Each week, throughout both school placements, mentors will formally observe their beginning teachers teach a lesson. These formal lesson observations are to be video recorded so that they can be reviewed later by the beginning teacher and the mentor.
The Recording Devices
To support the process, the university has issued all beginning teachers with an iPad. The following guidance must be followed:
- The making and use of recordings should always be compliant with school policy, which takes priority over this guidance
- All recordings must be made on the university’s electronic devices issued to beginning teachers, unless there is an issue and alternative school equipment can be used to resolve this. The use of personal devices for making recordings is prohibited.
- The electronic devices must remain on school premises whilst recordings are stored on them. Before the device is taken from the school premises, any recordings saved on them should be deleted, or transferred to a device owned by the school in accordance with school policy.
- The devices should not be used for anything else other than to record and review lessons.
- Only the apps installed on the devices for the purposes of making a video recording should be used. All the other apps should not be accessed and apps should not be downloaded.
- Precautions have been taken to ensure the recorded videos are not uploaded or backed up to an online location. The settings of the device should therefore not be changed. This involves keeping WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity off at all times when in school.
- In the rare event of changes to the device’s settings or use being necessary, these must be made in consultation with university tutors who will liaise with the school to ensure compliance with school policy.
Using Digital Video
Making the recording
Experience has shown that the following points help achieve the best results and cause minimal disruption to the lesson when making a video recording.
- In advance of any lesson to be recorded, check the device is recording sound and vision, and there is sufficient charge in the battery.
- Place the device to the front and to the side of the classroom, pointing away from the children but focusing on the beginning teacher. It can then remain in position for the duration of the lesson, focusing on the beginning teacher and excluding the children.
- Avoid drawing the children’s attention to the device.
Reviewing the Recording
All reviews of the lesson recordings are completed on school premises because the device must remain in school when there are recordings saved on them.
The purpose of video recording a lesson is not to facilitate a thorough analysis of the entire lesson. Rather, it is to sharpen the focus on two teaching moments, as suggested by the mentor on the formal lesson observation form. Although beginning teachers may initially find watching themselves uncomfortable, they will come to realise things about themselves that they were previously unaware of and are more able to address them appropriately. This process is also powerful in revealing to beginning teachers the strong elements of their practice.
Beginning teachers will review two teaching moments from the recording. One which their mentor has identified as a strength within their practice, and the other as an area of development. In preparation for the feedback discussion, beginning teachers should review the recording, in school, to reflect on each chosen moment, and make notes that will help them complete the first two sections of the following analysis framework, Explain and Assess, which can be done at home if preferred:
- Explain: What were you aiming to do at this point in the lesson, and why is this important?
- Assess: How effective was this?
- Modify: What could you change or modify for future teaching?
The final section, Modify, should be completed after discussion with the mentor at the weekly review.
All three sections should be discussed at the Weekly Review. The recording should be referred to during the discussion, with the teaching moments being replayed.
SECTION REMOVED: Further Guidance
We have produced some guidance for mentors to help them support beginning teachers in reviewing and reflecting on the video recording. Based on the article Using Digital Video in Professional Development by John Yandell, available here, it includes a list of suggested questions that mentors may wish to ask beginning teachers as they review the recordings together.
There is also a series of articles on Video Enriched Reflection which support beginning teachers in writing reflections that can demonstrate meeting the Teachers’ Standards.
If mentors have any concerns regarding the compliance of this procedure with school policy, they are asked to email the beginning teacher’s tutor.