Developing Visions of Ambitious Teaching Practices and Garnering Support for Professional Learning Through Lesson Study

• In Event: Lesson Study Variation Across Contexts

Abstract

The purpose of this session is to share what we have gleaned from using Lesson Study to deepen teachers’ professional knowledge around mathematics content and the vertical learning progression in mathematics. Lesson Study has been embraced by teacher educators because it empowers teachers and provides a collaborative structure that promotes reflection and critical dialogue about pedagogical content knowledge among teachers, as well as evidence of success in breaking down teacher isolation, building collaborative teaching communities and supporting positive student outcomes, such as increased knowledge of mathematics (Lewis, 2002; Lewis & Perry, 2015; Perry & Lewis, 2008).
This mixed methods study examined teachers professional learning from a Learning Trajectory (Confrey, 2012) focused Lesson Study with vertical grade levels that engaged participants in face to face research lessons followed by a video study for the second iteration. Through this study, we examined the unique affordances of LS in specific professional development initiatives and how the cycles within LS may improve teacher knowledge, beliefs and practices. Fifty teachers and coaches participated in an online survey about the perceived supports they experienced during the LS process. Our research questions included:
1. What are the affordance of Lesson Study and the specific professional learning outcomes for teachers and coaches when provided in different modalities: face to face research lesson followed by video studies?
2. How supported do teachers who participate in Lesson Study feel in terms of social, emotional, and instructional support, as they experience face to face and video-based collaboration during the lesson implementation and in school-based vs non-school-based LS teams?
Data from lesson study reflections, surveys, interviews, and video artifacts revealed specific affordances between the face to face research lesson experience and the follow up video-based iterations. The face to face iteration of the research lesson provided opportunities for teacher experimentation with support: coaching, encouragement, and modeling through planning, observation and debrief. The debrief allowed for deeper analysis of student work and understanding of the content while vertical teaming allowed for meaningful articulation of learning progressions. Analysis of the annotated comments and exchanges from the video study revealed that individual teachers were noticing at deeper levels about their ambitious teaching practices (Lampert et al., 2013) of questioning, eliciting student thinking and engaging in mathematics discourse (NCTM, 2014). Using the survey, we analyzed teachers’ perceptions of three different types of support: social, emotional, and instructional, based on modalities (face to face and video study) and differences between in-school based teams or non-school based teams. Findings revealed that participants did feel socially, emotionally and instructionally supported, and felt higher levels of support during in-person Lesson Study, in comparison to a video-based Lesson Study iteration. Additionally, the results suggest that levels of perceived support did not vary based on non-school based or in-school based Lesson Study. This study contributes to the field in understanding how different modalities of Lesson Study can provide visions of ambitious teaching while garnering support from coaches, peers and LS facilitators to promote teachers’ professional learning.

Authors

• Jennifer M. Suh, George Mason University

• Laura Stokes, George Mason University

• Laurie Capen, George Mason University

• Sara Birkhead, George Mason University

• Padmanabhan Seshaiyer, George Mason University