Lesson Study, enhanced with video-based tasks, in the education of mathematics teachers: Lesson Study in the middle
Abstract
Practice-based programmes involving teachers cooperating in professional communities have been shown to develop their professional knowledge and teaching. The chapter concentrates on the blend of two such approaches, namely a video-based course and Lesson Study.
While video-based courses are based on joint reflection on the teaching of others and/or on one's own teaching, in Lesson Study, teachers jointly prepare, conduct and reflect on a "research lesson". The two types of programmes share important characteristics such as a focus on students and their learning, observation of and reflection on lessons, close cooperation among teachers, and their potential to empower teachers to teach for conceptual understanding.
The chapter adopts a domain specific perspective, namely a mathematics education one. It first elaborates on the teaching for conceptual understanding in mathematics.
Second, it describes the main features and various implementations of Lesson Study and video-based courses as depicted in literature and outlines their empirically evidenced influences on teacher learning. Third, it is proposed how Lesson Study can be enhanced with video-based tasks at its beginning and towards its end and one implementation of such a programme is illustrated.
Finally, some prerequisites for, and obstacles to, the implementation of such a programme are discussed.