Introduction
This study investigates elementary prospective teachers’ (PSTs) learning from a video- and
practice-based course. Under investigation is the development of PSTs’ abilities to teach
mathematics in ways that make student thinking visible and to analyze productively their
own teaching. This work is exploratory in nature, but provides initial evidence of the
potential impact of video- and practice-based teacher preparation on PSTs’ learning.
Most teacher preparation programs include two main components: university coursework
and fieldwork experiences. Often the latter have a greater impact on PSTs’ learning
because they occur in the settings where future teachers will exercise their profession and
R. S
thus are perceived by them as more meaningful (Feiman-Nemser 2001). Teacher preparation
programs often find it challenging to build strong connections between coursework
content and the practice of teaching. Many share the challenge of preparing teachers who
both know about the most innovative, research-based approaches to teaching and learning
and how to implement them effectively in the classroom.
We, like others, conceive of teaching as a cultural practice that is ingrained in the
system of beliefs, value, and practices of each culture and is thus hard to change (Gallimore
1996; Stigler and Hiebert 1999; Stigler and Thompson 2009; Santagata and Barbieri 2005).
Although fieldwork experiences are thought of as the settings where most teacher learning
occurs, they are not always the places where the most up-to-date knowledge is situated
(Feiman-Nemser 2001; Feiman-Nemser and Buchmann 1985). In addition, because
teaching is represented in all its complexity in the school setting, PSTs may become
overwhelmed and get distracted by features or elements of teaching that are not as
important as others for their learning progress (Santagata et al. 2007; Grossman et al.
2009).