Situation-specific and Generalized Components of Professional Knowledge of Mathematics Teachers: Research on a Video-based In-service Teacher Learning Program

We report on first results of a study with mathematics teachers from Germany and Switzerland who took part in a video-based in-service teacher education program. We wanted to find out whether the interpretation of videotaped classroom situations was influenced by the teachers’ professional knowledge and instruction-related beliefs. The findings indicate that cognitive constructivist or direct-transmission views of teaching and learning might have an impact on situated beliefs of teachers and their interpretation of videotaped classroom situations. For video-based reflections of teaching in teacher learning projects, the results emphasise the importance of finding and defining a way how to look at classroom situations in cooperation with the participating teachers.