Practicing lesson study in a Turkish education context

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to touch upon the unaddressed points regarding the practice of lesson study (LS) in the field of language teacher development in a Turkish education context by considering the challenges faced and observed by the EFL teachers, their suggestions to design a process like LS practice and benefits that LS practice could provide them in terms of teaching and professional development. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on the data from five EFL teachers’ collaborative work in an arrangement of lesson and learning study and from the researcher’s observations during meetings and discussions throughout the process. The data consist of interviews with participant teachers (pre and post), video recordings of the teacher workshops, field notes of the researcher and video recordings of the research lessons. The analysis was carried out through content analysis beginning with listing the responses of participants, identifying the frequency of citations, collecting similar responses under a common category to determine the categories and at last placing codes into the related categories. Findings The results show that the teachers had some concerns about LS practice both before and after practicing the model in the study context. They stated their concerns mostly about time, increasing responsibility and effort, being a demanding process. However, the practice seemed to meet their expectations, lead to improvements in knowledge, teaching practices and perspectives, contribute to the personal and professional development of teachers and triggered enthusiasm and a desire for students to participate actively in learning process. Originality/value This paper serves as an explicit example of LS practice with its plus and minuses in a Turkish education context as teachers’ views and the researcher’s personal reflections in the current study can guide the process of change and provide evidence and practical suggestions on the feasibility of the program for the ones attempting to experience it. Besides, the teachers’ perceptions and suggestions regarding LS practice in the present study can enable other teachers, organizers of professional development programs and the researchers an opportunity to lead future practices.

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“…Effective teaching also seems to result from teachers' attempts to always try new things in the classroom, as was demonstrated in the lesson study cycles. These findings support those of Van Sickle (2011), who claimed that the key to successful teaching and learning was a teacher's initiative in trying out new things in the classroom (Karabuğa & Ilin, 2019;Van Sickle, 2011). Teaching innovations result from collaborative planning, observed teaching, and collaborative reflection, as implemented in every session through lesson study, unlike in traditional teaching.…”

“…A research review of lesson study identified that many studies revealed the positive effects of lesson study on (1) active engagement and teachers' beliefs (Akiba et al, 2019;Mayrhofer, 2019), (2) teacher's attitudes (Karabuğa & Ilin, 2019), (3) teachers' and students' awareness of technology and learners' vocabulary scores (Lander, 2015), ( 4) professional teacher development (Coşkun, 2017), and (5) English in young language learners' interaction, collaborative agency, (Liao, 2019) and oral fluency (Ducrey Monnier & Gruson, 2018). Lander (2015), for example, examined whether blended learning could foster professional development and students' mastery of vocabulary.…”

“…Seminal works on lesson study have made academic contributions in many educational settings, affecting various domains of teaching and learning. It has also paved the way for curriculum reform, new teaching styles, fresh learning environments, methodologies, and different roles for teachers' and students' roles (Conceição, Baptista, & da Ponte, 2019;Elliott, 2015;Karabuğa & Ilin, 2019;Lewis & Perry, 2017;Mayrhofer, 2019;Murphy, Weinhardt, Wyness, & Rolfe, 2017;Sarkar Arani, 2015;Yudhi Arifani et al The Journal of Asia TEFL Vol. 17, No.…”

Uygulamada Ders İmecesi: Yabancı Dil Olarak İngilizce Öğretmenleri Üzerine Bir Çoklu Durum Çalışması

“…This study aimed to find out the benefits and challenges of a LS implementation in a Turkish higher education context. Although studies recently began to report on the contributions of the model to EFL teacher professional development in Turkey at tertiary level (Bayram & Bikmaz, 2018;Bayram & Canaran, 2019;Karabuga & Ilin, 2019;Yalcin Arslan, 2018), we are still in need of a sound research base that will assist us in knowing how to integrate the model into our culture. It should also be noted that studies in Turkey exploring the potential of the model as a CPD tool tend to produce similar results to the studies in different parts of the world.…”

“…Promising results led to the adoption of the model by teachers from different disciplines such as language teaching. In their study, Karabuga and Ilin (2019) worked with five EFL teachers to explore the challenges and benefits of LS and found out that they found the model demanding because of its requiring a great deal of time and effort. However, they also reported that their involvement in LS was worthy of their efforts as it improved their subject knowledge and teaching practices.…”