Michael Kamen

Walking the Talk: Lessons Learned by University Mathematics Methods Instructors Implementing Lesson Study for Their Own Professional Development

Seven university professors participated in lesson study of their own mathematics methods teaching. They presented a research lesson four times in elementary mathematics methods classes and a fifth time as a public research lesson at a national mathematics education conference. The lesson focused on the use of invented strategies in elementary mathematics instruction. The project demonstrated that lesson study is a powerful tool for mathematics teacher educator professional development, supporting the premise that mathematics instruction is a problem to solve rather than a set of teaching techniques to implement.

Our Journey of Understanding Through Lesson Study

Science teacher educators position our selves as experts on both teaching science and helping pre-service teachers (PSTs) learn how to do the same. But there is no guidebook to follow when it comes time to incorporate new ideas and emerging strategies into our practice. To learn more about a growing professional development approach – Japanese Lesson Study – and our own teaching, we collaboratively engaged in Lesson Study in three different methods classrooms focused on teaching PSTs. Six years later, we entered into a collaborative self-study to share how the lesson study project has continued to influence our thinking and practice over the long term. In the process of meticulously reexamining our earlier work together, we answered some of the questions that had emerged during that experience and found new perspectives from which to observe what had taken place. This chapter describes our self-study process in detail, exploring both the impact of the initial lesson study collaboration and the lasting changes to our development as science teacher educators and our perspectives on the role of theory in teacher education.