Investigating Learning Processes in Teachers' Professional Discussions in Lesson Study
OBJECTIVE, TOPIC AND RESEARCH QUESTION
Despite recognizing that human learning is a mystery that may never be solved (Säljö, 2000/2001, p.12), the objective of this study is to contribute to the literature on teachers’ professional learning.
For this purpose, teacher discussions in Lesson Study (LS) are analysed. LS is a collaborative approach to teacher learning that originated in Japan more than hundred years ago and is now widespread across the world. Through the phases of a LS cycle, “plan, do and see” (Isoda, 2010, 2015), teachers work together to gain knowledge of how to promote student learning. In LS groups, teachers plan, conduct and reflect on one or more research lessons, understood as lessons designed for the purpose of investigating the connection between teaching and student learning.
Teachers’ discussions in LS offer opportunities for researchers to scrutinize teachers’ professional learning, by “opening a window” into teachers’ reflections concerning teaching and learning. For this study, we have developed the following research question: How to describe teachers’ professional learning as it appears in teacher discussions in LS?
CONCEPTUAL/THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The current study leans on a social understanding of teachers’ learning, viewing learning as an active collaborative process ‘in which teachers engage in activities that lead to change in knowledge and beliefs (cognition) and/or teaching practices (behaviour)’ (Bakkenes, Vermunt & Wubbels, 2010, p. 536). The concept of ‘community of practice’ (Wenger, 2008) informs this study by describing learning as ‘negotiating of meaning’ (Wenger, 2008, p. 226) and by emphasizing the importance of a group’s ‘shared repertoire’ (p. 73). This study also draws on the theory of ‘collectively thinking’ and ‘interthinking’ (Littleton & Mercer, 2013; Mercer, 2000, 2002) to describe teachers’ collaborative learning, being visible through spoken interactions in discussions in LS.
METHODOLOGY
To gain knowledge concerning teachers’ professional learning, teacher interactions in discussions in LS are investigated. This study has a qualitative design that includes an inductive approach to teachers’ professional learning that is closely related to empirical data, represented by transcripts of audio taped teacher discussions. Data for the analysis is retrievd from discussions by two different teacher groups. The teachers in the first group (LS group 1) aimed to promote group discussions of social science by tenth-grade students (15–16 years old). The second group (LS group 2) investigated how to promote the reading skills of eighth-grade students (13–14 years old) via reading strategies. Five teacher discussions in LS were selected for close analysis, two from LS group 1 and three from LS group 2. The discussions were all part of the ‘see’ phase of the LS cycle, representing teacher discussions that occurred after research lessons. The analytic approach is described in the attached Methods chapter.
RESULT
Teacher interactions developed in different ways during the post-research lesson discussions. Analysis of teacher interactions during discussions revealed different intertwined learning processes. These processes included sharing and reflecting on observations from research lessons, teachers’ meaning making processes connected to these observations and, shorter or longer processes of decision making related to changes in practice. Based on close analysis of these processes, teachers’ professional learning is presented in this study as dimensions of learning processes, represented by five scenarios: sharing, meaning making, noticing, turn and developing practice.
The result shows that professional learning as it appears in the teacher discussions of this study can be understood as a number of different learning processes that influence and interfere with each other.
The attached Methods chapter includes further description and theorizing of the five scenarios.