Aspiring teachers can benefit from seeing how others approach the profession.
That was the idea behind signing up for subscriptions to The Teaching Channel Video Library, according to Tara Serebin. She led the project, which was supported by a grant from the Women’s Giving Circle.
The Teaching Channel Video Library offers a wide range of options, covering multiple topics which can help students bridge the gap between what they’re learning in class and what actually happens in classrooms.
The grant supported licenses for School of Education instructors and ad hocs that they could use to share helpful videos with their classes. Videos or pieces of videos can also be embedded in hybrid classes, Serebin said, enhancing the content. Many students are also granted licenses so they can do research on their own.
Topics explored in the videos touch on many of the issues students will deal with when they enter the profession. Some examples include trauma-informed teaching, student engagement, classroom management, using the arts to support literacy, parent-student relationships, experiential learning, and teaching early literacy.
In assigning a video, the instructor provides a common experience, from which a class discussion on the topic can be developed, said Serebin, with class members sharing their own similar experiences and debriefing on what they saw in the video. The videos can also help students troubleshoot issues they have in field experiences. The videos are being used in classes this fall, with plans to continue in the spring 2024 semester.
“Videos can bring theory to life,” said Serebin.
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