Deconstructing Teacher Engagement Techniques for Pre-service Teachers through Explicitly Teaching and Applying “Noticing” in Video Observations

Abstract

Student engagement is a complex measurement that can be viewed through behavioral, emotional, and cognitive constructs. Authentic intellectual engagement requires more than task compliance and requires teachers to make decisions and moves to promote engagement. Pre-service teachers need to have these teacher decisions deconstructed and explicitly reconstructed to “notice” and make sense of it. This study conducted a qualitative document analysis of 31 pre-service teachers’ observational reflections on a pre-selected video-recorded lesson. A pre- and post-assessment was used. When pre-service teachers were given explicit instruction on “noticing” teacher moves to enhance student engagement through multiple constructs, their understanding of student engagement within a lesson shifted from literal and compliance-focused to a multi-dimensional construct involving behavior, emotion, and cognition. The assessments also shifted focus from what the teachers did to the impact the teacher’s decisions had on student engagement and learning. Future research should look at how noticing skills in video observations can transfer to the pre-service teachers developing their teaching skills in the classroom.