How to use video analysis in training with educators and teachers of early childhood: An operative model

 

Come utilizzare l’analisi video nella formazione di educatori e insegnanti della prima infanzia: Un modello operativo

 

Chiara Dalledonne Vandini

Department of Education Studies “Giovanni Maria Bertin”, Alma Mater University of Bologna (Italy) – chiara.dalledonne2@unibo.it

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6182-4316

 

ABSTRACT

Based on extensive research highlighting the value of video analysis as a methodological tool for fostering reflection and professional development in training programs for educators, this article presents an “operational model” that has been implemented in various training programs, both nationally and internationally. The focus is on the increasing need for educators to have training that addresses the complexities of educational settings and helps them better understand contextual needs and resources. By adopting a participatory approach, this methodology helps bridge the gap between theory and everyday practice, enabling work on multiple levels. It aims to enhance the quality of educational provision, improve observational, reflective, and collaborative skills, and create educational environments that are attuned to potential micro-processes of social exclusion.

 

Fondandosi su un’ampia ricerca che sottolinea il valore dell’analisi video come strumento metodologico per promuovere la riflessione e lo sviluppo professionale nei programmi di formazione per educatori, questo articolo presenta un “modello operativo” implementato in diversi programmi formativi, sia a livello nazionale che internazionale. L’attenzione si concentra sulla crescente necessità che gli educatori ricevano una formazione che affronti le complessità dei contesti educativi e li aiuti a comprendere meglio i bisogni e le risorse determinati dal contesto. Adottando un approccio partecipativo, la metodologia qui proposta contribuisce a colmare il divario tra teoria e pratica quotidiana, consentendo di lavorare a più livelli. Il modello mira a migliorare la qualità dell’offerta educativa, potenziare le competenze di osservazione, riflessione e collaborazione, nonché creare ambienti educativi sensibili ai possibili microprocessi di esclusione sociale.

 

KEYWORDS

Video analysis, Professional growth of educators and teachers, Reflexivity, Training research process, Early childhood

 

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The Author declares no conflict of interest

 

RECEIVED

August 13, 2024

 

ACCEPTED

December 3, 2024

 

PUBLISHED

December 31, 2024


 

1. Introduction

 

Starting from research findings investigating the benefits of video analysis as a support for professional growth and reflexivity, many researchers have highlighted how supportive this methodology can be to the everyday work of in-service educators and teachers in early childhood services (Cescato et al., 2015; Leblanc, 2018). The use of videos as training tools in education can already be traced back to around the 1960s when video excerpts of lectures were used to “train” teachers to specific teaching skills (Calvani et al., 2011; Van Es & Sherin, 2008; Santagata & Guarino, 2011). Within this type of approach, it is possible to identify a focus on the evaluation of teaching practice and the interpersonal and teaching skills of educators and teachers that activate purely evaluative processes rather than transformative ones (Jensen et al., 1994). In recent years, this training model has been replaced by approaches aimed at accompanying educators in early childhood to develop reflective skills both at the individual and group levels to increase the process of awareness concerning everyday educational practices (Bove, 2007; Balduzzi et al., 2019; Dalledonne Vandini & Balduzzi, 2022; Dalledonne Vandini, 2024).

Indeed, video analysis is configured as a participatory research methodology capable of activating authentic reflective processes aimed at accompanying educational planning and re-design. Its transformative value is to create moments of learning in which to connect pedagogical theories with everyday practices. This is achieved thanks to the type of data on which it works: usually, video excerpts are used from moments that punctuate the everyday nature of educational interactions, managing to highlight a series of interactive and communicative details that are not easy to grasp when one is in the situation. This makes it possible to break down an educational event into “small pieces” and then reassemble a new mosaic capable of responding to the educational goals and needs (visible and invisible) of a given context. However, we would like to emphasize that video technology, as well as the possibility of fixing images or slowing them down by themselves are not enough to create real learning and training opportunities since the real process of professional growth can only be triggered within a context attentive to the experiences and expectations of those involved in training (Cescato et al., 2015).

For teachers and educators, the opportunity to look at themselves from the outside represents an occasion to be able to reason and reflect on their actions in the situation with the ultimate goal of succeeding in grasping the needs of the children with whom they interact. In particular, if we refer to early childhood educational services, it is interesting to note how educational work goes far beyond the purely didactic aspects. In early childhood services, educational dimensions are intertwined with those related to care, and physical and emotional proximity give rise to an extremely rich and complex type of “educational interaction” that is not always easy to grasp for those directly involved. In addition, the opportunity to review oneself in videos allows one to activate several emotional aspects that can contribute to the strengthening of their professional identity. In this sense, the use of video data within training pathways makes it possible to work concretely on the professional development needs supported at the level of European Recommendations (ET 2020). For these reasons, there is a growing body of research investigating how video analysis can be a valuable support to in-service educators and teachers (Brouwer et al., 2017; Cherrington & Loveridge, 2014; Fukkink & Tavecchio, 2010; Fukkink et. al, 2019).

This article will be described an “operative model” which uses video analysis stems from extensive participatory research-training (“ricerca- formazione” Balduzzi & Lazzari, 2018) developed, in the first instance, within an Erasmus+ project involving Belgium, Poland, and Italy (TRACKs 2020) and, in the second instance implemented in 5 training courses carried out in Italy (2021‍–‍2023) with nursery school educators and preschool teachers from the municipalities of Trento, Rimini, Riccione and within the IADSA international cooperation project with educators and teachers from the city of Shkodra in Albania. This “operative model”[1] is the result of ongoing fieldwork that aims to connect theory with educational practice while enabling the professionals involved to develop observational and reflective skills through video-analysis to improve the ability to understand, read, and grasp children’s needs. This is the outcome of ongoing work done in the field, made up of constant referrals and re-adaptations to offer an operative tool that is sustainable over time.

 

1.1. Video analysis as a tool to support professional growth

 

Using video analysis in training moments with educators and teachers has some distinctive features that allow it to be qualified as a valuable support for in-service educational training (Cescato et al., 2015). First and foremost, the use of video-recorded data allows to fix educational moment that cannot be grasped by those immersed in the situation (Pillet-Shore, 2012, 2015; Dalledonne Vandini, 2021). Secondly, working on videos allows for improved observational skills of guiding educators and teachers to grasp new details vision after vision, contributes to building a good group climate, sharing expertise, and building common languages. This allows for the arising of multiple points of view, to discern pedagogical implicit (posture, use of space, use of physical proximity, tone of voice, nonverbal and verbal language). Working on observational skills and reflection allows us to find new design strategies, and new points of view (Cekaite & Holm, 2017, Tobin et al., 2008). However, the greatest strength of video analysis can be traced to the fact that watching and observing multiple videos allows one to truly grasp the children’s intentionality, their needs, their interests, and their ways of interacting and approaching the adult world. In light of these theoretical premises, video analysis can be qualified as a valuable training tool for the professional development and growth of educators and teachers. The aim is to support the creation and reinforce a “competent system” to create educational services capable of enhancing individual competencies while supporting the development of educational competencies at the group level. In a competent system, each professional is part of a team that can foster the growth and well-being of all children, paying special attention to the most vulnerable children (Urban et al, 2012).

 

2. Structure and phases of a Video-analysis Research-Training Process

 

Within this part of the article, we want to summarize the main phases that we follow during our video-analysis research-training process.

The training has two main parts, and within the second part, it is possible to identify six phases. Usually, the first part of the work is focused on theoretical content related to studies and research that have made use of video analysis connected with a macro reflection during which the theories are contextualized and “re-thinking” according to the times, tools, and spaces of the contextualized educational service. This first part aims to understand the training needs and support, through theoretical and practical insights, the observational skills of educators and teachers to enable them to increase their observational skills and competencies.

The second part of the course usually leans toward the practical aspects of video-analysis through reflections and work in mixed groups of educators and teachers from different nurseries or preschools. During the video-analysis sessions, educators and teachers are given time and space to review several times some video excerpts from the daily life of the services. The opportunity to review the videos several times allows them to catch some interactive details that they normally miss during daily activities. In addition, the possibility of discussion in mixed groups allows the sharing of different points of view that contribute to enriching the reading of the educational moments that are part of the educational-didactic project design of the services. This reflective work allows some educational practices to be questioned and at the same time allows to identification of strengths and weaknesses on which future didactic projects can be re-built and re-think. In this framework, video analysis is used within research-training paths (Balduzzi & Lazzari, 2018, pp. 63‍–‍74) that aim to have formative and transformative goals (Cescato et al., 2015). The topics of greatest interest usually concern a few macro-areas: the organization and management of space, time, and materials, the analysis of interaction, relationship, and communication with children and between children (management of physical contact, interpersonal communication with children, management of crying and possible conflicts between peers, etc.). Here we will suggest a series of phases that can characterize the second part of the training. These phases have been implemented and defined within the European Erasmus+ project TRACKs (Transitions Children and Kindergarten, see “toolkit”) that included the systematic use of video-analysis as a useful tool to increase the quality of educational provision from an inclusive perspective (Balduzzi & Dalledonne Vandini, 2021). The division into phases is done for conceptual simplification even though it is possible to “flow” into each other in an extremely fluid way. The fundamental is to try to keep in mind that pathways that make use of video analysis require adequate time and space aimed at reflection.

The main phases can be summarized as follows:

 

·       Step 1. Introduction to contexts and video discussion: spaces, theories, and starting values. In this preliminary phase, each nursery or preschool reports its own context story, experience, and expertise. At this stage, the focus is on the structure and organization of spaces and materials. Here, are the educators and teachers who narrate the contexts and how these places are experienced daily by children and families. This storytelling of the contexts allows the sharing of the practices and pedagogical premises that guide daily actions and at the same time allows the trainer (and people outside the service itself) to better understand the contexts and training needs. After this introductory phase, it may be useful for the trainer or pedagogical coordinator (whoever has the role of mediating the moments of reflection and training) to relaunch what has been observed in design and contextualized terms by stimulating moments of shared reflection in the large group. Once the first phase of the presentation of the context is over, it is possible to introduce video analysis as a formative tool (main reference theories) together with the possible observation grids (more or less structured) that will be used in the following phases and throughout the meetings. The main objective of this phase is to create a good environment in which all educational figures involved can feel comfortable expressing their opinion and points of view. Here the trainer or educational coordinator also focuses on the shared educational values and ideas of care and education that accompany the daily planning.

·       Step 2. Select together the videos to watch. Building on what emerged in the first phase, in this stage it is powerless to try to grasp and understand the educational themes and project dimensions of interest to the group. The purpose of this phase is to link the training moment with contextualized resources and to select a video on which to work and thus negotiate the content of the training

·       Step 3. Watching the selected videos several times to deepen understanding of the perceptions that emerged (focus on interactions). In this phase, by focusing on the interaction between educators and children, the group (trainer, pedagogical coordinators, and educators) watches all the selected videos several times to deepen understanding of educators’ or teachers’ perceptions and feelings about the situation that was videotaped. Watching the videos several times helps participants see new interactive “nuances” and consider possible new “reading keys” of the educational interaction.

·       Step 4. “Deconstruction phase”: problematize all the themes that emerged, stimulate reflection by encouraging different points of view on the same phenomenon. In this phase, the trainer encourages all participants to share their views, suggestions, and feelings about the selected videos. The main goal of this phase is to generate complex and rich reflections on the same videotaped phenomenon. The trainer tries to stimulate shared reflection processes by sustaining a nonjudgmental climate and mediating between all the perceptions involved. At this stage, all professionals involved have the opportunity to go deeper and deeper into a single educational activity by analysing those dimensions that for them represent a kind of “cornerstone” of daily educational practice such as the balance between participation, involvement, and intentionality or how educators talk and interact with children. Relational dimensions are observed and read in detail. Educators and teachers could analyse videos about the moments where children actively interact and participate (to underline possible good practices and strengths) and also the most critical moments where children cry or argue with their peers (to deeply understand possible strategies to answer to children’s needs). It is within this phase that the video is deconstructed and analysed in every aspect from micro to macro to understand all the possible meanings and “readings” that can be made concerning the same educational event.

·       Step 5. “Co-construction phase”: reflection oriented toward building a common language (bringing together the different viewpoints that emerged in the “deconstruction phase”). Building on all the different viewpoints that emerged in the deconstruction phase, all participants involved collaborate to create a common language oriented toward improving observational and design skills. Thanks to the mediating role of the trainer and the pedagogical coordinator, in this phase the educators and teachers try to identify the main issues that could help them rethink their daily educational activities (organization of spaces, time and materials, ways of interacting with children, the support of children’s autonomy, the arrangement of educators in the space to encourage participation, etc.).

·       Step 6. Identify together (educators, teachers, trainers, and pedagogical coordinators) possible educational activities that can improve future planning and daily observational skills. In the last part of the training centred on video analysis, participants are oriented to close the meeting by identifying possible didactic strategies aimed at supporting reflexivity in action and promoting more conscious pedagogical experimentation and educational planning. The main purpose of this training moment was to bring out new points of view and new ways of reading the educational relationship and interaction with children. In this concluding phase, the main themes that emerged during the group discussion are taken up and new possible questions are opened. In this way, a circular process is generated, and new questions are oriented to produce new awareness and foster new and rich reflections in the working group. 

 

This way of working could help the implementation of some indispensable skills for educational work in early childhood and care such as:

 

·       Observational skills: participants are confronted with the use of video-analysis as an observational and reflective tool and on the co-construction of some useful grids for the critical reading of videos. Particular attention is paid to the reconceptualization of practices and pedagogical assumptions often implicitly underlying the practices themselves: shared co-construction of analysis grids that would reach from values to quality indicators of educational provision.

·       Reflective skills: participants have the opportunity to achieve a good level of reflexivity applied to the topics covered by the training. Concrete examples of this are the great active participation during reflections on the videos, the willingness to narrate the work contexts and to narrate themselves as professionals bringing attention to both the strengths and weaknesses of their actions.

·       Planning skills: participants, at the end of the training, are usually more oriented to re-think and re-design spaces and ways of interacting with children and families

 

2.1. A tool to support reflexivity: observing videos through the indicators of the Issa Quality Framework

 

It may be important here to emphasize how, within each phase of training, it is possible to make use of tools and observation grids that could guide the reading and interpretation of video data. Among these, the Issa Quality Framework can be an excellent tool for interpreting and self-assessing the educational situations inherent in 0‍–‍6 educational contexts. The Issa Quality Framework (IQF) is a key reference document when it comes to reflection and evaluation of the quality of educational services and has the primary goal of supporting the training of educators and teachers from an advocacy perspective.

The IQF was compiled by early childhood experts from across Europe and is divided into nine areas of interest within which a series of quality indicators are listed that can guide educational professionals in observing and designing inclusive and quality educational settings. This is an extremely “flexible” document that is easy to read and applicable to each context. Since it is such a versatile document it can be used as a tool for reading, analysing, and observing video data. In this sense, it is an extremely rich tool for reflection on the educational context and relational dimension. First, this document presents a holistic approach to early childhood where the dimensions of education and care are seen as strongly connected and interdependent. The indicators present within the IQF are multiple and allow the emergence of the educator/teacher’s perspective, children’s needs and intentionality, contextual dimensions (spaces, time, materials), and purely relational dimensions. The IQF presents, for each area, a set of indicators to guide the reading and evaluation of educational situations. For that reason, this turns out to be an observational tool that has some strengths:

 

·       The indicators are simple, clear and adapt to contextual “nuances”

·       Each working group can choose which areas and which indicators to work on (the observation grid is co-constructed by the professionals involved)

·       Different indicators allow different nuances of the same phenomenon to be captured (it is possible to analyse the same video by referring to different areas/indicators to reason comprehensively and richly)

·       Areas and Indicators guide the work of reading and analysing videos without “circumscribing” the narrow views that then fail to take into account the complexity of the phenomenon

·       Deciding and negotiating the areas and indicators on which to work allows the group to produce reflective processes that also lead to the definition of what matters to them, their idea of the child, family, participation, and relationship

 

2.2. The role of the mediator (trainer, pedagogical coordinator, and other figures determined by the group)

 

To achieve a video-analysis session that could produce formative and transformative effects, the work of confrontation put in place by the one who is responsible for mediating between all the points of view that emerge is an important starting point. This role can be filled by the trainer, the pedagogical coordinator, or an educator/teacher chosen by the group. The one who mediates has the fundamental function of welcoming everyone’s reflections, asking questions, and stimulating reflections by paying attention to each participant. In addition, to welcoming each point of view, the mediator must know how to focus on what emerges from an educational perspective and know how to “bring the group back” on the focus themes within a cooperative and constructive dimension. To do this, it can also be useful to find opportunities where asked participants to produce both collective and individual documentation. Producing this type of documentation makes it possible to track the growth of the group and to set up the topics by proposing work for subsequent training in a way that revives the issues that may be of greatest interest to the group itself.

 

3. Video analysis as a tool to support professional growth: main dimensions on which to orient reflection

 

Working on videos allows practitioners to place reflection and observation on different dimensions and to analyse different aspects of everyday educational life: one can place the reflection “only” on the organization of spaces and materials to see if, for example, the layout of the space is legible to the children; another one can focus on the children’s response times and the ability of the educators to meet those “timelines”; one can focus on the relational dimension between educators and children and how nonverbal and physical contact is handled; and one can choose to analyse more structured educational activities, or focus attention on free play or unstructured activities. Still, one may choose to analyse precise moments of the day (readings, meals, changing, activities for centres of interest, play activities...), or hinge moments, such as those of welcoming, reunion with parents, and transition from one activity to another. The choice concerning which video materials to use and on which aspects to focus reflection is negotiated by the researcher-trainer together with educators and pedagogical coordinators, to respond to their specific needs and the dimensions they perceive as problematic, thus trying to give a practical, operational declination to the reflective process by combining thought and action.

 

3.1. Spaces, time, and materials

 

When reasoning about the organization and arrangement of spaces (indoor and outdoor), it is important to understand how crucial the observational skills of educators and teachers are in supporting children’s agency and intentionality (Balduzzi & Tutone, 2021). With this in mind, it is important to question whether as adults we can grant authentic space to children: how do we support children not to be too dependent on the adult world? How do we respect the delicate balance between accompaniment and autonomy? How do we respectfully support autonomy to truly place them at the centre of the educational experience? How to capture children’s genuine interest and know how to support it?

These are just some of the questions that emerge from the reflections of educators and teachers concerning their work in organizing and connecting spaces. In particular, it may be interesting to orient and guide the reflection on the continuity of spaces and educational experiences starting from some key elements:

·       Working on the skills of reading and analyzing educational reality and children’s needs.

·       Reasoning jointly about pedagogical practices, implicit, and ideas of child and family in support of pedagogical experimentation oriented toward offering children an experience aimed at creating an integrating background between the “inside” and the “outside” of services.

·       Reasoning about what tools of observation and reflection can support and accompany in daily work the interpretation of children’s developmental, emotional, and social needs, to develop reflexive skills aimed at grasping children’s intentionalities and knowing how to relaunch them, with the idea of creating inclusive and participatory contexts.

 

Reflection on space, time, and materials constantly accompanies the work during the viewing of the videos. It represents a fundamental point of departure (the first dimension captured by professionals involved in the videos) and is also an indispensable point of arrival for designing new inclusive educational proposals capable of taking children’s interests into account. The way an educational service manages and organizes space and time tells us a lot about its pedagogical culture, its idea of the child, and its educational history. Spaces, times, and materials constitute the identity of an educational service and could influence children’s learning experiences and active participation (Balduzzi & Tutone, 2021). In light of this premise, while viewing the videos, the first step is to question the role of spaces, times, and materials in the educational situations that are observed through the videos. Many moments of individual and collective reflection are turned to re-thinking what might be the best solutions to set up spaces and organize educational activities capable of engaging children with their different interests. How much does the organization of the space impact the whole educational offer?

 

3.2. Quality of communicative exchange and interaction

 

Another topic on which it is possible to work with the tool of video-analysis is related to the interactive, relational, and communicative dimensions. Through videos, it is possible to observe how educators and teachers use, for example, physical contact with different functions: sometimes physical contact and proximity serve to calm children (Holm, 2020), other times to guide children in completing a certain activity to the best of their ability, and in other cases, physical contact may have a regulatory and normative function (Cekaite & Holm, 2017; Cekaite & Bergnehr, 2018). All these dimensions can be observed and discussed in groups, paying particular attention to those situations in which the conduct of the educator present in the videos was not fully “consistent” with the intended educational purpose.

This lack of consistency between the goals that professionals set up for the children and what they do, is not intentional but related to the complexity of everyday working educational practice. Educators and teachers do not decide to be exclusionary toward children or fail to capture their needs, it simply happens because educational settings are rich and complex places where it is not always easy to accommodate everyone’s needs. That is why video can come to the rescue, it can show moments when unintentionally some children are excluded from activities and it can support educational professionals to gradually re-think their actions through new strategies and new awareness (setting up spaces, positioning in space, attention to nonverbal language).

As a conclusion to this section, it is important to emphasize how the use of video becomes an important resource for supporting what is called in the literature “professional vision” (Goodwin, 1994), that is what educators and teachers perceive and consider important in their daily work. The European guidelines on the quality of educational services emphasize the importance of being able to recognize children’s nonverbal communication styles, intentionality, and interests, and this process can be aided and supported by methodologies such as video analysis, which through observation tools (more or less structured grids) aimed at identifying possible micro-processes of social exclusion that may be unintentionally enacted by educational figures working in child care services.

 

4. Key Success Factors: making video-analysis an applicable and sustainable methodology over time

 

This section of the article will report four key success factors that in our experience have proven to be crucial to working with educators and teachers to support professional growth and consequently the educational quality of services.

 

4.1. Starting with a preliminary analysis of the educational context

 

To better understand what issues to decline training, it is essential to access educational contexts and to understand and know the strengths and “growth spaces” of these places. Getting to know the contexts and having them narrated by the educators/teachers themselves (by using ethnographic observation, interviews, and focus groups) makes it possible to make a reading of local and situated training needs. The aim is to concretely stimulate reflexivity on daily educational practices because it starts from topics perceived as urgent and important by the educational professionals themselves. At this preliminary stage, it is important to give special attention to the past experiences, history, and organization of educational contexts to gain a broader and deeper understanding of the context and needs of those involved (educators, children, and families).

About this, the goals and values of the training project should be shared with educators to involve them in the professional development process as co-researchers.

 

4.2. Adopt appropriate working tools

 

·       Audio and video camera quality: to produce good quality footage for video-analysis sessions, it is necessary to have appropriate video recording tools (good quality audio and video that allow better access to the data).

·       A coherent methodological approach and a set of specially designed tools are fundamental to successfully conducting the training and research process: in this sense, the negotiation and co-construction of possible observation grids (i.e ISSA QF) allows, time after time, to focus the group’s gaze on different aspects of educational action

 

4.3 Fostering sustainable change by increasing participants’ professionalism:  awareness and competence

 

·       Using video data as pedagogical documentation to build a heritage of shared practices for the service. Video data could become a useful database of practices for constructing the identity and the history of the early childhood educational service itself.

·       Ensuring that opportunities for collective reflection on video data are organized systematically (having time and space to reflect and work as a group): one of the elements that can most promote the success of training courses that use video-analysis is the possibility of having a space and time to devote to this activity of collective reflection. Indeed, the professionals involved emphasized how useful it is for this type of work to be organized and scheduled systematically to ensure moments of reflection and training in which: analyse videos, view the same video several times, and reflect openly with colleagues.

·       Enhance the mediating role of pedagogical coordinators: these are key professional figures capable of giving continuity to both the ‘external point of view’ of researchers/trainers and the ‘internal point of view’ of practitioners involved in the professional development process. His or her mediating activity is not limited to giving continuity between ‘external’ and ‘internal’ instances but is also related to the professional competence of knowing how to give ‘temporal continuity’ that can take into account the history of the service (the past), the challenges that characterize its daily life (the present) and the directions for growth and improvement (the future) (Balduzzi & Dalledonne Vandini, 2021).

·       Provide a follow-up session at the end of the process to shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the activities carried out and to give a ‘voice’ to all the practitioners involved in the professional development and research “journey”.

 

4.4. Providing opportunities for team-based professional development

 

·       Creating and promoting a climate of nonjudgmental trust among all professionals involved is a crucial condition for promoting meaningful engagement in professional development pathways and ensuring their successful completion. In order to support professional growth and authentic reflexivity within the team, it is important for each actor involved to trust his/her colleagues. This allows them to overcome barriers and resistance related to the feeling of being “questioned” and allows a greater degree of freedom and confidence in expressing divergent opinions within the group. 

·       Ownership of videos and images: from the outset, it’s important to make it clear that images and video-analysis will be used only for activities geared toward professional growth and development, not for evaluation. This helps to create the mutual trust necessary within the group of professionals who are undertaking this experience of professional development and growth together.

Schermata 2023-10-11 alle 16.38.15.png

Figure 1. VART: video-analysis research training process. The main key -success factors.

 

5. Conclusions

 

Improving and sustaining the quality of educational provision requires not only competent professionals but also a competent system capable of guiding the professional development of staff concerning the changing needs of society (Urban et al., 2012). In this regard, research has highlighted how important it is that the content and methods used to train educators and teachers must be oriented toward building competencies to address gaps in their effective ability to contribute to the challenges facing children’s services today (Peeters et al., 2015).

In light of this premise, the focus of this article was to outline a possible training research model using video analysis with in-service educators and teachers. In particular, we presented the training structure implemented in the Erasmus plus TRACKs project and deployed it in several trainings involving nurseries and preschools (Trento, Riccione, Rimini, city of Shkodra). The use of video analysis as a participatory methodology allows for guiding the professionals involved in a professional growth path capable of capturing the strengths and weaknesses of contexts while working on reflective and observational skills. As research states the use of visual tools such as video can improve the quality of educational services by supporting future re-design and collegial work. Therefore, a series of operational steps and possible “key success factors” inherent in the use of video analysis in training have been proposed to make this participatory training modality replicable and sustainable over time by respecting the peculiarities of each educational context.

 

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[1] By “operative model” we mean the training research pathway that has been activated and implemented in cooperation with educators and teachers during these four years of trainings. This model is negotiated with the training recipients and present a structure that can be replicated in innovative trainings oriented to enhance active participation. The goal is this to maintain consistency and congruence between didactic models and objectives.