Development of bansho (board writing) analysis as a research method to improve observation and analysis of instruction in lesson study

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 230-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Tan ◽  
Kumi Fukaya ◽  
Shiho Nozaki

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop bansho analysis as a research method to improve observation and analysis of instruction in lesson study, which could potentially visualise pupils’ thinking processes in a lesson. Design/methodology/approach The paper opted for a qualitative method of case study analysis. Data are drawn from a Year 6 Japanese Language lesson of a Japanese primary school. Data collection and data analysis are informed by transcript-based lesson analysis. The process of bansho formation is also reproduced based on video and audio data. Findings Bansho analysis illustrates three main patterns of pupils’ thinking processes, namely, variation of ideas, connection of ideas and attention to ideas. Pupils’ opinion sharing at the beginning of the lesson led to a variety of ideas and they were recorded as part of bansho. There, pupils proceeded to establish connection among ideas. Finally, pupils displayed attention to ideas which were recorded on bansho, by returning to ideas that intrigued them. Research limitations/implications There is a need to investigate the teacher’s role in bansho formation processes in order to develop a more comprehensive bansho analysis method. Other teaching and learning materials such as lesson plans and pupils’ notes should also be included in the study of bansho to develop a more comprehensive bansho analysis. Originality/value Bansho analysis proposed in this paper allows educators and researchers to study bansho with visualisation of bansho-related data. It would serve as an invaluable source of evidence during the observation and reflection stage of lesson study cycle.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongjin Huang ◽  
Nina Helgevold ◽  
Jean Lang

PurposeFinding ways in which technology can be used to modify, strengthen, scale up and sustain lesson study (LS) is an emerging field of research. It has become even more important due to a pandemic leading to teacher and student learning being delivered online. The purpose of this paper is to present research findings about experiences of online LS and identify issues for further research.Design/methodology/approachA systematic search of articles from 2010 to 2020 identified 13 relevant papers, and through analysis, some major themes were identified. All papers in the special issue were synthesized from the lens of the identified themes; finally, further directions are discussed.FindingsIn general, various online LS models were found to have features that resulted in positive effects on teaching and learning, but, whilst several characteristics of effective online learning were identified, some studies also highlighted issues.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a need for larger scale projects over an extended period to assess the effectiveness of online LS. Future research focused on carrying out learning study online as well as consideration of equity issues associated with online LS are also suggested.Originality/valueThe studies presented in this issue address the opportunities and challenges of conducting online LS during a pandemic and beyond. Together, the literature review and contributory papers provide an international perspective of using online LS and identify important issues for further research.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janne Fauskanger ◽  
Nina Helgevold ◽  
Mercy Kazima ◽  
Arne Jakobsen

PurposeThe aim of the study is to better understand how lesson study (LS) contributes to challenging teachers' views of mathematics teaching and learning.Design/methodology/approachThis study is part of a wider ongoing project aiming at improving primary mathematics teaching in Malawi through professional development (PD) of teachers using a LS model. The units being analyzed are teachers' written reflections and lesson plans. The analytical approach is qualitative content analysis.FindingsInitially, the participating Malawian primary teachers report traditional views of mathematics teaching and learning. After having participated in a LS cycle, they reported on the need to work on how to involve and create space for learners' participation in mathematic lessons and highlight the importance for learners to discover mathematics on their own.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a small-scale study due to LS being quite new in the Malawian context and the need to test before possible upscaling.Practical implicationsThe paper includes a description on how LS might contribute to challenging Malawian teachers' views of mathematics teaching and learning; this can be valuable information for others who are attempting to use LS in a similar context.Originality/valueThis paper fulfills an identified need to learn more about how LS might contribute to challenging teachers' views of mathematics teaching and learning worldwide.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulla Runesson

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss two theoretical frameworks, Pirie and Kieren’s work (Pirie and Kieren, 1994) and variation theory of learning (Marton, 2015) in relation to lesson/learning study and mathematics teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach The point of departure is the article: “Folding back and growing mathematical understanding: a longitudinal study of learning” (Martin and Towers, 2016) where it is demonstrated how Pirie and Kieren’s work (1994) and particularly the notion “folding-back” can be used as the theoretical framework in lesson/learning study. By dealing with similar arrangements and different theories, the two frameworks are contrasted. Findings It is suggested that the theory appropriated must be in resonance with the aim and focus of the study the theoretical perspective taken since it has implications for what becomes the focus of the process and subsequently the results of lesson/learning study. Originality/value This paper contributes to the discussion about how a more theory-informed lesson study and a broader theoretically framed learning study would improve and change the scope and progress of the two.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sommay Shingphachanh

PurposeLesson study is a vital approach to improve teaching and learning that Japanese teachers have been utilizing for a century. Lesson study, however, has only recently been recognized as a teacher development strategy in Laos and started implementing in teacher training colleges (TTCs) in 2015. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which teachers have gained an understanding of the procedure of lesson study and to reveal their initial concerns about its implementation.Design/methodology/approachThis research reports on lesson study implementation in a Lao TTC during 2015-2017. Data were collected from 11 classroom observations, lesson study reports, lesson study guidelines, and 70 open-ended questionnaires.FindingsData analysis revealed the initial experience of teachers in the suburb schools in applying lesson study to enhance teaching and students’ learning outcomes, and their concerns regarding lesson study procedure including time management, the format of the lesson study report, and collaboration with lesson study facilitators. The importance of lesson study experts to facilitate the teachers’ lesson study became clear. In addition, school principals and administrators have an important role in empowering teachers to engage confidently with lesson study.Originality/valueThis study is the first trial project of school-based training for in-service teachers in a TTC and partner primary schools. The aim of the project is to strengthen and promote collaborative learning. To progress lesson study, it is very important to be sensitive to the teachers’ issues in the early stages of the introduction of lesson study.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Rita Sedita ◽  
Fiorenza Belussi ◽  
Ivan De Noni ◽  
Roberta Apa

PurposeWe address the following research questions: (1) Is the innovation trajectory of the acquirer affected by previous acquisitions? (2) In which direction knowledge recombination from the acquisition is pushed further? (3) Is the technological acquisition more a means for knowledge exploration and radical innovation or, on the contrary, a way for consolidating previous technological specialization?Design/methodology/approachThe nature of this study is exploratory; therefore, we opted for an inductive approach based on the L'Oréal case study analysis. Data were triangulated from different sources: (a) the L'Oréal website and press releases collected in the 2009–2015 period; (b) journal articles and books on the global cosmetics industry and the insightful work of Jones (2010); (c) the Questel Orbit database containing data on patents; and (d) the Zephyr – Bureau van Dijk database containing information on the acquisitions of firms.FindingsEmpirical evidence from a patent data analysis reveals a paradoxical path. On the one hand, acquisitions enable the company to explore new technological spaces; on the other hand, they allow it to reinforce a preexisting technological trajectory, even when the knowledge base of the target is distant from that of the acquirer. Thus, in our case study, the absorption and recombination of knowledge from a variety of domains support specialization more than diversification technology strategies.Originality/valueWe add to innovation management literature a new perspective, by offering a detailed analysis, through patent data, of the knowledge recombination process, led by technological acquisitions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mun Ling Lo

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest ways that we can widen our vision since our views are limited by our theoretical lens. Design/methodology/approach – The paper first draws on articles in the current issue to illustrate how limitations imposed by our theoretical lens can be partly overcome. It then draws on the insights from two recent papers by Svensson (2016) and Lo and Chik (2016) to discuss some ways forward. Svensson’s paper argues for integrating research on teaching and learning using case-based studies and the contextual analysis approach. Lo and Chik’s paper is about how our learning can go beyond the single case through attending to fusion in the external horizon. The conceptual lens from these two papers which are from the phenomenography, variation theory and learning study tradition is applied to look at some of the papers in this issue which are from the lesson study tradition. Findings – Although there is an inherent limitation to what we can see as a consequence of the theoretical lens that we take, we can widen our vision by learning to see from others’ perspectives and gain insights that would be useful to us. Originality/value – The conceptual lenses from the phenomenography, variation theory and learning study tradition is applied to look at some of the papers which are from the lesson study tradition to reveal alternative ways of seeing.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Gruschka

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to arrest an ongoing didactisation of teaching leading to the disappearance of the original content of knowledge. Design/methodology/approach Teaching can only be understood within its inner logic by exploring the individual expression of pedagogical practice in three dimensions: education, formation (Bildung), and didactics. Findings The use of sequence analysis is an effective method for the pedagogically based formation of teachers as professionals. Originality/value This research exposes evident contradictions between teaching and learning. It advances the view that Lesson Study be seen as the reconstruction of teaching for learning through sequence analysis of lessons.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mylene Ducrey Monnier

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an adaptation of the lesson study (LS) approach to the training of future generalist teachers. It aims to improve their interactions with pupils when fine-tuning their learning process. The reiteration of study cycles enables a critical analysis of trainee teacher’s interventions in the light of pupils’ responses and work. It thus allows students to improve their interventions by employing new theoretical contributions, for instance, about the management of both uncertainty and didactic heterogeneity which are two fundamental concepts in the relationship between teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach – The training portfolios handed in by students at the end of the semester include the transcripts of the records of all teacher-pupil interactions for five LS cycles with the corresponding work of pupils. These portfolios conserve traces of the learning process from the first to the last interventions of the trainee teachers with their pupils. The portfolios analyzed for this paper deal with the teaching of mental arithmetic at elementary school. Findings – The analysis aims to pinpoint transformations enacted by trainee teachers in how they intervene with pupils and how their actions incorporate new theoretical contributions. Practical implications – This analysis shows that LS, as a training approach, can facilitate the articulation of theory and practice and enable teachers to experience the effects of improved teaching on pupils’ learning. In terms of training, it makes it possible to understand how theoretical choices take on meaning in the improved practices of trainee teachers. Originality/value – The interest of this contribution lies in the presentation of successive transcripts obtained during an LS approach and in the description of levers that such an approach provides for teaching training.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-84
Author(s):  
Airi Rovio-Johansson

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the variation in methods used to analyse lessons in order to improve teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach It addresses the question of how observations of lessons can be analysed, and what approaches and methods are applicable in the analysis of collected data in lesson and learning studies. Findings In lesson studies, the focus of research varies, the content and context of lessons vary and a variety of qualitative methods are applied in the analysis of lessons. Lesson study is proving to be a versatile research approach to the development of the quality of teaching and learning. Originality/value This review provides an overview of some qualitative methods of content analysis used as analytic tools in the studies presented in this issue of the journal.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 321-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongjin Huang ◽  
Jianyue Zhang ◽  
Ida Ah Chee Mok ◽  
Wenjun Zhao ◽  
Yuanfang Zhou ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore what professional knowledge and competence (PKC) that knowledgeable others, namely, mathematics teaching research specialists (MTRS) in China, need to know, and how they may develop their PKC. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts mixed methods. A survey on PKC with 549 MTRS is utilized to examine MTRS’ perceived held and ideal PKC and perceived effective ways of developing their PKC. The responses to the open-ended questions on the survey were used to identify additional dimensions of PKC and ways of developing PKC. Multiple techniques of quantitative data analysis were employed to feature the characteristics of PKC and structure of the survey, and the relationship between background variables and perception of PKC. Collectively, this study paints a rich and comprehensive picture about Chinese knowledgeable others’ knowledge and competence, and its development. Findings The data analysis reveals that the participants appreciated the six-dimension model of MTRS’ PKC. They were confident with their PKC in general, but varied in different aspects. The factor analysis showed the six-dimension model could be further clustered into two components: knowledge about mathematics teaching and learning and competence in mentoring and educational leadership, and knowledge about content, assessing student learning, and use of technology. The participants perceived their learning through multiple ways including: learning through reading, attending specific training programs, attending and mentoring teaching research activities both school-based and across regions, observing and debriefing lessons, sharing within online learning communities. All these venues jointly contribute to developing MTRS’ PKC. Originality/value This is the first empirical study on MTRS’ PKC and its development in China based on such a large sample. The findings of this study not only contribute to an understanding of knowledgeable others in Chinese lesson study and providing suggestions for support of their development, but also provide implications for studies of practice-based mathematics teacher-educators globally.


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