Paradidactic infrastructure for sharing and documenting mathematics teacher knowledge: a case study of “practice research” in Japan

TY - JOUR

T1 - Paradidactic infrastructure for sharing and documenting mathematics teacher knowledge

T2 - a case study of “practice research” in Japan

AU - Miyakawa, Takeshi

AU - Winsløw, Carl

PY - 2019/6/1

Y1 - 2019/6/1

N2 - Japanese lesson study was introduced to the West in the late 1990s. Certain widely disseminated publications and classroom videos, and also reports on international surveys of students achievement, led many to consider that Japanese mathematics teaching is highly creative and effective, with lesson study as a main explanatory factor. As a result, substantial efforts have been deployed in many countries to engage mathematics teachers in lesson study. In this paper, we argue that lesson study is but one element of a comprehensive Japanese “infrastructure” for developing teacher knowledge, both personal and shared, and that the functions and workings of any particular element in this infrastructure cannot be fully understood when viewed in isolation. In this paper, we offer a systemic (institutional) analysis of how these “infrastructure” elements interact in crucial ways. Specifically we study two episodes where a teacher’s “practice research” is clearly motivated and supported by other infrastructural conditions, such as the possibility to present the outcomes at a regional teacher conference, and in a publication. Moreover, a central prerequisite for the creative part of “lesson planning” is a much more limited activity: the patient study and discussion of mathematical tasks and materials. This activity is also crucially supported by elements of the infrastructure.

AB - Japanese lesson study was introduced to the West in the late 1990s. Certain widely disseminated publications and classroom videos, and also reports on international surveys of students achievement, led many to consider that Japanese mathematics teaching is highly creative and effective, with lesson study as a main explanatory factor. As a result, substantial efforts have been deployed in many countries to engage mathematics teachers in lesson study. In this paper, we argue that lesson study is but one element of a comprehensive Japanese “infrastructure” for developing teacher knowledge, both personal and shared, and that the functions and workings of any particular element in this infrastructure cannot be fully understood when viewed in isolation. In this paper, we offer a systemic (institutional) analysis of how these “infrastructure” elements interact in crucial ways. Specifically we study two episodes where a teacher’s “practice research” is clearly motivated and supported by other infrastructural conditions, such as the possibility to present the outcomes at a regional teacher conference, and in a publication. Moreover, a central prerequisite for the creative part of “lesson planning” is a much more limited activity: the patient study and discussion of mathematical tasks and materials. This activity is also crucially supported by elements of the infrastructure.

KW - Anthropological theory of the didactic

KW - Japanese lesson study

KW - Paradidactic infrastructure

KW - Praxeology

U2 - 10.1007/s10857-017-9394-y

DO - 10.1007/s10857-017-9394-y

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85037640875

SN - 1386-4416

VL - 22

SP - 281

EP - 303

JO - Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education

JF - Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education

IS - 3

ER -