Mathematics teachers learning with video: the role,for the didactician,of a heightened listening

This article addresses two main questions, how do mathematics teachers learn from using video? and, what is the role of the didactician? A common problem is reported in the difficulty of keeping teacher discussion of video away from judgment and evaluation. A review of mathematics education literature revealed four existing models for the use of video with teachers. Drawing on enactivist ideas (Rosch, Concepts: core readings, pp 189–206, 1999), there are reasons why these models are likely to be productive and therefore suggestions for how teachers can learn from video. However, little is known about the role of the didactician in supporting learning. From empirical data, there is evidence that didacticians need to engage in a particular form of attention that I label a ‘heightened listening’ since there are simultaneous foci (on the content of teachers’ contributions and what kind of a comment is being made), in order to establish discussion norms and to support the development of new ways of seeing and acting in the classroom.