Lesson Study as a Component of an Induction Program for Novice Teachers
Lesson Study as a Component of an Induction Program for Novice Teachers
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Date
2021
Authors
Haupt, Melanie
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Middle Tennessee State University
Abstract
Typically, beginning teachers need proper support as they transition to the
classroom to be successful; they may not have the specialized skills and knowledge to
teach mathematics effectively. Induction programs are designed to provide the needed
support to novice teachers during their early years of teaching (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011);
however, many induction programs within the US are not providing the necessary
support to teachers to be successful (Wong et al., 2005). This study used a single case
study to explore the effectiveness of lesson study as a component of an induction
program for a novice mathematics teacher.
The researcher interpreted the novice teacher’s development through the lens of
the situative perspective. According to this perspective, which is the combination of
constructivist and sociocultural perspectives, learning is a process of the active
construction of individual knowledge through interaction with others. To explore the
effectiveness of lesson study as a component of induction, a novice teacher was selected
to participate in one cycle of lesson study with three iterations of the research lesson. The
novice teacher was a first-year mathematics teacher starting the alternative route for a
practitioner license. The lesson study group consisted of the novice teacher’s professional
learning community. Multiple data sources were collected before, during, and after the
lesson study to identify changes in the participant. Through coding and categorizing the
data from each iteration of lesson study, the researcher identified her development
pathways in her disposition, cooperative relationships, and mathematical knowledge for
teaching (MKT).
The researcher identified how the novice teacher developed through the course of
the study. At the start of the study, the novice teacher was unsure of what constituted
effective teaching practices. Through the progression of the study, she learned the
importance of teaching through problem solving to promote productive struggle in the
learning of mathematics. This had a positive effect on her disposition as she started to
understand the benefits of perseverance and experienced the joys of mathematics sense
making. As the teachers collaborated throughout the lesson study process, the nature of
their conversations shifted from congeniality to collegiality. Through participation in
lesson study, the novice teacher developed MKT. The multiple iterations of the research
lesson and involvement of the knowledgeable other are two critical factors influencing
the growth of the novice teacher. The findings from this research study demonstrate the
compatibility of lesson study with characteristics of effective induction programs, but
more research on the sustainability and scalability of the findings of this case study is
needed. In conclusion, this study suggests that lesson study can provide the necessary
components of induction.
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Keywords
Mathematics education