Exemplary mathematics lessons : a view from the west

Cross-cultural comparative research provides a powerful means of achieving better understanding of one’s own practice. This article contrasts exemplary mathematics teaching, as highlighted in this special issue on its practice and development in East Asia, with the increasing emphasis on effective teaching in the West. It provides an overview of the papers in this issue and examines the similarities and differences between what is seen as exemplary practice and the ways in which its development is supported in the educational systems represented. It attempts to identify some of the cultural factors that influence our understanding of what constitutes exemplary practice and the possibilities for its development in the East and the West.

Lesson study - how it could work for you

There is growing worldwide interest in Japanese Lesson Study as a form of professional development, with adaptations of Lesson Study taking place in hundreds of schools clusters in USA, large-scale adoption in the UK, and smaller scale implementation in Australia, and many other countries, including Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. This presentation will use classroom video to illustrate the typical Japanese structured-problem-solving research lessons that form the basis for Lesson Study, and discuss how they are planned, the role of the teacher, and the use of Lesson Study as a means of professional
development.

The critical role of task development in lesson study

While many aspects of Lesson Study are characteristic of effective pedagogy, the task or problem is perhaps the least understood by non-Japanese adopters of Lesson Study. In this chapter we focus on the pivotal rôle played by the task in the Research Lessons of Lesson Study practice in Japanese primary school mathematics. The metaphor adopted is that tasks are akin to icebergs, where most of the support is hidden, and is used in order to raise awareness of the bases of effective tasks. Examples of such tasks are described as they were presented in classrooms in both Australia and Japan.

Japanese lesson study : teacher professional development through communities of inquiry

Japanese Lesson Study has come under increasing attention from educators in the West and throughout South-East Asia since it was revealed outside Japan through the release of the TIMSS Video Study. In this paper we argue that Japanese Lesson Study provides a model for large scale, sustainable professional development. In particular, we draw on our own experience of Japanese Lesson Study and the research literature to describe its characteristic features and examine some of the cultural assumptions that underpin its implementation.

Exercising sociomathematical norms in classroom discourse about data representation : insights from one case study of a grade 6 lesson in Indonesia

This paper examines a research study to foster mathematical discourse about data representations among Indonesian students. It was situated in the context of implementing an Indonesian version of Realistic Mathematics Education, labelled as PMRI, in primary schools. A case study of one lesson involving Grade 6 students on the choice of data representations in Yogyakarta will be discussed. The analysis focused on the enacted social norms and sociomathematical norms during a wholeclass discussion and their impacts on students’ knowledge of data representations. The need for constant effort to enact these norms in classroom mathematical discourse is highlighted.

Towards mathematical literacy in the 21st century : perspectives from Indonesia

The notion of mathematical literacy advocated by PISA (OECD, 2006) offers a broader conception for assessing mathematical competences and processes with the main focus on the relevant use of mathematics in life. This notion of mathematical literacy is closely connected to the notion of mathematical modelling whereby mathematics is put to solving real world problems. Indonesia has participated as a partner country in PISA since 2000. The PISA trends in mathematics from 2003 to 2009 revealed unsatisfactory mathematical literacy among 15-year-old students from Indonesia who lagged behind the average of OCED countries. In this paper, exemplary cases will be discussed to examine and promote mathematical literacy at teacher education level. Lesson ideas and instruments were adapted from PISA 2006 released items. The potential of such tasks will be discussed based on case studies of implementing these instruments with samples of pre-service teachers in Yogyakarta. 

Deepening teachers' understanding of content and students' thinking : the case of Japanese lesson study in Australian primary classrooms

Japanese Lesson Study has been adapted in many countries as a platform of professional development (Groves & Doig, 2010; Lewism Perry & Hurd, 2004). One of the critical elements of Japanese Lesson Study is detailed and careful planning of the research lesson with an explicit focus on the mathematics and students' mathematical thinking (Doig, Groves, & Fujii, 2011; Murata, 2011; Watanabe, Takahashi, & Yoshida, 2008). This presentation will share some findings from a small scale research project of the implementation of Japanese Lesson Study in three Victorian primary schools in 2012.It will focus on the way in which teachers used Japanese lesson Study to plan a structured problem solving rsearch lesson on algebraic thinking for students in Year 3 and Year 4. Insights into the two teachers' planning journey and their developing understanding of anticipated student responses and the mathematics of the problem to be used in the research lesson will be discussed. Implications regarding the implementation of Japanese Lesson Study - into Australian schools for teachers' professional learning will be drawn.