Productive Lesson Study towards Quality Professional Development for Science Teachers

Abstract

The study was conceived as a professional development of teachers towards quality teaching using Lesson Study (LS) and Productive Pedagogies (PP) as a as a framework to plan for lessons and to reflect on classroom teaching. The aim of the study was to investigate the level of adoption by the teachers of both the LS and PP principles. The intention was to investigate the teachers’ experiences in such a professional development activity and identify the benefits and arising problems with a focus on their understanding of teaching and change in their practice. After the intervention, it was evident that teachers have gained some knowledge about their teaching and about their students. Nevertheless, there remain concerns about some of the issues in need for further work: deep and functional content knowledge; better connection between the different components of lessons; questioning techniques; and a variety of teaching methods that allow for greater student engagement at a higher level of thinking.