Gaps and Questions

The more I read for the Lit Review, the more I find that I’m reading the same thing: video recording in the classroom has been studied to death…for new teachers. I have yet to find any literature that sought to implement video self-reflection in classrooms with experienced educators. While this is a gap that I wish to fill with my own research, I wonder why no one else has followed up on this rather obvious and easy question.

Another void in the research literature that seems rather apparent is why such technology has to be “pushed” onto some educators. Even though I have over fourteen years teaching experience, I know that I still have a lot to learn about myself and my own practice in front of a classroom. And while I don’t know of any teachers who would argue against that point for themselves, I know of some who would balk at recording themselves in front of students. What I don’t know is why.

Lastly, in all of the articles I have read, the successes reported seem to revolve only around teacher opinion of how they have improved their practice. There does not seem to be any evidence of how video self-reflection has a direct tie to student achievement. Of course, if teachers are improving their practice, one would think that there is an obvious correlate in student success. Perhaps. But without a direct, one-to-one connection, we are relying merely on teacher opinion on which to measure the usefulness of the equipment.