Ni Shuilleabhain, Aoibhinn and Owens, Emma and Seery, Aidan and Hyland, Diarmaid
(2024)
From beginning to mature: investigating the development of teacher community through Lesson Study.
Frontiers in Education, 9.
pp. 1-15.
ISSN 2504-284X
Abstract
This research investigates the potential of Lesson Study to develop teachers’
professional community. Situated in two case study schools, Doone and Crannog
(both pseudonyms), where mathematics teachers participated in multiple, successive
cycles of Lesson Study over the course of one academic year, the research details
the development of teacher community through teachers’ conversations and
reflections. Data was generated through audio recordings of teachers’ Lesson Study
meetings and individual interviews with participating teachers. Analysis is based on
a framework of professional teacher community which describes discrete phases
of development from beginning to mature. Findings from the research suggest
that groups of teachers may begin their Lesson Study work at different stages of
evolution of teacher community and that Lesson Study has the potential to strength
and develop such community over successive cycles. The research demonstrates
that teachers’ participation in Lesson Study can provide them with opportunities to
recognize and express communal responsibility for individual growth of colleagues,
a key feature in the formation of teacher community. The research also highlights
the importance of navigating fault lines or differences in ideas and opinions during
the Lesson Study work. Findings may offer guidance to facilitators of Lesson Study
on elements of teachers’ collaborative work which may benefit from additional
focus, such as productively engaging with conflict within a group. This research
contributes to the literature on Lesson Study in outlining how this model of
professional development may provide a powerful structure within which teacher
community can be developed.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Lesson Study; teacher community; mathematics teachers; professional learning community; professional development; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Education |
| Item ID: |
18236 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1331127 |
| Depositing User: |
Mr Diarmaid Hyland
|
| Date Deposited: |
29 Feb 2024 16:20 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Frontiers in Education |
| Publisher: |
Frontiers Media S.A |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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