Chinese Lesson Study Research Articles

Networking Hybridizations within the Semiosphere: a research trajectory for the Cultural Transposition of the Chinese Lesson Study within a Western context

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to describe teachers’ professional development in Lesson Study (LS) as processes situated in Semiosphere and generated by the unevenness due to different cultural traditions. The authors characterise teachers’ professional development in two LS experiments as processes generating new knowledge to point out their products, i.e. new professional frame teachers produce after these experiments. The authors use Hybridization, a particular form of Networking of Theories (NWT).Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected video-registration of several Italian LS meetings. The authors analyse two LSs, where time emerged as a conflictual aspect. Through Hybridization components, the authors show how teachers make sense of LS and how teachers revise their professional frame.Theoretical frameworkIn NWT different theories are deployed to study the same problem. To grasp the issue of unevenness in our LS, we use Hybridization of a Theory, a form of NWT characterised by a structural asymmetry. It is given when a construct c is introduced coherently, operatively and productively into a theory T, obtaining a hybridized theory T'.FindingsHybridization lens allows to describe potentialities and limits of LS as a tool for teachers’ development. The two analysed LS are different: in one of them Hybridization process produced a new theory T', whilst in the second one it was limited to the awareness of a gap between LS and initial teachers’ professional frame.Practical implicationsIdentifying links between different Hybridization components is a helpful tool for teacher educators/researchers to foster the shift from one another. For instance, through this tool, teacher educators could keep track of what happens in successive LS and mirror the dialogue between teachers, moving towards group-shared metareflections. This initiates the advancement of a new theory T', where asymmetries are interpreted.Originality/valueIn this approach teachers are protagonists of the construction of a new professional frame. LS is a tool for teachers’ professional development, allowing teachers to question their own educational intentionalities. Hybridization components provide a tool to analyse such a process.

Continuity and change: Chinese lesson study redefined in the context of key competencies-based reform

PurposeThis special issue reveals how lesson study in China continues to serve as a powerful platform to support change in teaching. The papers included in this issue explore how university faculty members and researchers support teachers to cross boundaries resulting from the introduction of key competencies-based (hexin suyang 核心素养) curriculum reform (KCR).Design/methodology/approachThe theme of continuity and change is examined against the backdrop of Chinese lesson study's (CLS's) consistent supporting role in enabling curriculum reform. These analyses make use of concepts involved in understanding boundary crossing, such as using boundary objects and their roles, to help make sense of the new theories, tools, and resources as well as relationships engendered in responding to the reform's demand. While recognizing the continuity at play in Chinese LS, the authors use the lens of learning at the boundary of research-practice partnerships (RPPs) (Farrell et al., 2022) to contemplate the future of CLS.FindingsThe papers touch on three major themes: (1) the role of university-school partnerships in meeting the new demands of key competencies reform; (2) resourceful tools, strategies and structures to support boundary crossing for teachers; and (3) roles and relationships for mutual learning in university-school partnerships. Together these three themes, considered across the papers in this issue, point to the need to redefine CLS to engender versatility and hybridity and to enlist mutual learning relationships in future university-school partnerships. Such redefinition positions lesson study to both continue and change.Research limitations/implicationsThe papers in this issue are expected to promote mutualist learning in future CLS research-practice partnerships. To do so, research needs to move from focusing on change of a single case teacher to clarifying what experts and teachers each learn from the LS and from each other. Attention also needs to focus on the collaborative discourse and ways such discourse is able to promote mutual learning, emotional support in facing change as well as critical and constructive problem solving.Practical implicationsPractically, to better support boundary crossing, this special issue encourages academics and teachers to identify and work around boundary objects and their enabling features to enhance knowledge and identity of both university and teacher participants for more effective research-practice partnerships.Originality/valueThis special issue offers a pioneering set of studies that contributes to an in-depth understanding of how CLS is supporting the current competencies-based reform in China. It also provides concrete future directions for research and practice to enhance university-school partnerships' response to reform.

Chinese lesson study: critical aspects of transfer from China to Italy

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore the rationale and findings of the implementation of a Chinese lesson study (CLS)-informed model of mathematics teacher education in Italian schools. The study focuses on the modifications and invariance when introducing CLS in a different culture.Design/methodology/approachIn a previous work (Bartolini Bussi et al., 2017), the authors focused on a single case of activity inspired by the CLS in Italy, and identified some conflicts emerging between the cultures of teaching in China and Italy and explored the way to overcome the conflicts. In the following years, the authors implemented lesson study (LS) experimentations with dozens of in-service primary school teachers and pre-service teachers who were gradually introduced to the model of CLS. The tensions/constraints occurred prominently when extending the experiments with many dozens of other in-service teachers and pre-service teachers.FindingsThe authors highlighted how the process of deconstruction allowed the participants in the study to either appropriate or reject some features of the CLS, linking this process to the cultural differences.Practical implicationsThe authors believe and argue that LS, and CLS in particular, must be modified in the transfer from one culture to another, considering the cultural beliefs of the involved teachers.Originality/valueThe authors claim that the features of CLS compels the Western researchers to adopt local and culturally determined choices and to be aware of the rationale of these choices.

Facilitating EFL teachers’ professional development through CLS of English literature instruction

PurposeAgainst the backdrop of China’s curriculum reform, this paper explores how a Chinese lesson study (CLS) of English literature instruction in a senior high school promotes the teacher participant’s professional development (PD) in teacher beliefs and emotions, teaching contents, teaching approaches and learner outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted the CLS approach to explore the teacher participant, Lily’s PD. Three rounds of CLS of short fiction instruction were conducted. Triangulated data including interviews, reflection journals, discussion notes and lesson materials were collected for directed qualitative content analysis.FindingsThe results show that through the CLS, Lily has (1) changed her beliefs about the curriculum and literature instruction, and improved her emotion management and become more resilient and motivated; (2) shifted her teaching focus from forms and facts to meanings; (3) adopted a more learner-centred and inquiry-based teaching approach and (4) received satisfactory learner outcomes including increased learner participation and quality output. The follow-up class observations suggest the sustainability of such development.Originality/valueThis study applies and validates a conceptual framework of teachers’ PD, and establishes the value of promoting curriculum reform and facilitating EFL teachers’ PD through CLS and literature instruction.

A teacher's learning of transforming curriculum reform ideas into classroom practices in lesson study in China

PurposeThis study aims to explore how a Chinese lesson study (LS) supports a teacher's learning of transforming curriculum reform ideas into classroom practices.Design/methodology/approachData analyzed in this study included lesson plans, three videotaped research lessons, three audio-taped group meetings, interviews, the teacher's reflection journals and other related materials. Clarke and Hollingsworth's interconnected model of professional growth (IMPG) was adopted as the theoretical and analytical framework for examining the teacher's learning process.FindingsThis study found that teachers can deepen their understanding of innovative curriculum ideas and implement them through an iterative cycle of planning, enactment and reflection in LS. Involving knowledgeable others in the process and reflecting on evidence-based evaluation of students' learning outcomes is crucial for changing the teacher's knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and teaching practices. Theoretical tools, such as learning trajectory, are useful for transforming curriculum reform ideas that teachers find abstract and overly broad into concrete and actionable lesson designs.Originality/valueTheoretically, this study can broaden our knowledge about how the under-studied mechanism of Chinese LS can contribute to helping teachers to transform reform ideas into classroom practices. Practically, this study provides suggestions for researchers and educators to reflect on and improve the effectiveness of teachers' professional development programs in a reform context.

Exploring teacher learning process in Chinese lesson study: a case of representing fractions on a number line

PurposeThis paper presented the learning process of a group of primary mathematics teachers who participated in two iterations of lesson design, enactment and reflection in a Chinese Lesson Study.Design/methodology/approachAn expansive learning theory was employed to examine the teachers’ learning process in lesson study (LS) on representing fractions on a number line. The evolution of a germ cell was utilized to feature the transformation of the object of activity from abstract to concrete through resolving contradictions among LS members. The videos of lesson planning, research lessons (RLs) and debriefing meetings were collected and analyzed to reveal the expansive learning process.FindingsThe analysis showed that the teachers expanded their learning through transforming the object from diffuse to concrete and expanded through consciously articulating the germ cell. The outcomes of object-oriented activity include improving the enacted lesson which promoted students’ conceptual understanding.Originality/valueThis study made a unique contribution to understanding the learning process of teachers in Chinese LS from the perspective of expansive learning.

Chinese lesson study: a deliberate practice, a research methodology, and an improvement science

PurposeAlthough CLS has been implemented in China for over a century, it is barely known to educators internationally. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the salient characteristics of Chinese lesson study (CLS), introduce the major themes of this special issue, and invite dialogues about the theories and practices of CLS.Design/methodology/approachThe authors of this editorial paper conducted an extensive literature review on CLS, analyzed the contents and methods of the existing research categorically, compared CLS with other models of LS globally, and present this special issue articles and their major contributions thematically. The theoretical framework of the paper relies mainly on cultural theories and theories on research paradigms such as improvement science, which explain why and how CLS functions in Chinese education system over time.FindingsExisting studies suggest that CLS is a deliberate practice for developing instructional expertise, a research methodology for linking research and practice, and an improvement science for instruction and school improvement system wide. In addition to the theorization of CLS, this special issue also introduces some adaptations of CLS outside of China such as the USA and Italy.Originality/valueThis paper, for the first time, spells out some salient features of CLS, and discusses issues in adapting CLS in other parts of the world. It will enrich the understanding of LS theories and practices in China and promotes trans-cultural development of LS internationally.

Chinese lesson study, Learning study and keys to learning

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is threefold. First, the authors set out to advance the thesis that lesson study should be considered as the signature pedagogy of teachers. Second, the authors want to argue that combining the core attributes of Chinese lesson study and Learning study will improve the practice of lesson study. Third, the authors attempt to demonstrate how teachers discover necessary aspects of the object of learning (here called “keys to learning”) through their engagement in Learning studies.Design/methodology/approachThe paper conducted a contrastive analysis of two varieties of lesson studies: the Chinese lesson study and the Learning study.FindingsLesson studies form a field of varieties, but the commonality among them (i.e. the focus on the lesson) makes the lesson study a strong candidate for being “the signature pedagogy” of teachers. The most important attribute of the Chinese lesson study is its close connection to the daily work of teachers through its embeddedness in teacher research group (arguably the core organisational principle of the Chinese educational system). The most important attribute of the Learning study is its theoretical grounding which helps teachers create an environment for the students to discern and appropriate necessary aspects of the object of learning.Practical implicationsDifferent varieties may be enriched by including the two core attributes found in the Chinese lesson study and the Learning study.Originality/valueTwo empirical studies are used to exemplify how teacher might discover previously unknown necessary aspects of the object of learning (here called “keys to leaning”).

Theorizing Chinese lesson study from a cultural perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the cultural roots of Chinese lesson study (LS) so as to account for its persistence in the Chinese education history as well as its importance in Chinese teacher professional development and student learning.Design/methodology/approachThe overarching research question is: “How can Chinese lesson study be theorized from a cultural perspective?” The sub-questions include: “What cultural features do Chinese teachers demonstrate in their LS activities? How can traditional Chinese cultural resources be utilized in explaining the existence and development of these features?” Based on a close reading of firsthand classic texts on Chinese cultural thoughts and related literature, the researchers collected data from Chinese teachers’ LS activities, stimulated recall interviews and focus groups, and related documents. An analysis is conducted with interplay among the theoretical framework, the data, and the researchers’ personal insights.FindingsThe findings of the study include three aspects. First, in terms of their actions, the Chinese teachers enact their understanding of teaching in public lessons through unity of knowing and doing (知行合一) more than conceptual explication. Second, with regard to their thinking, the Chinese teachers use practical reasoning (实践推理) in deliberate practice of repeated teaching through group inquiry and reflection. Third, a tendency of emulating those better than oneself (见贤思齐) is evident in novice teachers’ learning from “good” examples by expert teachers.Originality/valueThe revelation of these cultural features can not only contribute to a deeper understanding about the persistence and importance of LS in the Chinese education history, but also provide an example of analyzing LS from a cultural perspective to the world LS community.

Improving core instructional practice in mathematics teaching through lesson study

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how teachers improve core instructional practices in teaching mathematics for problem solving through lesson study (LS). The core practices included launching a task, implementing a task, and orchestrating students’ solutions.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted multiple case study and survey methodologies. Each of three LS groups developed a research lesson on problem solving in algebra through Chinese LS, which includes collaborative planning and repeated teachings/debriefings of the research lesson with support from experts. The data collected included lesson plans, videotaped research lessons and debriefing meetings, and an end-of-project survey. Case studies supported by survey data were utilized to describe how research lessons were improved and what teachers learned from LS.FindingsA fine-grained analysis of the data revealed that the participants improved their strategies for teaching for problem solving, which included effectively launching tasks, strategically implementing tasks, and productively orchestrating students’ solutions to the tasks. Further, analyses revealed that the feedback from experts during debriefing meetings played crucial roles in making these changes. Moreover, participants learned how to implement these core instructional practices and changed their views about students’ learning.Originality/valueThe study uncovers the mechanisms about how teachers improve teaching and their expertise in teaching through Chinese LS. The importance of the dynamic between repeated teaching and immediate feedback from knowledgeable others is highlighted.

Cultural transposition of Chinese lesson study to Italy

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the early implementation of a model of mathematics teacher development in Italian schools, inspired by Chinese lesson study (CLS), focusing on similarities and differences.Design/methodology/approachA research lesson study on fractions in the fourth grade was conducted. The approach was designed based on the theory of semiotic mediation (TSM) enriched by means of quaternary analysis and the variation pedagogy of CLS. In this study, qualitative methods were employed involving the collection of data including lesson plans, observations and post-lesson analyses.FindingsThe purpose of this study is to determine what works and what does not work in the Italian context. Answers to the following research questions are provided: How did LS incorporate quaternary analysis and variation pedagogy in the TSM? How and why were changes introduced in the structure of the lesson plan with respect to the CLS? How did members of the Italian Mathematics Teaching Research Group increase their knowledge of teaching methods and content?Research limitations/implicationsThe issues to be considered in further studies include the possible conflicts emerging between the cultures of teaching in China and Italy and the way to overcome them.Practical implicationsThe main ideas of CLS are consistent with the general indications of the Italian Ministry of Education for the three-year program (2016-2019) of mandatory teacher development.Originality/valueReporting the findings of an Italian LS is aimed at exploring the differences and similarities among the different forms of LS, under the influence of cultural and institutional constraints.

Perceived professional knowledge and competence of mathematics specialists and its development in China

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore what professional knowledge and competence (PKC) that knowledgeable others, namely, mathematics teaching research specialists (MTRS) in China, need to know, and how they may develop their PKC.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts mixed methods. A survey on PKC with 549 MTRS is utilized to examine MTRS’ perceived held and ideal PKC and perceived effective ways of developing their PKC. The responses to the open-ended questions on the survey were used to identify additional dimensions of PKC and ways of developing PKC. Multiple techniques of quantitative data analysis were employed to feature the characteristics of PKC and structure of the survey, and the relationship between background variables and perception of PKC. Collectively, this study paints a rich and comprehensive picture about Chinese knowledgeable others’ knowledge and competence, and its development.FindingsThe data analysis reveals that the participants appreciated the six-dimension model of MTRS’ PKC. They were confident with their PKC in general, but varied in different aspects. The factor analysis showed the six-dimension model could be further clustered into two components: knowledge about mathematics teaching and learning and competence in mentoring and educational leadership, and knowledge about content, assessing student learning, and use of technology. The participants perceived their learning through multiple ways including: learning through reading, attending specific training programs, attending and mentoring teaching research activities both school-based and across regions, observing and debriefing lessons, sharing within online learning communities. All these venues jointly contribute to developing MTRS’ PKC.Originality/valueThis is the first empirical study on MTRS’ PKC and its development in China based on such a large sample. The findings of this study not only contribute to an understanding of knowledgeable others in Chinese lesson study and providing suggestions for support of their development, but also provide implications for studies of practice-based mathematics teacher-educators globally.

School-based teaching research and lesson-case study in mediating the second-cycle curriculum reform in Shanghai

PurposeEmerging research on education reform in Shanghai for the last decade or so has either focused on broad contexts and trends of the second-cycle curriculum reform or the professional development in response to the reform or a few detailed cases of teaching improvement to meet the reform demand. Little attention has been paid to how schools as institutions have been made to respond to and enact the reform. Through three detailed school cases, the purpose of this paper is to understand their distinctive responses to reform in terms of how they interpreted, enacted and sustained their reform efforts and how more importantly lesson-case study and multi-tiered research projects has become a reinvigorated form of Chinese lesson study and teaching research to significantly mediate the school’s curriculum reform efforts. Features of sustainable development behind these cases are conceptualized by Lave and Wenger’s notion of transparency of the mediating technology of a community of practice.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on master’s thesis reports of school leaders (2010-2016), school research publications and lesson cases as secondary data sources, an instrumental multi-case research design was adopted to build detailed case narratives and tease out cross-case comparisons.FindingsBuilding on unique strengths and legacies to solve school problems, the three secondary schools responded to, enacted and sustained the reform in unique ways: case 1, a municipal key school, has focused on “three translations (of curriculum)” involving all teaching research groups (TRGs) in specifying broad curriculum standards and turning them into concrete, actionable designs and student tasks which are tested and refined through iterative cycles of lesson-case study, with the decision making for each translation informed by research projects studying problems arising. Case 2, a district key school, has capitalized on its strong TRGs and used research projects and lesson-case study to unite teaching, research and PD into a whole; and case 3, a regular neighborhood school, has aimed to build a structured PD system to tackle teacher stagnation by stressing the reflection components of each cycle of lesson-case study, challenging teachers to learn in the district-level curriculum integration experiment, and nudging them into their own research projects with well-staged support. In all the three cases, research projects have been networked connecting municipal, district, school and teachers in building a research climate. The lesson-case study has turned designs into refined actions to ensure quality of curriculum implementation and teacher growth.Originality/valueThis study yields insights into the inner workings of Shanghai’s recent curriculum reform. With strategic injection of research into the familiar institutional structures and organic cultural forms of collegiality, school innovations can be built on familiarity to create a sense of continuity, coherence and institutional identity so that teachers learn from doing with least disruption. The slow and steady work of sustaining innovations and reform goes beyond simple notions of scaling up and relies on building internal drive and institutional and teacher capacity for deep learning in responding to reform.

Is there really any difference between lesson and learning study? Both focus on neriage

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to highlight similarities between Japanese lesson study, Chinese lesson study and learning study.Design/methodology/approachThis editorial review is intended to stimulate a discussion about a critical aspect of both Lesson and learning studies exemplified by the texts published in issue 6.2 of this journal.FindingsThe author identifies neriage, the comparison and discussion phase of Japanese lesson study, as a critical aspect of both Lesson and learning studies and emphasises that both involve research leading to teachers learning what makes effective lessons possible. Attention is drawn to the importance of being explicit about the theory of learning behind Lesson and learning studies and how its implementation leads to teacher learning.Originality/valueThis editorial review provides a framework for evaluating the quality of lesson and learning studies in educational institutions.

Characterizing mathematics teaching research specialists’ mentoring in the context of Chinese lesson study

This study examined how mathematics teaching research specialists mentored practicing teachers during post-lesson debriefs of a lesson study in China. Based on a systematic, fine-grained analysis of 107 h of videotaped mentoring meetings of 20 groups of teachers and teaching research specialists from different elementary schools, this study revealed that the Chinese teaching research specialists paid a great deal of attention to practical knowledge which consists of setting student learning goals, designing instructional tasks, formative assessment of student learning, and improving instructional behaviors. Less attention was paid to mathematics content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge in general. Meanwhile, the teaching research specialists tended to comment on lessons in general and addressed anticipated problems based on their previous experience, with less attention to addressing issues raised by the teachers or engaging in dynamic dialogue with them. On the basis of the data analysis, a framework for analyzing mentoring activities emerged. The strengths and weaknesses of the teaching research specialists’ mentoring strategies are identified through the framework, and suggestions for the improvement of teaching research specialists’ mentoring strategies are discussed.

Developing teachers’ and teaching researchers’ professional competence in mathematics through Chinese Lesson Study

This study examines co-learning of mathematics practicing teachers and mathematics teaching researchers through parallel lesson study in China. Two cases are illustrated and compared to highlight what practicing teachers and teaching researchers learned. The practicing teachers developed their competence in identifying instructional objectives, improving instructional process, selecting and sequencing mathematical tasks, and developing professional vision. The mathematics teaching researchers developed their professional competence in effectively carrying out teaching research activities, effectively mentoring teachers, and deepening the understanding of teaching.

How crucial incidents analysis support Chinese lesson study

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe two kinds of crucial incidents analysis that Chinese teachers employ during traditional Chinese Teaching Research Group (TRG) activities to analyze their lessons.Design/methodology/approachChinese educators have engaged for several decades in Teaching Research Group (TRG) activities. The paper describes the methods they use.FindingsThe methods employed by teachers were: first, quaternary analysis of a lesson's key point, difficult point, and critical point; and second, part‐to‐whole analysis (experienced teachers' ways of discussing a lesson).Originality/valueThe authors hope that recognition of these two kinds of teaching analysis can help teachers to better understand the essence of traditional TRG activities, and to employ them more consciously during their lesson study activities.