Opening ‘windows’ for teachers to change classroom discourse

Appreciating student contributions and providing feedback to students are key features of productive classroom discourse. In addition, students' self-concept of ability is a crucial predictor for verbal contributions students make in teacher-student interactions. This case study explores how three teachers improved their classroom discourse practices by participating in a video-based teacher professional development program. In particular, it seems like the students with an initially low self-concept of ability benefited from the changes in the productive discourse as the teachers seemed to have gained a greater awareness of them. These case analyses are promising for further investigation of the complexity of changes in classroom environments.