Preparing for peer-led productive professional discourse around classroom videos: In- and pre-service teachers

A large body of literature supports the view that collaborative classroom video analysis offers unique benefits for teacher learning if teachers engage in collaborative inquiry, exploring the unfolding of teaching and learning, and focusing on students' thinking and engagement. Yet, the feasibility of this approach within peer-led professional learning environments remains underexplored. We investigate how secondary school mathematics and physics teachers in Israel prepare to lead collaborative analyses of a peer's videotaped lesson. Quantitative content analysis revealed that in-service teachers (N = 44) were better prepared than pre-service teachers (N = 50) to facilitate video-based discussions. Following a targeted intervention, pre-service teachers demonstrated marked improvement, underscoring the potential of focused preparation to strengthen facilitation competencies in peer-led video analysis. • We compared how in and pre-service teachers prepared for video-based discussions. • In-service teachers were more inquiry-oriented and focused on pedagogy and content. • Training improved preservice teachers' student-focused, inquiry-based analysis. • Targeted training can enhance teachers' ability to guide peer-led video analysis.