Reinventing teaching in mathematics classrooms: Lesson study after a pragmatic perspective

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the way of how teaching in general and teaching of mathematics in particular can be reinvented by drawing on the perspective of pragmatism. Drawing on long‐standing traditions of John Dewey’s “laboratory model” of learning to teach and Charles Peirce’s semiotic view of scientific inquiry, the design of the lesson study can be reframed or extended through the methodological orientation to reinvention.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical framework of reinvention for lesson study, following a pragmatic approach, might offer a methodological orientation for mathematics teachers to foster increased self‐awareness in improving their own practices. The conceptualisation of such an orientation, which leads to the reinventing of teaching in mathematics classrooms, begins with an examination of two pragmatic theories: Dewey's concept of experience and Peirce's concept of practical belief and judgement. The methodological orientation for reinvention grounded on these concepts will then be outlined and elaborated.

Findings

Reinvention is a productive “triad of change” through which new possibilities of facilitating the student's learning can be created. Teachers will experience such change by experimenting with their students. In the context of teaching mathematics, reinventing teaching involves the action of an agent carrying out the conversions of mechanisms which bring forth a change of language, the transformation of gaze, and the moulding (the metamorphosis) of the individual who does the act of teaching.

Originality/value

The paper offers a theoretical framework of reinvention for lesson study through which teachers’ self‐awareness can be enhanced by improving their own practices. Through the undertaking of pedagogical experiments, teachers are becoming more aware of the need to learn from the learners in order to teach more effectively through the reinvention and unlearning of their own teaching.

Citation

Yuen Law, H. (2013), "Reinventing teaching in mathematics classrooms: Lesson study after a pragmatic perspective", International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 101-114. https://doi.org/10.1108/20468251311323360