Making Teaching Public: A Digital Exhibition

Flooding teachers’ inboxes these days is email from one clearinghouse or other that offers to support their work with web-based resources. Typical messages offer access to “(insert number here) sure fire lesson plans” and “customized projects that fit your (fill in the blank) state standards”. The abundance and increasing ease of access to such materials can be seen as an effort to connect professionals to flexible resources and to field tested ideas from a wider circle of peers in the field than ever before. This sort of interconnection and access could support professional learning and the improvement of practice. However, the content and construction of these materials, as well as their sheer scale, present serious challenges to the responsible and efficient use required to effectively support professional work. Responsible professional work requires warrants for instructional action as well as insight into the inner workings of instruction that ready-to-use sequences of “standards-based” actions rarely facilitate. Furthermore, even though they are easy to locate, wading through the vast array of electronic lessons illustrates the ironic inefficiency of having so much at one’s fingertips.

Teachers may be able to wade through the electronic landscape to locate more comprehensive representations of practice, made available from commercial (e.g. Lesson Lab) and free access (e.g. the websites that are a part of this Teachers College Record digital exhibition) sources. These representations may provide opportunities for more in depth exploration of various facets of teaching and learning. On the surface these representations offer something different from what is conveyed about practice through electronic warehouses of sure-fire lessons, but there is a danger that they will be overwhelmed in the tidal wave of electronic material aimed at practitioners. There is also a risk that more comprehensive representations of practice may in and of themselves overwhelm learners, obscuring important aspects of what could be learned or done under well-intentioned “support” material. Aside from their scope, how are more comprehensive representations of practice distinguishable as a professional resource for supporting thought and action? Can more comprehensive multimedia representations of practice readily support teacher learning and action, while also establishing a professional alternative to the avalanche of ready-to-use electronic materials?

We asked the question, “How can multimedia representations of teaching and learning be used to support teachers’ development?” as a point of departure for considering the websites in this digital exhibition. This question is key, given the need for professional development of teachers on one hand and the potential of multimedia to reach mass audiences and situate teacher learning productively in practice (Wilson & Berne, 1999; Lampert & Ball, 1998). In what follows we explore what it might mean for a representation to support the professionaldevelopment of individual teachers and also the profession in a larger sense.

Our perspective is based on our experience as teachers in public elementary schools (we have each taught for over 15 years), as well as researchers on our own teaching. We have also worked to convey what we have learned to others through text (e.g. Ball, 1993; Boerst, 2004) and multimedia (e.g. Lampert & Ball, 1998; Boerst, under review). In addition we have worked individually and jointly in different institutions and settings teaching preservice and inservice teachers about the teaching of mathematics. Consequently our research interests in the subject matter and pedagogical knowledge, skills, and learning of teachers are heavily influenced by our ongoing work with children and teachers. From this vantage point we will share what we noticed about possible opportunities for teachers to learn from the representations in this digital exhibit and the nature of support within those representation that could enhance professional learning and practice. We conclude by sharing ideas about ways in which multimedia representations could be enhanced through consideration of the roles assumed by organizations in the development, accumulation and dissemination of established genres of professional development/support materials.

What opportunities for teacher learning are supported by these multimedia representations?

Teaching entails skilled use of knowledge of content, students, and instruction; learning to improve one’s teaching may involve learning more about any one of these, or ways to use them, or it may involve learning more about the dynamic among them. For example, opportunities to study how students understand particular concepts can be of use, as can opportunities to explore and compare a variety of alternative representations of the content. Learning how teachers think about their work can also make available for investigation the inner work of instructional practice. The multimedia representations of practice available here make it possible for teachers to probe others’ work, and to access different aspects of these dynamics and the teachers’ analysis of those. Unlike mere acquisition of knowledge, or mere observation, these materials make the work of teaching the direct focus of teachers’ study.

A more analytic take on the multimedia representations reveals other aspects of teachers opportunities to learn and improve practice. Our interpretation of opportunities to learn from these representations is not definitive. Rather, we were influenced by our own experience as teachers trying to improve our own knowledge and skills, as well as what we have noticed about resources developed to support the learning and practice of inservice and preservice teachers. Not surprisingly the opportunities to learn from the multimedia representations are multifaceted and more nuanced than many electronic resources. Most clearinghouse resources typically aim to support instructional action within a narrowly defined area of teaching (such as the teaching of a lesson targeted at a particular state curriculum objective). This is not to say that the sites in the TCR electronic exhibition neglect support for teaching action, as many tips, routines, and approaches are ripe for the picking. The focus of many of these representation reaches beyond ready to use instructional plans and tools toward content that would enhance the professional knowledge (e.g. different interpretations of addition and subtraction on Lampkins’ website), dispositions of users (e.g. Hutchinson’s insights into the connections between pedagogies and student strengths), and ways of improving practice (Capitelli’s use of action research to enhance her teaching and her school).

Because of their richer content, these multimedia representations of practice may support a wider variety of users/uses than collections of ready-to-use lessons and more traditional sources of professional information, such as research literature. The table below only touches the surface of this variety.

Users	A Plausible Focus	Locations of Representational Support
Practicing teachers	insight into instructional packages	“Text-to-text Connection” Pedraza “Readers Workshop” Myers
Future teachers	"tested" instructional routines	“QDPA√ ” Lampkin “Class Scribe” Hutchinson
Teacher educators	models of reflection on practice	“Reflections” Andrews “Context and Reflections” Hutchinson
Curriculum developers	example of the relationship between intended and enacted curriculum	“Curriculum” Pedraza
Administrators	formats of different collegial spaces for professional work	“How do conversations between students support English language learning?” Capitelli “Faculty learning in collaboration” Lampkin
Researchers	insights into the intended and unintended impact of standards and policy	“The 5th grade curriculum” Andrews “About my school, my class, my inquiry” Capitelli

A few persistent ideas arose as we considered possible foci of the representations in this exhibition. Many of these websites would support professional learning about topics that are currently “in play” in professional literature and practices that are also supported by clearinghouse resources. Representations in this collection bridge theoretical and practical aspects of professional work in a variety of areas, such as helping second language learners (Capitelli), supporting student problem solving (Lampkin), and implementing multiple means of assessing student learning (Andrews). While the relevance of the topics will contribute to their utility, the topics also bear the mark of professional focus that could support more unique contributions to the learning and practices of teachers. Many focus topics are nested in integrated, and often qualified, sets of “teacherly” considerations that include standards, subject matter, students, strategies, contexts, and more.

Professional focus carries with it features that are in need of further consideration in order to enhance the capacity of multimedia representations to support learning and practice. The nesting of the focus within an integrated set of ideas embodies the way in which we ultimately hope teachers will use their knowledge in action. However this also means many ideas are folded into complex considerations that may obscure dimensions of professional knowledge or skill. This is cause for concern when aspects of professional work that are particularly difficult for teachers to learn or that are rarely the focus professional learning are obscured. For example, subject matter insight is primarily conveyed in the representations through teacher reflections, curriculum materials, pedagogical strategies, or videotape of practice. It may be a challenge for users to pick up on embedded and often subtle insights into mathematics. More explicit attention to subject matter would require more extensive representation, as illustrated in an upcoming monograph of the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education (Ball, Lewis, & Thames, in press) where an event from Deborah’s classroom teaching is the object of very diverse mathematical treatment. We still have much to learn about using multimedia to disentangle integrated professional ideas and practices in ways that provide reasonable scaffolds and direction to users. Perhaps insights could be gleaned from recent versions of NSF funded elementary text materials. Investigations (TERC, 1998), Everyday Mathematics (UCSMP, 2001), and Mathematics Trailblazers (TIMS, 2002) highlight subject matter prominently in materials for teachers through front matter in unit guides, routine within-lesson content note textboxes, and vignettes of rich mathematical interactions where the teacher’s work to focus discourse on important subject matter issues is made the explicit focus. Any or all of these techniques could be appropriated by multimedia representations to enhance opportunities to learn subject matter.

There are two other features of professional focus that we want to raise. First, many websites in this exhibition support professional control of practice in ways that traditional research and clearinghouse materials rarely capture. To allow for professional control of practice, the websites utilize video and transcribed conversations to convey analysis, interpretation, and substantiation that are missing from clearinghouse materials. They also convey the routines and craft knowledge often missing in research literature. The challenge for representations is to orchestrate the specificity needed to relay practices that are actionable in addition to the overarching ideas that will support responsible enactment. Second, whereas the style of research literature tends to minimize uncertainty and clearinghouse slogans often entice teachers to have confidence in their ready-to-use content, the multimedia representations vary in the degree to which they embody self-assuredness about what is known about the topics of focus. Professionals often view ideas and practices as works in progress, a disposition that would make the focus of most representations of practice the subject for doubt and necessary improvement. Pedraza’s somewhat critical overview of practice and student progress, headings like “puzzling teaching situations” on Lampkins’ website, and the tone of Capitelli’s “next steps” are hints of this disposition toward ideas and practices. Given that most of these representations capture the work of individual teachers, it is appropriate that the focus not be treated in a way that indicates definitive conclusions, but we wonder how this aspect of professional voice will impact the trust users place in the ideas and practices conveyed in these representations.

What is the nature of support available in these multimedia representations?

Just like sound instruction, it is not only critical for the multimedia representations to be focused, but also designed to support participants in ways that are calculated to be of most help in learning about the object(s) of focus. There are multiple layers of support in the multimedia representations that are a part of this exhibition. We noticed that both mass marketed electronic resources and the more substantive representations in this exhibition provide structural support for users. Collections of lessons are often presented in particular formats that can be learned and used in the examination of subsequent lessons. They are also commonly organized around particular categories of information that are well known to users (state curriculum expectations or national standards). While Hatch and Pointer (in press) elaborate the differences in organizational schemes of the multimedia representations in this collection, we were struck by the commonality of their format and categories of information. In general the left hand vertical column of the websites feature:

contextualizing elements that convey the physical, developmental, political, and conceptual/intellectual features that shaped the practice conveyed in the website. These elements include descriptions of place, grade level, standards, and teaching philosophies.
elements of practice that capture what was used or done. These elements include classroom materials, sets of questions, and the types of records of practice that are available on the website, but extricated from the integrated examination of topics in the top horizontal row

These commonalities could support informed use across the websites, as users gain facility with what to look for and where to find it. The extent to which these commonalities would support professional learning and practice depend in part on how users recognize and employ them as tools in subsequent work. Commonalities are veiled to some extent in the homepage index by differences among the labels and sometimes by the practical meaning of labels that are commonly used. Although all “resources” labels lead users to bibliographies of resources related to the focus of the website, some also lead in various ways to standards that are addressed in the website, many provide direct access to techniques used by the featured teacher, and one even contains the personal writings and presentations of the teacher featured on the website. While it would not be necessary or reasonable for all websites to have exactly the same collection of indices, the extent to which there is commonality of words and meaning is likely to better support users over time.

Another related dimension worth consideration is whether the indices that are commonly used in the left hand column provide strong professional support for users. By professional support we mean a purposeful ensemble of indices that address a holistic view of the territory of teaching, a collection that moves beyond a listing of artifacts and contexts. These categories need not be developed through trial and error or individual design considerations alone, but could also be drawn from research and standards that have already been developed (e.g. Danielson, 1996; INTASC, 1992; NBPTS, 1994). One framework that we have frequently used to support teachers work with representations of practice is the instructional triangle (Cohen & Ball, 1999).

Through this framework participants are lead through a sequence of activities to focus on students, the work of the teacher, subject matter, and the instructional environment within the record that is the site for learning. This is one way of orienting participants toward more holistic consideration of central aspects of mathematical teaching. Of course just as in the framing of traditional forms of research, there are other ways to conceptualize the overarching dimensions of practice. The point is that the nature of individual indices and the package of indices are worth further deliberation in terms of how they capture practice, how they resonate with users, and how well they support users in professional consideration of practice and concepts.

Further consideration of the nature of support in the exhibition representations reveals multiple layers of support for users. One that we repeatedly noticed was the use of records of the practice. Most representations use records in the form of teaching videos, plans, and student work samples to illustrate the use or results of focus ideas in highly contextualized forms. This stands in stark contrast to the sparse packaging of plans available from clearinghouses. With multimedia representations users get the opportunity to see how a teacher might implement a particular practice with particular children and in many cases glean insights into how students will respond. Most representations provide an additional layer of technological support around these records. This layer provides explicit instruction on accessing the videos of practice and avails users to multiple portals through which to access the videos. In this way designers have supported users in navigating potential technological barriers, which are common in the online world and all too common for teachers in schools with dramatically different access to technology.

We suggest that another layer of support for learning from records of practice is essential, but not as widespread or highly developed across the representations in this exhibition. Important aspects of what can be learned from records of practice are not self-evident or easily distilled. So a video clip of a readers workshop session, does not in and of itself convey something of importance, but instead depends upon the analysis and interpretation of designers and users. In our work we have come to rely less and less upon unstructured work with records of practice. There is so much to notice that it is often not clear how records connect with what we hope will be learned or what learners should focus on that will provide a useful lens through which to perceive the “content” of the record. The work of framing can feel unnatural because designers of instruction often choose records strategically to convey particular aspects of mathematics or teaching, a process which can make those aspects seem obvious. We have dealt with similar challenges when selecting records from our mathematics teaching to illustrate important aspects of the work to various audiences. Our challenge in both cases is in finding ways of making these aspects clear and accessible to learners, something that is even more difficult to do in writing than in face-to-face interaction. The developers of the multimedia representations that are a part of this exhibition are uniquely suited to be docents of their own practice, to point in clear and captivating ways to the important, the essential, the interesting, and the possible. The three-layered approach that Capitelli uses with her video clips is a novel example of employing text to fulfill this role. Given that these multimedia representations focus on topics that are embedded within professional practice, developing more robust ways of supporting learning from records of practice will be essential.

How might multimedia representations be further enhanced to support the professional development of individual teachers and also the profession in a larger sense?

In this commentary we have shared a few ways in which the representations in this exhibition differ from more widely available resources developed to support teacher learning and practice, such as electronic clearinghouse materials and research literature. Clearly, multimedia representations offer a different sort of support for professional learning and practice. We also explored some issues that complicate the use of multimedia representations of teaching for learning and/or improving practice. While we posed examples of ways in which particular complications might be addressed, there is a more systematic approach that holds long term potential for improving the development, accumulation, and dissemination of professionally useful multimedia representations of practice. To sketch the approach we will highlight the roles played by organizations in our field to make professional knowledge and practices more widely available to various audiences. Even though the widespread use of multimedia representations for learning and the improvement of practice is relatively novel, this fact need not require that we start from scratch when working to improve and ensure the professional utility of materials.

Organizations play a central role in the availability of resources for professional learning. Organizations shepherd materials that align with their areas of expertise, philosophical/practical commitment, and at times commercial interest. Among many important roles, organizations:

promote the initial development of resources (in areas of high importance and also in areas that are perceived to be under represented)
support the routine development of materials through multiple means
create procedures and systematically marshal expertise to vet and improve resources before they are made available
determine how materials will be organized
disseminate materials, ideas, and practice through multiple means (e.g. journals, edited collections, websites, and conferences)

In sum organizations often orchestrate the caretaking of professional knowledge and practice by members of the profession and interested others, often systematizing material development, enhancing its quality, and assuring its accumulation over time. While the particular ways in which organizations shepherd materials may differ, there are clearly broad commonalities in the roles that organizations play that enhance the utility of materials that in turn support work and learning in the field.

In the exhibition at hand, multiple organizations are connected with the multimedia representations. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching provided resources for “case development”, research collaboration, support for video access, and even mechanisms to collect and channel the website feedback. NCREST supported the development and dissemination of at least two of the websites. Each website illustrates differing, but tangible, impacts of organizations with which teachers are affiliated, be they universities, professional networks, or various levels of school systems. Undoubtedly these organizations made impacts upon the contents of the representation and, judging from their commonalities, probably upon the design of the representations as well. However, it is less clear about the extent to which such a loose coalition of organizations could undertake the systematic and widespread support of multimedia representations that would be needed for these resources to become a substantial professional development option. Considering the list of roles that organizations play in relation to more traditional resources shared above, it is possible to think ahead about the infrastructure needed to move these representations along a developmental trajectory toward professional quality and usability. For example, how could groups of peers and experts be routinely convened to vet multimedia representations? What criteria could be productively used in what sort of process? Organizations responsible for well-established materials make their criteria and process public, so that contributors will know the ways in which their materials will be judged, so that users have a sense that what is made available is credible, and to some extent works to establish baselines for what counts as professionally warranted knowledge. Even though the genre is still being developed, it is likely that groups involved in the development of representations like those in this exhibition will be able to articulate important features (such as Hatch and Pointer’s (in press) ideas of “scope and granularity” related to the way in which representations orchestrate access into practice). Similarly, it is also plausible that organizational calls for collections of multimedia representations could stimulate the construction and dissemination of professional resources centered on particularly important topics or advance consideration of relatively underaddressed topics. This is akin to the function of calls for edited volumes of research literature. The representations in this electronic exhibition were organized to convey a multitude of possible strands of learning and action that could be traced across the websites, but Hatch and Pointer (in press) may have already sketched categories that could be used to organize subsequent collections with narrower focus.

Professional Destinations: From where to here and from here to where else?

We close this commentary by taking a broader perspective on the professional implications of teacher generated multimedia representations and the impact of compiling such work. The act of creating well-considered, multidimensional representations of practice is an expression of responsible participation in the generation of professional knowledge, skill, and dispositions. This is a nontrivial act in a country where “what works” in education is being operationalized by some in ways that are likely to exclude teachers from participation in making claims about effective practice (e.g. IES, 2002). It is difficult to imagine that teachers will be able to support the learning of diverse populations at consistently high levels or in widespread fashion over time without sharing, accessing and routinely building upon the well honed practices of peers as a meaningful part of the professional learning equation (see also Shulman, 1993; Shulman 1999). As we have already detailed in the discussion of organizational support, much will be entailed in establishing a credible and workable processes/resources for sharing well-warranted ideas and practices through multimedia representations. However an equally difficult challenge will be to facilitate practitioner work to convey ideas and practices and to convince a growing subset of the field that the effect is worth the effort (Boerst, 2003). Just because a teacher is particularly skilled or knowledgeable does not insure that she or he will be adept at conveying this professional insight in useful ways to others. In fact those who are able to skillfully teach and also comprehensively convey important aspects of that work are a celebrated few (e.g. Lampert, 2001). This collection of online representations is a hopeful sign that more teachers can and will shoulder this important work. It is also an indication that there are organizations pioneering new ways of conveying professional insight and willing to support teachers in that work. May we continue to expand this work so that more teachers can skillfully participate, as well as continue the improvement of this medium so that it can become a substantive part of the professional development landscape.

References

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