Reinventing teaching in mathematics classrooms

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the way of how teaching in general and teaching of mathematics in particular can be reinvented by drawing on the perspective of pragmatism. Drawing on long‐standing traditions of John Dewey’s “laboratory model” of learning to teach and Charles Peirce’s semiotic view of scientific inquiry, the design of the lesson study can be reframed or extended through the methodological orientation to reinvention.Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical framework of reinvention for lesson study, following a pragmatic approach, might offer a methodological orientation for mathematics teachers to foster increased self‐awareness in improving their own practices. The conceptualisation of such an orientation, which leads to the reinventing of teaching in mathematics classrooms, begins with an examination of two pragmatic theories: Dewey's concept ofexperienceand Peirce's concept ofpractical belief and judgement. The methodological orientation for reinvention grounded on these concepts will then be outlined and elaborated.FindingsReinvention is a productive “triad of change” through which new possibilities of facilitating the student's learning can be created. Teachers will experience such change by experimenting with their students. In the context of teaching mathematics, reinventing teaching involves the action of an agent carrying out the conversions of mechanisms which bring forth achangeof language, thetransformationof gaze, and the moulding (themetamorphosis) of the individual who does the act of teaching.Originality/valueThe paper offers a theoretical framework of reinvention for lesson study through which teachers’ self‐awareness can be enhanced by improving their own practices. Through the undertaking of pedagogical experiments, teachers are becoming more aware of the need to learn from the learners in order to teach more effectively through the reinvention and unlearning of their own teaching.