Macquarie University's Dr Michael Cavanagh's presentation at the Evidence Based Teaching Summit - Sydney 18th October 2017

1. Dr Michael Cavanagh Peter Sjoquist AM
Macquarie University Teachers TV Foundation
USING VIDEO FOR REFLECTION AND FEEDBACK
DURING PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2. Outline
2
The nature of reflection
The importance of reflection for pre-service teachers (PSTs)
Introducing our project
Participants and data
Common themes
Conclusion

3. 3
The nature of reflection
(John Dewey, 1933)
• Reflective thinking involves a situation that is ambiguous, that
presents a dilemma, that proposes alternatives
• It is an act of searching or inquiring to resolve the doubt
• It involves the use of one suggestion after another as a leading
idea to initiate and guide observation
• And testing the hypothesis by overt or imaginative action

4. 4
The nature of reflection
(John Loughran, 1996)
• Attitudes may be more important to the reflective process than
steps in the process itself
• Being attuned to ‘seeing’ is being open-minded
• Seeing the problem situation in different ways is responsibility
• Wanting to respond, whilst accepting the consequences of
action, is whole-heartedness

5. 5
The importance of reflection for
pre-service teachers
• Reflection allows PSTs to shift from a preoccupation with self to
consider student learning (Davis, 2006)
• PSTs can advance from general descriptions of lesson activities
to analyse causes and reimagine future actions
(Levin, Hammer, & Coffey, 2009)
• Before PSTs can reflect on classroom practice, they must
first learn to notice the salient elements of a lesson
(Sherin, Russ, & Colestock, 2011)

6. Introducing our project
8
• https://ttv.vids.io

7. Participants and data
9
Triads Schools PSTs University
supervisors
2016 9 5 Prim; 4 Sec 5 first PEX; 4 final PEX 5
2017 21 5 Prim; 3 Sec 14 first PEX; 7 final PEX 3
Data were collected via online surveys (all participants),
group interviews (PSTs and university advisors), phone
interviews (supervising teachers)
We also analysed the video annotations

8. Common themes
10
Providing feedback
• A lot more concise than I’ve previously been used to with … and it was quite short,
it forced you to get to the point and be concise and really say things in a succinct
manner. So I found that quite helpful. [ST]
• This type of feedback is a lot more fine-grained and thorough than from lessons on all
previous pracs. [PST]
• The comments encourage a very precise observation backed up by video evidence of
how students or teacher respond to strategies used in class. [UA]
• Done in addition to verbal on the spot feedback, the delayed feedback allowed me
more time to consider alternatives to issues noticed in the lesson and provide better
feedback. [ST]

9. Common themes
11
Triad sharing
• It was incredibly useful to receive regular feedback from additional perspectives
which offered more insights into ways to improve. [PST]
• By listening to the other members’ observations meant that you could revisit your
own comments in light of theirs. [UA]
• It wasn’t necessarily like a normal sit down conversation where you would be
constantly bouncing back and forth; that’s hard to facilitate through the website. [ST]
• Consideration should be given to allowing a Liaison Visit to complement the
remote supervision. This would overcome any misunderstandings arising from a
lack of personal contact. [UA]

10. Common themes
12
Shifting focus
• She was looking at the lesson with a more narrow perspective after she’d finished
teaching. She was focused on her teaching strategies. Whereas when she observed
through the video she was looking at the boys - were they engaged, focused. [ST]
• I specifically picked a part where the students were working because I wanted to
see the children’s dialogue and see how well I was at monitoring each group. [PST]
• Sometimes I thought I was focusing on one thing and then after watching the video
I’d realise I probably should have been focusing on this thing. That might have
solved my initial problem.
Like, if questioning wasn’t working why wasn’t it working? Oh, because they
weren’t engaged because I’d had them sitting on the floor for too long.
And then that would be my focus for the following week. And it was like one thing
trailed onto the next. [PST]

11. Common themes
13
Becoming more reflective
• There was much more of a collaboration and we were reflecting together and that’s
how my feedback was designed. So I think it was much more effective. [ST]
• I found this process incredibly insightful and worthwhile as it allowed me to review
my practice and view for myself the effect of pedagogy on student learning, thus
allowing me to further engage in more effective strategies. [PST]
• Perhaps the biggest thing I’ve learned, which encompasses a lot of other elements,
would be the importance of engaging in reflective practice. [PST]

12. Common themes
14
Role of the university advisor
• I thought it opened up a conversation more with the advisor than just a one-off
visit. It was because it was over time and because it showed more examples of
teaching practice. And that was good, that the advisor could see that progression
across the four week block. [ST]
• In the past, when I had meetings with the advisor after my lessons their comments
tended to be fairly general. But now the comments are very detailed and focused
to a specific moment in the lesson. [PST]
• It is possible to see if student can teach. [UA]

13. Common themes
15
Some concerns
• What I found a bit challenging was the delay in getting comments for the university
advisor. So, I’d put up the video Wednesday and on Sunday they’d give me a
suggestion for my next lesson and that’s not very viable. [PST]
• I think the university advisor needs to talk with the student rather than make
comments on a short video. [PST]
• This piecemeal approach to observations makes it feel like there is little onus
anymore on the PSTs to really think about how they are going to approach the
prac as a whole … There is only the pressure to ‘perform’ for 4 x 5 minutes. [ST]
• The university advisor only gets to see 20 minutes of teaching over the 4 weeks.
This is simply not enough to determine the level of success of a student. [ST]

14. Common themes
16
Interesting adaption
(Name) and I joined each other’s group which definitely enhanced our relationship.
We commented on each other’s videos and gave each other feedback and the
comments were really helpful.
And it was kind of like getting an inside look into someone else’s classroom
without even being in there to observe it.
And some things that worked for her, I would try them the following day, and they
sometimes worked for me too.
It was really helpful and it gave us something to talk about in the staffroom
that was a bit more contextual. [PST]

15. Conclusion
17
The study suggests some benefits of the video process for self-reflection and
feedback during professional experience.
The process encouraged professional dialogue among many participants and was
seen as largely beneficial to PSTs’ professional growth.
These benefits are maximised if all participants understand the requirements of the
process.
We believe the video process could also benefit in-service teachers and we hope to
conduct further research to determine how.

16. Thankyou
michael.cavanagh@mq.edu.au
peter.sjoquist@teacherstv.org.au
ttt.vids.io