Student voice in Lesson Study as a space for EFL teachers’ learning: a case study in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report the findings from a case study of an action research project in the context of a secondary school in Kazakhstan where, for the first time in their teaching practice, three English as a Foreign Language teachers introduced student voice (Flutter and Rudduck, 2004) into their practice within the Lesson Study (LS) framework. The research aimed at conceptualizing Student Voice Space in LS as one of the valuable factors capable of triggering situations of disjuncture (disorienting dilemma, disruption) for teachers which could potentially lead to teacher’s transformative learning, educational beliefs change and improved practice. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts the qualitative research design and follows narrative inquiry methodology (Lyons and LaBoskey, 2002) with a series of narrative interviews (Bauer, 1996) as the main method of data collection within a single case study (Bassey, 1999) of an action research project. The data were analyzed as text following a general inductive approach (Thomas, 2003) where emerging themes were identified by means of data reduction. Findings The findings suggest that listening to student voice triggers teachers’ going through certain stages of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory including critical assessment of own assumptions, testing new options for behavior and reflecting critically on the teaching practice. Therefore, the authors suggest that Student Voice Space in LS is one of the important factors capable of triggering the teacher’s transformative learning. Moreover, it has an enormous potential not only to bring about positive changes in teachers’ practice but also challenge the ossified teachers’ educational beliefs, and thus, potentially, pave the way for a gradual change from “inappropriate beliefs” (Mayrhofer, 2019), or subconscious assumptions that lie in the core of teachers’ folk pedagogies (Torff, 1999), or taken-for-granted frames of reference (Mezirow, 2000) into true, justified or informed educational beliefs. Research limitations/implications Further analysis of teachers’ narratives is required to elicit and categorize reported changes (shifts, transformations) concerning specific teachers’ educational beliefs, and draw a more clear line between student voice and its impact on the research lesson planning and its modification in LS. Finally, a supplementary study utilizing classroom observation methods is needed to explore if student voice intervention results in tangible (actual) changes in teachers’ classroom practice and educational beliefs, rather than potential transformations that are mainly reported in this study. Originality/value Carried out in the largely overlooked by the academic literature context of the Reform at Scale (Wilson et al., 2013) in Kazakhstan and building on the original combination of theoretical lenses, the research contributes to the academic literature aiming at illuminating “the black box of teachers’ learning” in Lesson Study (in Widjaja et al., 2017, p.358) since it is one of the rare studies attempting to connect teacher learning, student voice and Lesson Study (Warwick et al., 2019). Additionally, approaching teacher learning in Lesson Study from the transformative learning perspective combined with the literature on teachers’ educational beliefs and student voice, this study contributes to the further development of a shared vocabulary for discussing teacher learning in Lesson Study.

Insights towards cultural aspects and related impacts of Lesson Study practices: a systematic review

“…This finding led the authors to propose a participatory approach to LS as a vehicle to provide new insights to the complex nature and process of learning involving the students. In the study conducted by Khokhotva and Albizuri (2020), teachers are also informed on how and what students need to learn through the voice of students, which brings significant implications to teachers´ transformative learning, educational beliefs change and improvements in the lesson design.…”

Student voice and classroom practice: how students are consulted in contexts without traditions of student voice

“…The findings here can be of use to these researchers in that it is demonstrated that these consultations are taking place elsewhere and that student voice is becoming more active globally. This research will, however, resonate far more with scholars in countries that do not have a strong tradition or history of student voice, such as the post-Soviet nations (Khokhotva and Albizuri 2020), but even in countries where student voice is far more pronounced and embedded questions are raised about how voice might differ between different school types and schools in different socioeconomic settings. One recent study on student participation in post-primary schools in New South Wales in Australia reported that variations between schools appeared to be more 'dependent upon the approach of the principal and/or individual teachers' than factors related to ethos/sector, demography or geography (Graham et al 2018(Graham et al , 1034) but further research is needed.…”

A systematic review of transparency in Lesson Study research: how do we report on the observation and reflection stages?

“…Only a few articles (13%) explained the rationale behind the means of data collection or provided additional information about the process. Articles that did include this information described, for instance, that LS groups developed their own observation forms or rubrics (e.g., Bruce et al, 2016;Craney et al, 2020), or referenced existing templates or material from a specific LS handbook (e.g., Lucenario et al, 2016;Khokhotva and Elexpuru Albizuri, 2019). A list of all articles rated with 2 for this category and their approaches to data collection can be found in the Supplementary Table S7.…”