How Could Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Inspire Lesson Study?

Abstract

Lesson study, originating from East Asia, has been widely spread and accepted as a vehicle for teacher continuing professional development. With its features of openness (beginning with a question instead of an answer), involvement (driven by teachers rather than experts), dialogicality (reciprocal learning instead of hierarchical interpersonal relationships), and practicality (linking research and practice), lesson study contributes new energy to educational research. Finding an appropriate theoretical perspective to approach lesson study and glean its advantages is challenging. When cultural-historical activity theory is used to contextualize lesson study, numerous insights are gained by both teachers and researchers. This conceptual chapter introduces the use of cultural-historical activity theory as an analytical lens, followed by a brief overview of the commonalities of various modes of lesson study. Some central tenets of cultural-historical activity theory that echo the essential points of lesson study are elaborated. By collecting data for and analyzing a lesson study case involving an elementary mathematics lesson in Beijing, the author shows that cultural-historical activity theory illuminates the significance of lesson study at the ontological, epistemological, methodological, and axiological levels.