In a longitudinal project (2025–2028), teachers from three Danish lower‑secondary schools collaborate with teacher educators and researchers in subject‑specific video clubs (Sherin & Han, 2024; Sherin & van Es, 2008). The video‑club work centres on core teaching practices (Grossman, 2018; Grossman & Frefel, 2024) within the three largest subject areas—Danish (L1), Mathematics, and Science. Across subjects, the intervention aims to identify, describe, and develop core practices that support meaningful and equitable learning opportunities for all students, drawing on research on student engagement and teacher–student relationships (Cornelius‑White, 2007; Mendez & van Es, 2024). 

We investigate two research questions: (1) How do teachers make sense of, and act upon, their participation in video‑based collaborative work? and (2) How does their noticing of core practices (van Es et al., 2014, 2017, 2024) unfold within video‑club interactions?

We employ a sequential design involving multiple qualitative data sources (Mik‑Meyer, 2020). All video‑club sessions are video‑ or audio‑recorded, followed by semi‑structured focus‑group interviews with pairs of teachers from the same subject. Selected interview prompts are mediated by video clips from the video clubs to elicit stimulated recall. This pattern is repeated across three semesters in the three‑year intervention. In the first semester, participants selected a cross‑cutting core practice: engaging the whole class in investigations. 

All interview and video‑club audio data are transcribed verbatim. Interview data are analysed inductively using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2022; Braun et al., 2018). Video‑club interactions are analysed deductively using the three components of the noticing framework—Attending, Interpreting, and Shaping (van Es et al., 2024). Analytical processes are iterative: each researcher conducts an initial independent analysis, followed by collaborative cross‑case theme development.

This paper presents findings from the first semester, focusing on teacher interviews and the initial video‑club sessions at each school (eight sessions in total). Extended findings from the second semester will be included in the conference presentation. Across the video clubs, teachers report that collaboratively observing and analysing how teacher actions shape students’ opportunities to learn is highly meaningful. This is reflected in two common initial themes emerging across interviews: teachers value watching themselves on video and discussing their instructional decisions, and the clips help them notice student differences, track student progress, and identify ways to support engagement and learning. Several teachers also note that they gain deeper insight into aspects of their pedagogical reasoning that are typically tacit. In addition, the video clubs appear to strengthen trust and depth in collegial discussions. While teachers do not yet describe broader changes in collaboration within their schools, they report drawing on the video‑club focus areas in their everyday teaching.

Analyses of the video‑club sessions reveal both challenges and opportunities. Initially, the concept of “core practice” was unfamiliar to most teachers. Accordingly, teacher educators and researchers used the term more frequently in the early sessions. Over time, however, the concept became more meaningful to teachers, who increasingly incorporated it into their own meta‑reflections. Across all video clubs, we identified examples of attending, interpreting, and shaping, with a noticeable progression in the extent to which teachers initiated (intended) shaping. Regarding the core practice of engaging the whole class in investigations, we found discipline‑specific differences. For example, science teachers emphasise the role of disciplinary characteristics in shaping their instructional approaches. Nevertheless, they also experience that insights from other subjects broaden their understanding of what counts as productive investigative work. All teachers refer to a deepened understanding of the core practice. Mathematics teachers, for instance, describe video clubs and core practices as “two sides of the same coin” in their efforts to develop mathematics teaching.

Our multi-method qualitative study (Mik-Meyer, 2020) draws on the following data collected in 2025: 1. Video and audio recordings of eight video club sessions (2 hours each): two sessions focused on Danish, while three sessions each addressed science and mathematics. 2. Audio recordings of six semi structured focus group interviews with pairs of teachers from the same subject area (45 minutes each) (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). Three interviews—conducted before the intervention—explored teachers’ initial understandings of core practices. The remaining three interviews—conducted after the first semester of video clubs—examined teachers’ experiences with the video clubs and their developing understandings of core practices. We used video clips from the video club sessions to prompt stimulated reflections. Over the next two semesters, we will collect additional data using similar methods. Our presentation will include data from spring 2026. Each semester, participants agree on a shared core practice: the first semester focused on engaging the whole class in investigations, while the second will focus on eliciting and responding to students’ thinking. All interview and video club audio data are transcribed verbatim. First, we analyse the interview data inductively using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2022; Braun et al., 2018). Each researcher analyses the interview and develops an initial set of themes. We then compare and discuss these sets and integrate insights from additional qualitative data sources to construct a shared set of themes. This common set is subsequently used as an analytical lens in a re-analysis of the interviews to trace similarities and differences across the three subjects. For example, we developed the theme “Teachers value watching themselves on video and discussing their actions” based on utterances such as: “It was incredibly rewarding for me to see myself on video—and to realize that I speak while I’m thinking” (mathematics teacher). We will apply and refine this shared theme set when analysing the next round of interviews. Second, we analyse the video club data deductively using the three components of the noticing framework—Attending, Interpreting, and Shaping (van Es et al., 2024). While van Es et al. focus on teacher noticing of students’ thinking, our analysis centres on teachers’ noticing of the targeted core practices. Accordingly, we adapted the framework and operationalised, for example, Shaping as teachers’ construction of classroom interactions that enable deeper insights into specific elements of a practice. As before, each author conducts an initial analysis, followed by collaborative refinement.

Based on interview and video club data from the first of three semesters, our preliminary findings indicate that teachers experience substantial value in collaboratively observing and analysing the relationships between teacher actions and students’ learning opportunities. This is reflected in two initial themes that emerged across the post interviews: teachers appreciate watching themselves on video and discussing their instructional decisions, and the video clips help them notice student differences, monitor progress, and identify ways to support students’ engagement and learning. Several teachers also emphasise gaining deeper insight into aspects of their pedagogical reasoning that are typically tacit. Moreover, the video clubs appear to strengthen trust and depth in collegial conversations, and some teachers report drawing actively on insights from the video club in their everyday teaching. Our analyses of the video club sessions reveal both challenges and opportunities. At the outset, the concept of core practice was unfamiliar to most teachers. Consequently, teacher educators and researchers used the term most frequently in the early sessions. Over time, however, the concept became more meaningful to teachers, who increasingly incorporated it into their own meta-reflections. Across all video clubs, we identified instances of attending, interpreting, and shaping, with a clear progression in the extent to which teachers refer to initiating shaping. Regarding the targeted practice of engaging the whole class in investigations, teachers report having developed a more nuanced understanding of what this entails. They note some subject specific differences, yet they also experience that cross disciplinary insights broaden their perspectives on what constitutes productive investigative work. For instance, mathematics teachers describe how the video clubs and the focus on core practices have become “two sides of the same coin” in developing mathematics teaching.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic analysis – a practical guide. Sage Braun, V., Clarke, V., Hayfield, N., & Terry, G. (2018). Thematic analysis. In P. Liamputtong, P. (eds), Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences (page 1-18). Springer. Cornelius-White, J. (2007). Learner-centered teacher-student relationships are effective: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 113-143. Creswell, J.W. & Clark, V.L.P. (2017). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. SAGE publications Grossman, P. (red.) (2018). Teaching core-pratices in teacher education. Harward Education Press. Grossman, P., & Fraefel, U. (red.) (2024). Core practices in teacher education – a global perspective. Harvard Education Press Kvale, S. & Brinkmann, S. (2009). InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing. SAGE publications Mendez, J.A., & van Es, E.A. (2024). Examining teachers' relational noticing: promoting equity through positive interactions in mathematics education. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, s10857. Mik-Meyer, N. (2020). Multimethod Qualitative Research. In D. Silverman (Ed.), Qualitative Research (pp. 357–374). SAGE. Sherin, M.G. & Han, S.Y. (2004). Teacher learning in the context of a video club. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 163-83. Sherin, M.G. & van Es, E.A. (2008). Effects of video club participation on teachers’ professional vision. Journal of Teacher Education, 60(1), 20-37. Stahnke, R. & Blomeke, S. (2021). Novice and expert teachers’ _noticing of classroom management in whole-group and partner work activities: Evidence from teachers’ _gaze and identification of events. Learning and Instruction 74, 101464. Van Es, E.A. & Sherin, M.G. (2002). Learning to Notice: Scaffolding New Teachers’ Interpretations of Classroom Interactions. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 10(4), 571-596. Van Es, E.A. & Sherin, M.G. (2008). Mathematics teachers´ learning to notice in the context of a video-club. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24 (2), 244-276. Van Es, E. A., Cashen, M., Barnhart, T., & Auger, A. (2017). Learning to notice Mathematics instruction: Using video to develop preservice teachers’ vision of ambitious pedagogy. Cognition and Instruction, 35(3), 165–187. Van Es (2014). A framework for the facilitation of teachers’ analysis of video. Journal of Teacher Education 65(4), 340-356. Van Es, E.A. & Sherin, M.G. (2024). Expanding on prior conceptualizations of teacher noticing. ZDM – Mathematics Education 53, 17–27.