Exploring the development of reflective practice with trainee teachers, using video annotation software

The initial teacher training programme at Middlesex University provided an opportunity to explore the development of reflective practice in initial teacher training, using video annotation software to capture reflective comments. The participants were studying for their postgraduate certificate in secondary education, at Masters level, on the science subject pathway. An action research approach was used to video microteaching and capture reflective commentary of participants after these recorded sessions. The project constituted two action research cycles each of which was followed by a focus group discussion to reflect more fully, evaluate the approach and assessment focus and inform in-project adaptations between cycles.
This paper outlines the key findings relating to development of reflective practice, the use of video to capture this practice and the use of annotation software to capture reflective practice. The findings show positive perceptions of the use of video and the software used, affirming findings from existing literature. Development of reflective practice in this study notably included greater depth over time, a developing use of educational terminology, greater focus on questions within reflective comments, attention to pedagogical subject knowledge and feeding forward to future improvements, completing the reflective cycle. Another key finding was the development of a focus on student activity later in training, from a focus on teacher (participant) activity earlier in the training.
A unique aspect of this study was the inclusion of both self-assessment and peer- assessment opportunities, planned to dovetail with the stage of training for the participants of the study and in response to their feedback between cycles. The second cycle of microteaching and reflection provided rich opportunities for reflection through collaborative peer-peer work, in line with recommendations from much of the existing research in this field. The use of annotation software facilitated the capture of participant’s collaborative reflections, giving rich data upon which conclusions are drawn. In addition to the existing body of literature, this study highlighted a focus on the affective aspects of reflective practice, discussion about which is sometimes overlooked in the findings of existing initial teacher training (ITT) literature, despite being an embedded factor in many theoretical models of reflection. The capture of these affective elements of developing reflective practice merits further exploration and is a recommendation of this study.