Developing Pre-Service Teachers’ Professional Vision Through Collaborative Multimedia Artifacts

Abstract

Effective teachers are constantly adapting their classroom practice to best meet students’ needs. However, it is difficult to adapt one’s teaching practices without first noticing the key features of classroom activity. This kind of noticing—professional vision—is a cultivated skill that requires a combination of understanding theory and experience with practice. When theory-practice connections are not strong, teachers tend to fall back on “what works.” Demands to support pre-service teachers in developing stronger theory-practice connections are increasing, yet this remains a challenging goal. The qualitative analysis presented in this paper offers insight into how creation of multimedia artifacts can support pre-service teachers in connecting theory to practice while developing their professional vision. Findings suggest the process of creating and collaboratively refining multimedia artifacts in small groups improves pre-service teachers’ ability to make theory-practice connections and provides opportunity for them to exercise their emerging professional vision.