Lesson Study as a Fundamental Situation for the Knowledge of Teaching

A Centre for Research in Mathematics Education Collaborative Lesson Research Seminar

Lesson Study as a Fundamental Situation for the Knowledge of Teaching: Theorising a Practice to Understand Teachers’ Learning

Speaker: Professor Stéphane Clivaz, Lausanne University of Teacher Education, Switzerland

Lesson study has often been characterised as under-theorised, especially among European mathematics educators. In an endeavour to better understand the professional learning occurring during lesson study, this presentation will explore several graphical representations of lesson study on the one hand, and representations of teaching and learning situations on the other hand. Using Brousseau’s Theory of Didactical Situations, this exploration will lead to the proposition of a graphical representation and a theoretical construct aiming to model (1) the role of the research lesson as a teaching and learning situation in a lesson study; (2) the professional learning situation of the teachers in this process.

The use of this model will be briefly illustrated by Sara Presutti’s ongoing doctoral research about a lesson study in lower secondary pre-service education about the multiplication of negative integers. The proposed model will also initiate a discussion about the function of the different moments of the lesson study practice in the professional learning situation of the participants.

Biography

Stéphane Clivaz is a Professor at Lausanne University of Teacher Education (HEP Vaud), Switzerland, where he teaches mathematics education. After obtaining his master’s degree in mathematics, he was a secondary mathematics teacher. Subsequently, he worked as an academic advisor for the Canton of Vaud’s Ministry of Education. In 2011, he received his PhD from the University of Geneva. He is among the first educators in Switzerland to research on Lesson Study. With his recognition as one of the leaders of Lesson Study research and practice, Stéphane Clivaz co-founded the Lausanne Laboratory Lesson Study (3LS) in 2014 and assumed the role of the head of this laboratory until 2019. As a result of his international collaboration, in January-June 2021, he was invited as a visiting professor in Nagoya University, Japan. In addition, starting from 2022, he will be holding the position of the Honorary General Secretary of the World Association of Lesson Study (WALS). Stéphane’s work has been supporting the effort to bridge teacher training, lesson study action research and mathematics education research for many years. For example, he co-founded and is co-leading the Mathematics Education and Lesson Study in Europe (MELSE) group, the CERME 13 TWG Collaborative Settings in Mathematics Teacher Education and the WALS PhD Students and Early Career Researchers Group.