Is seeing believing? Can video coaching help support teacher practice in early childhood classrooms?

Attending a high-quality prekindergarten program has substantial benefits for young children, through long-term positive effects on academic achievement and physical and mental health.¹ Well-trained and supported teachers are an essential part of a high-quality early care and education (ECE) program.² However, the demands placed on teachers to meet the evolving and complex needs of their students are greater than ever. ECE teachers need innovative approaches to more effectively support their professional development.

The Promise of Instructional Coaching

Instructional coaching, in which a highly skilled educator serves as a mentor to another teacher by working with them to identify a set of skills they would like to prioritize, regularly observing their practices in the classroom, and collaboratively reflecting on their strengths and areas for growth, is a promising, evidence-based approach to improving the quality of ECE programs.³ Coaching can focus on a range of teacher skills and activities, including instructional strategies, classroom management, and social-emotional learning. For example, through self-reflection, a teacher might prioritize responding to students’ behaviors in the classroom using developmentally appropriate, equitable approaches as an area to prioritize with support from their instructional coach. To maximize the effects of instructional coaching, the teacher-coach relationships must be founded on shared goals, effective communication, and empowerment for the teacher.⁴ Instructional coaching is most effective when coaches take a personalized approach to their teacher interactions by providing feedback and engaging in goal setting based on individual educator needs while also acknowledging the breadth of knowledge and experience teachers bring to their classroom.⁵

Maximizing Instructional Supports through Video Coaching

As the use of technology has become more widespread in ECE classrooms, teacher video coaching, in which teachers video record their instruction to review and discuss with their coach, has become increasingly common. Video observations can provide teachers and their instructional coaches with more personalized insights into the teacher’s instructional practices. By focusing on the areas that teachers would like to prioritize, such as teacher-student interactions, support of social-emotional skills, and/or delivery of instruction, in authentic educational contexts, teachers can collaborate with their coach to pinpoint areas for growth and facilitate targeted improvements. However, it is important to also understand and take steps to address the barriers, challenges, and limitations in implementing video observations in ECE programs so they can be used as an effective tool to support ECE educators in enhancing their instructional practices.

SRI Education Projects Related to Instructional Coaching

Researchers in SRI’s Education Division are currently engaged in research projects that focus on programs and strategies for providing high-quality instructional coaching supports for ECE educators: the Early Childhood Classroom Observation (ECCO) Study (part of the larger Reimagining Instructional Coaching in Early Education (RICiEE) initiative) and the efficacy study of the BEST in CLASS Intervention. These project teams have sought to learn more about teacher and coach perceptions about video coaching, including ways that video observations could support teacher instructional practices and perceived challenges with collecting and using video recordings to enhance teacher practices. The ECCO study conducted interviews with prekindergarten teachers to gather insights on their experiences with video observations in their classroom, including how it felt to record themselves and the perceived benefits of video recordings compared to in-person observations. The BEST in CLASS study engaged in focus groups with behavior support coaches and program developers to understand how the use of videos supported teacher skill development, facilitated the development of positive relationships with students, and promoted an awareness of how teacher behavior impacts student outcomes.

Video Observations: Key Learnings from ECE Educators and Instructional Coaches

Regardless of whether observations are conducted in-person or using video recordings, they can be a source of stress and angst for teachers.⁶ It can be uncomfortable having someone watch your work, especially someone with authority, and to be judged on just a slice of your day. Our project teams’ engagements with ECE educators, instructional coaches, and program developers shed light on their key concerns around video observations while also highlighting aspects of video observations that are most useful. In addition, teachers and coaches highlighted the ways in which video observations can address some of the limitations of in-person observations.

Some of the most common concerns teachers expressed about video observations were hesitation about being on camera, concerns around data privacy, and the video recording equipment causing distractions for their students. These concerns were more prevalent in programs where video observations and feedback are not a part of the established culture.

However, several teachers noted that their initial concerns around video observations were quickly alleviated.

“In the beginning, it’s hard, like, for me, I don’t like to see my face in the video, my voice, I say, ‘Oh.’ And then, after that, you get used to, you don’t care. It’s what it is.” – Prekindergarten teacher (ECCO study)

“It was definitely an adjustment … I think kids are super adaptable, though, so after the initial shock or excitement of it, they kind of just move as normal.” – Prekindergarten teacher (ECCO study)

Further, several teachers noted benefits of video observations over live observations, including having fewer adults in the classroom and feeling more comfortable during the observation.

“Sometimes when there are too many adults in the room, it can be overwhelming for teachers and the students. But if we needed an observation, and they just set up a camera and left, I think that could be an alternative.” – Prekindergarten teacher (ECCO study)

“I’d rather do video than live because the pressure to keep looking at the person – what’s her face or what’s his face looking like? Am I doing this right? It’s the constant pressure … they’re watching you like a hawk. Whereas recording … my camera’s watching me, but I can still be my regular self.” – Prekindergarten teacher (ECCO study)

Several teachers also felt that video observations can potentially provide a more complete picture of the classroom context than what can be gathered by an in-person observer.

“It’d great to be able to see the whole picture. Sometimes when you’re in the moment, you miss things. But with a video, you can really see how everything comes together – the interactions, the transitions, the overall flow of the lesson. It’s like getting a bird’s eye view of your own teaching.” – Prekindergarten teacher (ECCO study)

“So that ability to rewind … and maybe see a little bit more in the classroom that might not get captured when you’re only able to focus on so many things at once in person.” – Prekindergarten teacher (ECCO study)

Teachers and coaches emphasized that the most valuable aspect of video observations is providing teachers with personalized insights into their practices. Many felt that providing teachers with these personalized insights can highlight areas of strength and opportunities for potential growth, ground observation scores in their own teaching, and result in meaningful changes to practices.

“I think the video clips are really helpful in them visually observing the positive interactions or course of interactions…. so the coach shows them video clips of interactions that are really highly successful and then interactions where the teacher might have done something different, and going back and watching those.” – Program developer coach (BEST in CLASS)

“It is helpful because I think I can see some things that I missed when I was in the moment. It’s helpful to think back, and reflect, and process things.” – Prekindergarten teacher (ECCO study)

“…[M]aybe if you watch yourself back, and have the person explain, it would be better versus just seeing your scores and then reading a bunch of paragraphs as to what you could have done when you probably should be watching yourself, and your coach or whoever is providing you feedback, stop and pause video thing type of conversation to …help myself get better. Show me what I’m doing, show me, me.” – Prekindergarten teacher (ECCO study)

Pause and Reflect

Take a moment to consider how these findings resonate with you.

If you have ever engaged in video coaching, how do these findings align with your experiences?
If you have not, what are your initial reactions to incorporating video coaching into your instruction?
How likely would video recordings and reflection influence your practices?
In what ways, if any, could video coaching help you enhance your practices around building positive teacher-student relationships, managing challenging behaviors, and/or engaging in culturally responsive teaching/behavior support?

What’s Next for SRI’s Instructional Coaching Projects?

The ECCO and BEST in CLASS project teams are distilling and sharing the key learnings from ECE educators and instructional coaches to identify ways that video observations can be effectively and safely used to strengthen instructional coaching, with the goal of enhancing instruction in prekindergarten classrooms and providing all students with high-quality learning experiences.

For more information on the findings from the full ECCO study, and the RICiEE project as a whole, check out the study report and connect with us at the Society for Research in Child Development 2025 Biennial Meeting in Minneapolis!
To learn more about the BEST in CLASS program and efficacy study, check out the informational flyer and this blog post by the SRI study team!

Footnotes

¹ Institute of Medicine & National Research Council. (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/9824
² Yoshikawa, H., Weiland, C., Brooks-Gunn, J., Burchinal, M. R., Espinosa, L. M., Gormley, W. T., Ludwig, L., Magnuson, K. A., Phillips, D., & Zaslow, M. J. (2013). Investing in our future: The evidence base on preschool education. Society for Research in Child Development. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED579818
³ Schachner, A., Yun, C., Melnick, H., & Barajas, J. (2024). Coaching at scale: A strategy for strengthening the early learning workforce. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/984.909
⁴ Johnston, K., & Brinamen, C. F. (2012). The consultation relationship—From transactional to transformative: Hypothesizing about the nature of change. Infant Mental Health Journal, 33(3), 226–233. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21332; Knoche, L. L., Kuhn, M., & Eum, J. (2013). “More time. More showing. More helping. That’s how it sticks”: The perspectives of early childhood coaches. Infants & Young Children, 26(4), 349–365. https://doi.org/10.1097/IYC.0b013e3182a21935
⁵ Moreno, A. J., Green, S., Koehn, J., & Sadd, S. (2019). Behind the curtain of early childhood coaching: A multi-method analysis of 5,000 feedback statements. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 40(4), 382-408; Weber-Mayrer, M. M., Piasta, S. B., Ottley, J. R., Justice, L. M., & O’Connell, A. A. (2018). Early childhood literacy coaching: An examination of coaching intensity and changes in educators’ literacy knowledge and practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 76(1), 14-24.
⁶ Lasagabaster, D., & Sierra, J. M. (2011). Classroom observation: desirable conditions established by teachers. European Journal of Teacher Education, 34(4), 449–463. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2011.587113

Topics: Early childhood Educator professional development and support


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