The learning teacher in a collaborative lesson study team within the context of mathematics

This paper summarises results of two studies on teachers’ learning when participating in a collaborative Lesson Study team within the context of mathematics teaching. In study one, Lesson Study was used in the classic way of preparing, designing, executing and reflecting on the research lesson. Teachers wondered about the counting problems of their students and focused within the design of lessons on students’ reasoning. In study 2 participating teachers wanted to know how they could instruct algebraic equations to their students in such a way that the instruction meets the educational needs of the students. Within this Lesson Study cycle we used the concept of case pupils was used as the focus of lesson planning. In study 1 data were gathered using learner reports. In study 2 lesson plans were gathered and analysed and interviews with the teachers were conducted. The findings suggest beneficial outcomes for teachers. Lesson Study is an excellent model for constructing pedagogical content knowledge and improving teaching as the teacher becomes more knowledgeable about how the student learns and thinks and how instruction affects the student’s learning in the process of teaching as well as knowledge of the subject matter.