Developing Teachers' Professional Vision Through Use of Video Clubs

Miriam Sherin

This paper examines one model of professional development, the use of video clubs in which groups of teachers watch and discuss videotapes of their classrooms. The central claim of the paper is that video clubs offer teachers the opportunity to examine teaching and learning in new ways, ways that have been shown to support the implementation of mathematics education reform. Specifically, the paper investigates the learning that occurred as four middle-school mathematics teachers participated in a year-long video club. Teacher learning is described by examining changes in what the teachers chose to discuss in the video clubs as well as changes in how these topics were addressed. In presenting these results, I also introduce a framework for describing more generally how teachers develop professional vision, that is, the ability to notice and interpret key features of classroom interactions, and the role that video can play in this process.

About Miriam Sherin

Miriam Gamoran Sherin is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. Miriam received her M.A. in mathematics from the University of California, San Diego in 1987 and her Ph.D. in Science and Mathematics Education from the University of California, Berkeley in 1996. She was a McDonnell Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University from 1996 - 1997. Miriam’s research interests include mathematics teaching and learning, teacher cognition, and teacher education. Recent articles appear in Cognition and Instruction and the Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education as well as in practitioner-based journals such as Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School and Educational Leadership.