Adapting ‘lesson study’ to investigate classroom pedagogy in initial teacher education: what student-teachers think

Wasyl Cajkler,Phil Wood

doi:10.1080/0305764x.2015.1009363

Abstract

This paper reports findings from a project that explored the use of a modified form of ‘lesson study’ in a one-year programme of secondary school initial teacher education (ITE). Twelve mentors and student-teachers worked in pairs to design and teach two ‘research lessons’ in the course of two eight-week teaching practice placements as part of a university–school partnership for the preparation of new teachers. Participating student-teachers reported that engagement in this form of lesson study with a mentor was an effective way to help them grow individual teaching skills, knowledge and confidence in teaching placements. In addition, in most cases, it enabled active and creative participation in a community of teacher learners. However, engagement in lesson study not only supported student-teachers to meet ‘qualifying to teach’ standards, but also offered opportunities for holistic study of teaching and learning, leading to growth in what we characterise as ‘pedagogic literacy’.

Highlights

Lesson study is ‘a systematic investigation of classroom pedagogy conducted collectively by a group of teachers rather than by individuals, with the aim of improving the quality of teaching and learning’ (Tsui and Law, 2007, p. 1294)
When exploring student-teacher perspectives, we found that three themes were the most frequent in individual interviews: pedagogy, observation of student learning and their participation and collaboration and integration into subject teaching roles, within which we identified student-teacher integration into their subject departments
Our analysis of student-teachers’ perspectives suggested that there were two principal gains: firstly, collaborative planning was valued; secondly, this led to opportunities to explore pedagogy in relation to learning challenges as a result of which student-teachers felt part of their pedagogic community of practice

Summary

Introduction

Lesson study is ‘a systematic investigation of classroom pedagogy conducted collectively by a group of teachers rather than by individuals, with the aim of improving the quality of teaching and learning’ (Tsui and Law, 2007, p. 1294). Lesson study is ‘a systematic investigation of classroom pedagogy conducted collectively by a group of teachers rather than by individuals, with the aim of improving the quality of teaching and learning’ Originating in Japan, it has recently been promoted in both UK (Dudley, 2011) and US schools (Lewis, 2002; 2009) as a collaborative learning-focused process in which teachers work together on five main activities in a lesson study cycle (see Figure 1). The cycle begins with the identification of a learning challenge. Collaborating teachers jointly plan a ‘research lesson’ to address the learning challenge and identify case study learners for observation. One teacher teaches the agreed lesson while the others observe, with their focus firmly on pre-identified learners and their reactions to the lesson, not the teacher’s performance. In the final two stages of the cycle, the collaboratively planned lesson is evaluated by the whole group, revised and re-taught to another group

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion