Teachers’ educational beliefs change through lesson study: implications for school culture

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>The study aims at exploring the perspective of three English as a Foreign Language teachers after their year-long involvement in the Lesson Study project in the context of Kazakhstan in order to capture and list any perceived changes in teachers’ educational beliefs over the period of the Lesson Study intervention. The main argument of the study suggests that the school-based Lesson Study initiative is conducive to triggering changes in teachers’ educational beliefs, and thus, might lead to positive changes in school culture in Kazakhstani schools. Shaped following Hill <jats:italic>et al.</jats:italic>, (1982) in Swales, 1990 hour-glass model of a research project (Swales, 1990), the article reflects the third concluding part of the Ph.D. thesis focusing on the implementation of the Lesson Study methodology in Kazakhstan.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>The study adopts the qualitative research design and follows the narrative inquiry methodology. The three narrative interviews (Bauer, 1996) are utilized as the main method of data collection. The data were analyzed as text following a general inductive approach (Thomas, 2003), where emerging themes were identified employing data reduction and further sub-categorized through the conceptual and theoretical lenses of the study. The emerged categories reflecting the perceived shifts in teachers’ educational beliefs were dialectically linked to implications for school culture in Kazakhstani schools.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>As data suggest, the respondents’ active engagement in the Lesson Study professional learning community and exercising leadership through implementing changes in their classroom practice has made a positive impact on teachers’ rethinking their teaching practice, attitudes to students and their learning, collegiality, and professional self-identification. We conclude that, if organized properly, Lesson Study has enormous potential to facilitate changes of teachers’ educational beliefs: from direct transmission beliefs toward constructivist beliefs, from restricted professionals’ beliefs toward reflective practitioner beliefs and attitudes, toward beliefs in the power of student’s voice, and collaboration. Those shifts are linked to establishing a more positive, child-friendly and rights-based school culture with teachers’ shared visions and capacity for innovation.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Research limitations/implications</jats:title><jats:p>We acknowledge that the abundance of the reported positive changes or perceived shifts in teachers’ thinking might not be the indicators of actual changes in their beliefs. We emphasize that the study was carried in a controlled context, i.e. the three ELF teachers were constantly supported, and the teacher talk was systematically guided by a trained facilitator. Warned by Giroux <jats:italic>et al.</jats:italic> (1999), we are aware of the major challenge of the fundamental assumption of critical pedagogy that teachers are willing and able to undertake “the practice of analyzing their practice” (p. 27) voluntarily. Thus, the question remains open: if the facilitator’s support is eliminated, will the results point to the occurrence of the disruption and disorientation as a necessary condition for the beliefs change?</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>Carried out in the largely overlooked by the academic literature context of the Reform at Scale (Wilson <jats:italic>et al.</jats:italic>, 2013) in Kazakhstan and building on the original combination of conceptual and theoretical lenses, the research contributes to the academic literature by connecting teachers’ educational beliefs, Lesson Study and school culture. The findings might be of value for the school leaders, educators, teacher trainers, and policymakers to advocate Lesson Study as a systematic approach to the whole-school improvement, as a tool to facilitate positive changes in school culture, as well as give impetus to studies employing the school culture perspective in developing Lesson Study impact evaluation tools.</jats:p></jats:sec>

Cognitive Aspects of Students’ Mathematical Reasoning Habits: A Study on Utilizing Lesson Study and Open Approach

“…In addition, our study procedure showed that the LS team members' active engagement in utilizing the LS and OA innovations through implementing change in their classroom practice has had a positive impact on them to rethinking their teaching practice, on their attitudes to students, and about their learning tasks when it comes to improving mathematical reasoning habits, collegiality, and professional selfidentification. This implication is supported by Khokhotva and Albizuri (2020) who found that the LS framework has enormous potential regarding facilitating change in teachers' educational beliefs. These changes are associated with establishing a more positive student-centered teaching approach and encouraging a rights-based school culture in which teachers share their vision and increasing the capacity for innovation.…”

“…The results might be of value for school leaders, educators, teacher trainers, and policymakers in terms of advocating OA being incorporated into the LS framework as a systematic approach to whole-school enhancement. This would act as a tool to encourage positive change in school culture, as well as give stimulus to future studies involving the school culture perspective about developing LS and OA impact evaluation tools (Khokhotva & Albizuri, 2020). However, this requires a thorough understanding of the details of LS (Inprasitha, 2011) and OA (Nohda, 2000) concepts, while teachers are planning and implementing OA treatment in the LS process.…”

Facilitating EFL teachers’ professional development through CLS of English literature instruction

“…Both LS and CLS have proved effective for promoting teachers' PD. Their positive effects include increased teaching knowledge (Lewis and Hurd, 2011), improved teacher beliefs (Khokhotva and Albizuri, 2020), enhanced teaching practice (Angelini and Alvarez, 2018), cognitive, emotional and social development (Alwadi et al, 2020), enhanced learner outcomes (Lin, 2020) and mediated curriculum implementation and innovation (Goh and Fang, 2017). However, studies investigating the role of CLS in language subjects are limited in number (Fang and Wang, 2021).…”

Implementation of Professional Learning Community among Teachers in Schools: A Systematic Literature Review

“…There are studies conducted showing that collaborative work supports teachers' knowledge and appreciation for subject content development and teachers are satisfied with the way PLC support their professional growth towards leadership in their schools (Gunning et al, 2020). Teachers who implement leadership through changes in their practices in the classroom have a positive impact on teachers, for instance they are able to rethink their teaching practices, attitudes towards students and their learning and their professional level (Khokhotva & Albizuri, 2020). There are also research findings that suggest that key components of PLC should include elements of collective focus on student learning, reflective dialogue, and shared and supported leadership because they have a significant and positive relationship with teachers' level of professional practice .…”