Lesson Study in a Community of Practice as a Form of School-Based Professional Development

• In Event: Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Research in Mathematics Education SIG Roundtable 2

Abstract

This research investigates a task-based community of practice as a model of school based professional development. The research is conducted as a case study in two school sites, both involved in different phases of a new centralized mathematics curriculum. Data has been generated from research meetings of the community, research lessons and teacher interviews. Mathematics teachers from two post-primary schools participated in cycles of lesson study as a community of practice. The research questions how effective an approach this may be in enhancing teachers’ content knowledge, developing teachers’ pedagogical practices and encouraging teachers to engage with a new curriculum. The research has identified teachers’ enhanced engagement with the curriculum and initial findings show that the experience benefited newly qualified teachers.

Author

• Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain, University College Dublin