Reflections of video enabled ECD educator’ practices in strengthening professional development

Practices of Grade R educators as they teach mathematics are beset by multiple challenges documented to include overcrowding, poor orientation in cognitive pedagogies, and lack of professional training in handling large classes. This paper focusses the vintage strategy of using digital video technology to access authenticated volunteered video clips of practices of educators for which the dilemma of exposure to unaffected classroom practices would have been hard to overcome. In order to interrogate these issues, the study was guided by the questions: (i) What video enabled practices are revealed in the teaching and classroom management of grade R educators? (ii)What theory-to-practice linkages become apparent as educators reflect on their video enabled teaching? Data was obtained from a series of four video lessons per class volunteered by the fourteen Grade R educators using an adapted COEMET tool by Clements & Sarama to assess the quality of their teaching. A thematic analysis approach was employed in analysing the captured lessons. Results indicate that using digital video technology has rear advantages such as enabling educators to reflect on their practices and where these were positive such as early preparation of adequate manipulatives, the practices were strengthened. It also emerged there were negative practices such as poor engagement of learners, and poor use of play. Through educator reflection challenges were efficiently addressed and professional development on these issues was accomplished.