Improving Teaching and Enhancing Teachers’ Growth Through Parallel Lessons Development: A Chinese Approach

• In Event: Two Tales of One Format: Examinations of Lesson Studies in the United States and China

Abstract

Parallel lesson study (PLS), a recently developed Chinese lesson study approach, engages at least two lesson study groups in developing a research lesson of the same mathematics topic then comparing and contrasting their respective research lessons. A lesson study group typically consists of practicing teachers and an expert teacher (such as a district teaching researcher who primarily works with teachers). This study explores how two groups of middle school mathematics teachers improved their instruction and developed their teaching competence through PLS.
The study adopted the theory of expansive learning to conceptualize PLS as an approach to mathematics teachers’ professional development. The theory of expansive learning focuses on the transformation of learning from isolated individuals to collectives and communities (Engeström & Sannino, 2010). It argues that learning is a multi-dimensional process in which learners construct new objects for their collective activities and implement the new objects in practice. The study employs the key concepts of expansive learning: transformation of the object, boundary crossing and community building. The two groups of teachers and teaching researchers travelled across their local communities to work together on designing, revising and polishing the study lessons as the boundary object. During the process the participant teachers and teaching researchers aimed at constructing an effective, successful way to teach and learn the mathematics topic by sharing and transforming knowledge reservoir in their communities, individual expertise and reflection. Finally, through comparing and contrasting the boundary objects (research lessons), the teachers in different communities expanded their learning through boundary crossing.
The study draws on the following qualitative data sources: written lesson plans, videotaped lessons, teachers’ interviews and self-reflection reports around the research lesson development. The lesson plans/videos and reflection reports were analysed to identify instructional improvement of practicing teachers. The interviews aimed at soliciting how the participant teachers learned from conducting PLS. Expansive learning theory was used to analyze the interview data and reflection report to capture how objects were transformed, and how boundary crossing contributed to teacher learning when they worked with boundary objects.
The preliminary results showed that the participant teachers improved their methods of delivering the content and honed their competencies in identifying instructional objectives, selecting and sequencing mathematical tasks, and creating productive discourse. Meanwhile, the PLS activities created opportunities for the teachers, both the experienced and novice teachers, to develop their knowledge reservoir and professional visions.
The study contributes to the understanding of mathematics teacher learning through the lenses of expansive learning. It extends the notions of changing teachers’ knowledge and beliefs for teaching, and developing teaching and learning resources within a community of practice (Lewis, Perry, & Hurd, 2009) through boundary crossing. The study furthers the knowledge and practice of conducting lesson study in the US.

References
Engeström, Y., & Sannino, A. (2010). Studies of expansive learning: Foundations, findings and future challenges. Educational Research Review, 5, 1-24.
Lewis, C., Perry, R., & Hurd, J. (2009). Improving mathematics instruction through lesson study: a theoretical model and North American case. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 12, 285-304.

Authors

• Xue Han, Dominican University

• Rongjin Huang, Middle Tennessee State University