Making Connections Among Student Learning, Content, and Teaching: Teacher Talk Paths in Elementary Mathematics Lesson Study

Abstract

This study investigated how elementary teachers in a mathematics lesson study made sense of student learning, teaching, and content, as related to using representations in teaching multidigit subtraction, and how changes occurred over time in their talk and practice. The lesson-study process paved a group talk path along which teacher talk shifted from superficial to deeper consideration of student learning. By providing a context in which interactions of diverse ideas drove teacher learning, lesson study facilitated teachers making connections between the craft knowledge of teaching and scholarly knowledge. Individual teacher talk paths varied within the group path, and one teacher's learning path and the interaction of different learning paths is discussed.