On Tuesday, December 3, the TD SIG hosted a forum titled – Using Video in Language Teacher Education. The forum took place at Toyo University in Tokyo and was attended by approximately 15 people from a variety of different teaching contexts. The forum featured three speakers, Dr. Steve Mann from the University of Warwick, Robin Skipsey from the British Council, and Davey Young from Rikkyo University.

Dr. Mann opened the forum with a presentation that provided an overview of video uses for teacher development, and he gave some examples of different tools that could be used for implementing video projects. Following this, Robin Skipsey introduced the audience to a British Council project in which video was part of a cascade teacher training model. Robin talked about how trainee teachers used video to reflect on their own teaching practices, try new activities in their classrooms, and pass on useful approaches to others.

The final presentation saw Davey Young talk about how lesson observation videos are used to maintain quality assurance in a unified course at Rikkyo University. Through making recordings of lessons, both teachers and program managers were able to collaboratively assess how objectives were being met, for example.

As well as presentations, the forum also featured interviews. The TD SIG’s coordinator Matthew Turner asked questions to Robin about the content of his presentation, with Steve asking questions to Davey about his talk. Through the interviews, both the audience members and participants were able to interactively explore themes in more detail. The forum culminated in a discussion between the panel, led by questions from the audience.