Each week, throughout both school placements, Class Mentors will formally observe their trainees teach a lesson. These formal lesson observations are to be video recorded so that they can be reviewed later by the trainee and the Class Mentor.
The Recording Devices
To support the process, the university has issued all trainees 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 trainees, 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 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 trainee. It can then remain in position for the duration of the lesson, focusing on the trainee and excluding the children.
- Avoid drawing the children’s attention to the device.
Reviewing the Recording
All reviews of the lesson recordings by Class Mentors and trainees are initially completed separately and on school premisses because the device must remian 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’. Although trainees may find watching themselves slightly 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 trainees the strong elements of their practice.
In reviewing the video, trainees should select two teaching moments from the recording. One which they consider represents a strength within their practice and the other that represents an area for development. In preparation for the feedback discussion, trainees should make informal notes and comments on each chosen moment, using the following analysis framework:
- 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?
These notes and comments should then be discussed during the feedback. Questions from the Delayed Debrief may help inform this discussion, and it might be useful to have the recording to hand during the feedback so that the teaching moments can be replayed when necessary.
Further Guidance
We have produced some guidance for CMs to help them support trainees 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 CMs may wish to ask trainees as they review the recordings together.
There is also a series of articles on Video Enriched Reflection which support trainees in writing reflections that can demonstrate meeting the Teachers’ Standards.
If Class Mentors have any concerns regarding the compliance of this procedure with school policy, they are asked to email the trainee’s professional tutor or Ian (i.campton@soton.ac.uk).