More than forty years ago, Dan Lortie famously lamented the lack of a common language with which to describe teaching. In this talk, Dr. Klette will explore the use of video classroom research and observation protocols could serve as a tool to develop common language and professional vision around teaching and to improve instruction.

Observation manuals (e.g. observation systems) as means of analyzing aspects of K-12 teaching and learning have attracted increased interest over the last decade and today scholars seem to agree on some key aspects as central when setting out to investigate teaching and learning in classrooms. In this talk, Klette will give an overview of ‘state of the art’ and developments in research on teaching quality drawing on classroom observation approaches. In her presentation, she reflects on how technological, methodological and theoretical development together with large-scale classroom video studies have paved the way for a new generation for classroom studies. Toward this end, she first sketches out theoretical developments aiming at analyzing teaching quality as well as provide an overview of possible observation manuals. She then summarizes empirical evidence and discuss whether we can talk about a shared language when analyzing teaching and learning in classrooms. Finally illustrating with video clips from authentic classrooms, Klette discusses the fine balance between generic and contextual factor when investigate teaching quality.

Once teaching-learning events are conceptualized, operationalized and studied, it also becomes clear that classroom teaching and learning share commonalities while at the same time being complex, situated and culturally bounded. Especially the discussion have concentrated around theoretical underpinnings and the way teaching quality has been conceptualized and operationalized across the different frameworks and approaches. The issue of subject specific versus generic manuals have been disputed along with differences in scoring and sequencing. Finally yet important, empirical evidence and issues of validity will be discussed including the role of contextual versus generic factors. Drawing on recent development in classroom observation studies and conceptual frameworks for analyzing teaching, Klette discuss possibilities and pitfalls when aiming at develop a shared language for teaching.

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