Vignettes in the sense of representations of practice (Buchbinder & Kuntze, 2018) in mathematics classrooms offer extensive possibilities for stimulating discussions with pre-service and in-service teachers about learning situations and help them to engage in knowledge-based analysis. Even if cultural contexts are expected to play a role in classroom situations and for their interpretation, we assert that the mathematical and psychological cores in learning processes and in teachers’ learning support strategies are marked by elements of cross-cultural validity, so that even the same vignettes can enhance teachers’ professional analysis across European countries and beyond. The recently started project coReflect@maths (www.coreflect.eu) with partners in four European countries aims at exploring characteristics of good practice in vignette use for developing aspects of mathematics teacher expertise and at supporting vignette use in various teacher education and professional development contexts.

All in all, research related to such characteristics is still relatively scarce; this is the case as well for research about teachers’ views about vignette use in professional development. As both of these aspects have high relevance for the success of vignette-based settings of professional learning, we have collected empirical evidence through literature reviews and pilot studies to analyse current needs.

Theoretical background

Vignettes as representations of practice – and of theory

We understand vignettes as representations of profession-relevant practice (Buchbinder & Kuntze, 2018); they stand for specific aspects of practice contexts and thus represent those. However, at the same time, they also represent theory (Kuntze & Friesen, 2020), as in the production process of vignettes, particular elements of theory, such as goals of a professional development activity or intended observation criteria usually play a role. This happens if a classroom interaction is designed so as to show an example of a more general known phenomenon, but also if a video sequence is selected from more extensive authentic video material according to a set of criteria or a specific aim (cf. e.g., Kuntze, 2018; Nardi, Healy, Biza & Fernandes, 2018). Consequently, vignettes have a double representational function both for practice contexts and for theory-based goals of professional development; hence they can mediate between theory in mathematics education and practice. As a consequence, vignettes have a high potential for professional learning.

However, vignette-based learning opportunities can take very different forms (Skilling & Stylianides, 2019; Buchbinder & Kuntze, 2018; Samková, 2019), and there is a need of further exploring characteristics of effective vignette use empirically, as evidence is still relatively scarce. Moreover, the views of teachers related to vignette-based work can be expected to matter for their professional learning, as negative views, for instance could obstruct teachers’ productive use of vignette-based learning opportunities (cf. Kuntze, Krammer & Lipowsky, 2017). Consequently, in this paper we will collect preliminary findings both related to mathematics teachers’ learning from vignettes and to their views about vignette-based opportunities for professional learning.

Research interests: Teachers’ learning from and views about vignettes

Vignette-based opportunities of professional learning aimed at further developing teachers’ resources (Schoenfeld, 2011), such as professional knowledge (e.g. Shulman, 1986; Kuntze, 2008), noticing (e.g. Fernández & Choy, 2020; Sherin et al., 2011), or their criteria-based analysis (Kuntze, Dreher & Friesen, 2015). From prior research, there is evidence about impacts of vignette-based learning, for instance about learning with video vignettes in specific projects (overview in Lipowsky, 2010), providing first insight into characteristics of effective settings.

Summing up, this paper will focus on the following research interests:

(1) What characteristics of effectiveness of vignette-based professional development activities can be identified in prior empirical research?

(2) What views do teachers hold related to the use of vignettes in profession-related learning opportunities?

The two research questions were approached by applying two methodologies: Firstly, we reviewed existing empirical studies in order to identify possible answers to the research questions from earlier literature. This review approach was anticipated to yield partial insight only, given the research needs outlined above in the theoretical background section. Secondly, additional empirical studies were undertaken or reanalysed in order to complement the existing evidence collected in the literature review. In the case of these studies, we were aware that they could only add spotlights to a field in need of progress in empirical research. Up to now, pilot evidence has been gathered with samples in Germany, among other. In further steps of the coReflect@maths project work, empirical research will be extended to the project partner countries in Europe and if possible beyond. As far as research interest (1) is concerned, we present evidence from studies with N=18 (study A) and N=17 (study B) German pre-service teachers who had worked with vignettes in a one-semester seminar. In these studies, we used vignette-based instruments for assessing the effectiveness of the interventions. The analyses had complementary foci: Whereas study A concentrated on effects on the level of noticing and analysing changes of representations, the coding procedures in study B focused on impacts on the teachers’ professional language use. Related to research interest (2), we asked N=44 in-service teachers (study C, project ProNeed) to analyse cartoon vignettes along a given stimulus question, as we could not expect that the teachers were familiar with vignette-based professional development formats. After this experience, we asked them about their views related to vignettes as starting points for reflection in professional development. Another earlier study (study D) is based on answers from N=32 in-service mathematics teachers from secondary schools who had participated earlier in a professional development project in which they had worked with video vignettes (cf. Kuntze, Krammer & Lipowsky, 2017). In this case, the data affords a more in-depth exploration of their views related to characteristics of vignette-based work they perceive as particularly positive. The study used an open-ended question format. The teachers were offered contrasting characteristics of professional learning opportunities, and they were asked to specify their views and to give reasons. For example, the teachers were asked to indicate whether and why the focus of vignette-based reflection should rather be on the teachers’ actions or on the students’ learning (Kuntze, Krammer & Lipowsky, 2017).

Research interest (1) focuses on characteristics of effectiveness of vignette-based professional development activities. The literature review yielded a preliminary, yet incomplete, base of evidence, in particular related to video vignette-based professional development activities (e.g. Lipowsky, 2010). Empirical evidence from study A and B indicates that it is possible to improve the pre-service-teachers’ noticing and analysing the use of mathematical representations through a one-semester vignette-based seminar course. Research interest (2) concentrates on teachers’ views related to the use of vignettes in profession-related learning opportunities. The literature review having hardly led to any evidence, our empirical results afford first preliminary insight: in study C, a majority of the in-service teachers held positive views about using (cartoon) vignettes as a stimulus for reflection in professional development activities. However, there were also negative answers. More than half of the teachers could imagine working fruitfully on cartoon vignettes even between two professional development meetings. The findings from study D focus on views about work on video vignettes (Kuntze, Krammer & Lipowsky, 2017): Teachers were in favour of work with everyday classroom situations rather than vignettes showing best-practice classrooms; structured work with a specific focus was preferred. These first insights call for follow-up research in order to identify possible challenges for successful implementation of vignette-based work. Acknowledgements Further co-authors are Jens Krummenauer (Ludwigsburg), Salvador Llinares (Alicante), and Lulu Healy (London). The studies presented above are co-funded by the Senate of Ludwigsburg University of Education (project ProNeed) and in the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (project coReflect@maths, 2019-1-DE01-KA203-004947). The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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