutprofessionalvisionfromthisbrieftrial?Webelievethatcautionisrequiredindrawingconclusionaboutprofes-sionalvisionfromdataofthissort.ItseemsclearthattheclipscollectedtellussomethingaboutMr.Bryant’sprofessionalvision,butitisnotclearpreciselywhattheytellus.Similarly,hisreflectionsonwhyheselectedclipsseemtoberelevantdataaboutprofessionalvision.Butwecannotassumethatthereasonsthathegavebearanysimplerelationshiptohisthinkingatthetimeheactuallyselectedtheclip.Theseproblemsareamplifiedbythenatureofprofessionalvision.Webelievethatprofessionalvisiontypicallyactsinarapidandrelativelyunconsciousmanner,oftenlikesimplerecognition.Thismeansthatmuchofprofessionalvisionwillnotbeeasilyaccessible(oreasytoverbalize)byteachers. Nonetheless,webelievethatthedatadoallowustodrawsometen-tativeconclusionsaboutteachers’professionalvision.First,webelieveitisreasonabletoassumethatthemomentsMr.Bryantselectedweremomentsatwhichhisprofessionalvisionwashardatwork,evenifwecannotbecertainexactlywhatworkitwasdoing.IfMr.Bryantwasnotpayingattentionandthinkinghardaboutwhatwasgoingonatagiven
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moment—and thus not employing his professional vision—it seemsunlikelythathewouldhavedecidedtostoreaclipatthattime.Thus,attheleast,itseemsreasonabletotakethedistributionofstoredclipsasindicativeoftimeswhenhisprofessionalvisionwasactive.Inthisregard,notethattheinterestingmomentsselectedbyMr.Bryantwerespreadthroughoutthelessonandacrossdifferentkindsofactivities.Thismightsuggestthattherealchallengesofprofessionalvisionarenotlocalizedtoanyparticularsub-typeofactivity.Acrossallactivities,theteacherwasactivelyparsingandprocessingclassroomevents.Thiswaseventhecasewhentheteacherwasjustwatchingstudents,andnotintervening. Inaddition,recallthatwenotedthatMr.Bryant’sreflectionstooktwoforms,singularandnarrative.Thiscouldperhapsbesuggestiveofsomefundamentallydifferentmodesinwhichhisprofessionalvisionoperates.Forexample,insomecases,the“event”thatisperceivedmightbeveryshortinduration,suchasasingleutterance.Inothercases,hemightbeparsingandmakingsenseofeventsthatspanasignificantfractionofaclassroomsession. Finally,despitethecaveatsoutlinedabove,wedobelievethatthereasonsgivenbyMr.Bryantforselectingclipsprovideinsightintohisprofessionalvisionandintothekindofactivitythatstandsouttohimduringinstruction.Indeed,Mr.Bryantwasattimesquitearticulateabouthisreasonsforcapturingaclip.Infact,whenaskedoutsidethecontextoftheclassroom,hereportedalistofthekindsofeventshetypicallyfindsinteresting;“There’sthecontent…thenthere’s…communication,engagingthestudents,equityissues.”Thusheseemedwellawareofthepotentialreasonswhyaclassroominteractionmightbenoteworthy.YetsometimesMr.Bryant’snoticingappearedtotakeamoretacitform.Specifically,heexplainedthat,attimes,hesimplyhadanimplicitsensethatsomethingwasinteresting.Hedescribedthissortofnoticingbysaying“Itmighthavejustbeenlike,‘Oh,there’samoment,’withoutreally thinkingaboutwhat it is.”Thisobservation thatMr.Bryant’sprofessionalvisionhas tacitandexplicitelements is importantbothbecauseofthecarethatwillbeneededindrawingconclusionsfromhisstatedreasonsforselectingaclip,andalsobecauseofwhatitsuggestsaboutthenatureofteachers’professionalvision. Ourpreliminaryanalysissuggeststhatthisnewvideotechnologycaninformourunderstandingofteachers’professionalvision.Assuch,weplantoextendthisworkinseveralways.First,byincreasingthenumberofteachersusingtheCamwear100,wewillbeabletoinvestigatehowtypicalMr.Bryant’sexperienceswere—bothintermsofthecamera’susabilityandintermsofwhatwecanlearnaboutprofessionalvision
ReferencesBerliner,D.C. (1994).Expertise:Thewonderofexemplaryperformances. In
J.M.Mangier&C.C.Block(Eds.), Creating powerful thinking in teach-ers and students: Diverse perspectives(pp.161-186).FortWorth,TX:Holt,Rinehart,&Winston.
Ball,D.L.,&Cohen,D.K.(1999).Developingpractice,developingpractitioners:Towardapractice-basedtheoryofprofessionaleducation.InG.SykesandL.Darling-Hammond(Eds.),Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice(pp.3-32).SanFrancisco:JosseyBass.
Chamberlin,M.T.(2005).Teacherdiscussionsofstudents’thinking:Meetingthechallengeofattendingtostudents’thinking.Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 8(2),141-170.
Franke,M.L.,Carpenter,T.P.,Levi,L.,&Fennema,E.(2001).Capturingteach-ers’generativechange:Afollow-upstudyofprofessionaldevelopmentinmathematics. American Educational Research Journal, 38(3),653-689.
Goodwin,C.(1994).Professionalvision.American Anthropologist, 96,606-633.Goldman-Segall, R. (1998). Points of viewing children’s thinking: A digital
ethnographer’s journey.Mahwah,NJ:Erlbaum.Lampert,M.(2001).Teaching problems and the problems of teaching.NewHaven,
Sherin,M.G.(2007).Thedevelopmentofteachers’professionalvisioninvideoclubs.InR.Goldman,R.Pea,B.Barron,&S.Derry(Eds.)R.Goldman,R.Pea,B.Barron,&S.Derry, Video research in the learning sciences(pp.383-395). Hillsdale,NJ:Erlbaum.
Sherin,M.G.(2001).Developingaprofessionalvisionofclassroomevents.InT.Wood,B.S.Nelson,&J.Warfield(Eds.)Beyond classical pedagogy: Teaching elementary school mathematics(pp.75-93).Hillsdale,NJ:Erlbaum.
Sherin,M.G.,&Han,S.(2004).Teacherlearninginthecontextofavideoclub.Teaching and Teacher Education, 20,163-183.
Before viewing clips:Howwasittousethecamerawhileteaching?a.Didyounoticethecameraonyourperson?b.Didyounoticewhetheryourstudentsbehaveddifferently?c.Didyoufeellikehavingtomakeadecisionaboutcapturingamomentimpactedyourteachinginanyway?d.Consideringthe30secondlimit,didyouuseanyparticularstrategyindecid-ingwhentosaveamoment?e.Howdidthedesignofthedeviceworkforyou,wasithardtotellifyouhadsuccessfullypushedthecapturebutton?
For each clip:(1)Whydidyoucapturethispart?Whatdidyouthinkwasgoingonthatwasinteresting?(2)Areyounoticinganythinginthisclipthatyoudidn’tseeinthemoment?
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(3)Wereyouawareofother things in themomentthataren’tvisible in theclips?
After all clips have been viewed:(1)Overall,didyoucapturewhatyouhadanticipated?(2)Wereyouusinganyparticularpre-formedcriteriaaboutthekindofclipsthatyouintendedtocapture?Didothercriteriadevelopasyouwereteaching?(3)Arethesethekindsofclipsthatwouldbegoodforavideoclub?Wouldyoucapturedifferentclipsifyouknewitwereforavideoclub?(4)Whatdoyouthinkyoumightwanttododifferentlywiththiscameranexttime?