Examining the Use of Video Study Groups for Developing Literacy Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Critical Elements of Strategy Instruction With Elementary Teachers

Abstract

This collective case study explored what nine elementary teachers' video study group discussions revealed about their understanding of pedagogical content knowledge for an explicit reading strategy instruction framework, Critical Elements of Strategy Instruction (CESI). Qualitative methods were used to inductively and deductively analyze transcripts of the video study groups' discussions and artifacts. Findings indicated that engaging in video study groups afforded teachers opportunities to investigate their pedagogical content knowledge of CESI. Through their discussions the teachers explicitly articulated and questioned their tacit knowledge. In addition, while conversing, teachers provided reasons for their pedagogical moves based on students' needs. These finding are important because limited research is centered on elementary literacy teachers' development of pedagogical content knowledge for explicit strategy instruction using video analysis.