Developing Professionals: Findings From Educators Involved in a Lesson Study Network

• In Event: Roundtable Session 25
  In Roundtable Session: Culturally Responsive Practice Within a Context of Standardization

Abstract

Professional development in education builds individual capacity by increasing educators’ knowledge and skills, and it might also build organizational capacity by supporting collaborative work. This qualitative case study examines how educators in one northeastern district engage in lesson study in mathematics from 2011-2012. Lesson study is a team-based, teacher-led inquiry cycle developed in Japan. The focus of this study is how, if at all, engaging in lesson study enhances individual and organizational capacity. Educators in the lesson study network build common cultural tools, such as shared norms, language, and external representations of teaching, to support their professional learning. At the same time however, competing institutional scripts at the district make it difficult to build a coherent professional development strategy.

Author

• Candice Bocala, WestEd