A Critical Mechanism for Improving Teaching and Promoting Teacher Learning During Chinese Lesson Study: An Analysis of the Dynamics Between Enactment and Reflection

Abstract

Chinese and Japanese lesson studies are similar structurally yet different regarding the necessity of repeated teaching and knowledgeable others’ input. Chinese teachers’ learning through lesson study emphasizes the unity of knowing and doing and practical reasoning in deliberate practice. Utilizing a deliberate practice perspective to examine the process of lesson study, this study examined the dynamics between enactments and reflections during Chinese lesson study and its impact on improving teaching and teacher learning. Three cycles of lesson study involving three first-grade teachers occurred in the Southeastern USA, with an expert team of mathematics educators and specialists facilitating. Data included lesson plans, videotaped research lessons and debriefing sessions, and post-lesson study reflection reports. Major changes across enacted lessons and argumentations made during the debriefings contributing to the changes were identified. Data analysis revealed that experts and teachers collaboratively made contributions to improving the lesson. Experts mainly focused on implementing learning trajectory and sequencing tasks, while teachers focused on students’ learning readiness and on formative assessment. Teachers expressed enthusiasm for the lesson study process and perceived that their teaching skills and knowledge of content, pedagogy, and student thinking increased. This study uncovers the mechanism of lesson study as deliberate practice, which emphasizes the necessity of repeated teaching and immediate input of knowledgeable others, and highlights the unique impact of the dynamics between enactments and reflection on teachers’ learning.