Towards ambitious teaching: Using video to support future teachers reasoning about evidence of student learning

Abstract

This article discusses systematic analysis of teaching as a process to prepare future teachers to plan, teach, and reflect on their teaching. The process includes four practices: 1) specifying the lesson learning goals for students; (2) conducting empirical observations to collect evidence of student learning; (3) generating hypotheses about features of the teacher's instruction that promoted student learning; and (4) revising instruction on the basis of these hypotheses. Studies that used this process in the context of teacher preparation programs are reviewed. Finally, a case is presented as an illustration of ways analysis skills are used in practice and as an argument that these skills may position pre-service teachers on a trajectory for continuous improvement.