Teacher learning in Lesson Study: What interaction-level discourse analysis revealed about how teachers utilised imagination, tacit knowledge of teaching and fresh evidence of pupils learning, to develop practice knowledge and so enhance their pupils' learning

TLDR: The authors examined what discourse interactions reveal about teacher learning in Lesson Study (LS) contexts as teachers plan and discuss research lessons and created motivating conditions enabling collective access to imagined practice and joint development of micro practices.

About: This article is published in Teaching and Teacher Education.The article was published on 2013-08-01 and is currently open access. It has received 243 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Lesson study & Reflective practice.

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Table 1 lists the interaction function codes identified in the LS group talk in the five talk types identified, and also gives illustrations of them in use derived from the transcript.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What contributions have the authors mentioned in the paper "1 not for circulation or forwarding this article is in press and will be published in teaching and teacher education in due course. you may cite it as: dudley, p., (in press). teacher learning in lesson study: what interaction-level discourse analysis revealed about how teachers utilised imagination, tacit knowledge of teaching and freshly gathered evidence of pupils learning, to develop their practice knowledge and so enhance their pupils’ learning, teaching and teacher education" ?

This research examines what discourse interactions reveal about teacher learning in Lesson Study ( LS ) contexts as teachers plan and discuss research lessons. 

Q2. What are the future works in "1 not for circulation or forwarding this article is in press and will be published in teaching and teacher education in due course. you may cite it as: dudley, p., (in press). teacher learning in lesson study: what interaction-level discourse analysis revealed about how teachers utilised imagination, tacit knowledge of teaching and freshly gathered evidence of pupils learning, to develop their practice knowledge and so enhance their pupils’ learning, teaching and teacher education" ?

I have synthesised the findings from this small study into seven claims that could be tested by further research. 

Q3. What did Rose believe would help her pupils in future?

Rose (CS1) believed that her pupils would benefit if given ‘open questions’ to explore mathematical concepts, such as negative numbers and place value, using small-group discussion (which they were accustomed to using in their English lessons). 

Q4. What were the three categories of collaborative group talk used in the case stories?

1995, p. 104)Repeated sweeps through the transcripts revealed that Mercer’s three categories of pupils’ collaborative group talk – disputational, cumulative and exploratory - could also be used to understand teachers’ talk in LS groups. 

Q5. What were the forms of knowledge and motivations that LS group members used to influence and inform?

The forms of knowledge and motivations that LS group members drew upon and used in order to influence and inform this learning were: new knowledge of their pupils’ learning encountered in RLs, combined with finely grained and shared understandings of aspects of curriculum or pedagogy – particularly pedagogical knowledge (such as that related to formative assessment practices and collaborative learning approaches) and PCK. 

Q6. How did Rose feel about her pupils’ learning in mathematics?

Rose believed that her pupils’ learning in mathematics was suppressed because they felt so stressed attempting closed questions requiring ‘correct’ answers, that they were   14  unable to explore or experiment with mathematical thought in the way that they did in discussions in English lessons where open questions were used to invite conjecture or opinion. 

Q7. What is the purpose of tacit knowledge forms?

So tacit knowledge forms, which are generally invisible and not consciously accessible to teachers, are used to store non-urgent practice knowledge. 

Q8. What is the international context for my research?

The international context for my research lies in outcomes of a national pilot project in England (2003-5) conducted by the author, which drew on evidence principally from Japan and the US, exploring the use of LS in the UK (Dudley, 2004, 2011) and which prompted the research reported here. 

Q9. How did the teachers in each CS improve their teaching?

This led teachers in each CS significantly to raise their expectations for these pupils and to pitch subsequent teaching at a level more suited to their true needs, which, teachers reported, led them to make sustained subsequent progress.