Teacher change through cognitive conflicts: the case of an art lesson study

Abstract

PurposeThe paper focusses on lesson study, which generally engages the collaborative work of a group of teachers, as implemented with a primary school art teacher who had limited opportunities for collaboration. Through lesson study, the teacher worked closely with a lesson study facilitator and an art education expert to plan a research lesson. The study explores how this collaboration generated cognitive conflicts and eventually teacher change.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents a case study using a thematic approach to data analysis. The lesson study involved weekly face-to-face meetings and daily online communications over a period of eight weeks. In an attempt to reflect upon and resolve conflicts, the teacher kept a journal in which the teacher wrote down lengthy accounts of the discussions with knowledgeable others, the teacher’s struggles and ways of resolving these. Data were complemented by the different lesson plan versions, the post-lesson discussions and a detailed report documenting the lesson study process.FindingsThe paper provides insights into the role that cognitive conflicts play for teacher change. Through ongoing communication, reflection and support to resolve conflicts, the teacher recognised more collaborative opportunities for professional development, freed from rigid lesson planning practices and reported a new conceptualisation to teaching.Practical implicationsDrawing on the literature about effective teacher professional learning, the paper offers implications for supporting teacher change.Originality/valueThis paper provides insights into how lesson study may provide conditions that enable teachers' cognitive conflict and facilitate their consequent resolution.

Teachers' learning in extraordinary times: shifting to a digitally facilitated approach to lesson study

“…Two decades of academic literature relating to the inclusion of digital technology in teaching and learning specify that while schools are not immune to change, they also respond to it slowly (Rosentock, 2014). In addition, professional development interventions aimed to support change in teachers' practices are conceived as a collaborative activity that takes place in classrooms through an ongoing and supportive process that is managed by teachers themselves (see Calleja and Formosa, 2020a; Dudley, 2015). Drawing on this research, our findings suggest that the challenges to teaching posed by the COVID-19 pandemic became recognised as a necessity for teachers to rapidly respond to technology-adoption.…”

“…Hence, rather than being envisaged as a setback, disruption can be interpreted as a new opportunity for teachers to become constructive and grow professionally. Similarly, a study by Calleja and Formosa (2020a) suggests that as teachers engage in a lesson study, they are likely to encounter challenges and conflicts brought about by the school context and their engagement with knowledgeable others. In their attempt to resolve conflicts, teachers may recognise opportunities for learning and the need for more collaboration with colleagues.…”

“…In their attempt to resolve conflicts, teachers may recognise opportunities for learning and the need for more collaboration with colleagues. Hence, teacher learning can occur when lesson study offers teachers stimuli that generate new thinking about their lesson study practices – thinking that is enabled through ongoing communication, reflection and support (Calleja and Formosa, 2020a).…”

Deepening class insight through participatory lesson study: An experience with students specializing in school psychology

“…The book The Teaching Gap (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999), which sought to explain why Japanese students were among the best performers in international evaluations, is considered a landmark in Lesson Study dissemination around the world (Duez, 2018; Gordon Győri, 2019; Shimizu, 2019). Research suggests that Lesson Study encourages practical knowledge reconstruction and new attitudes in teachers (Dudley, 2014; Peña et al, 2015; Peña Trapero & Pérez Gómez, 2019; Peña‐Trapero & Pérez‐Gómez, 2017; Rodríguez Robles & Soto Gómez, 2020); furthermore, provides evidence of the potential of cognitive conflict for change in teachers (Calleja & Formosa, 2020), also noting improvements in teachers' knowledge, perspectives, and practice (Karabuğa & Ilin, 2019) and identifying higher level reflection, more specific and deep, characterized by greater awareness of students' perspectives (Fen et al, 2017). There is a large body of research specifically centered on higher education teaching, mainly in teacher education programs, for reflection and teaching practice improvement (Hevia Artime et al, 2019; Moghaddam et al, 2020), although studies have also examined groups of university teachers belonging to other programs (del Río Fernández, 2021).…”

Establishing a lesson study collaboration matrix

“…Lesson Study (LS) is a collective endeavour (Mynott, 2021), usually undertaken in groups (Calleja and Formosa, 2020), to support professional learning (Dudley, 2015). Lewis et al.…”