Learning study as an approach to teacher development

Siu, I. Y. M. (2008). Learning study as an approach to teacher development in two primary schools. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 17(1), 99–108.

Background

Learning study involves teachers co-planning lessons, observing outcomes, and improving on subsequent lessons. Underpinned by variation theory, it focuses on helping students discern the significant features of the object of learning to enhance student understanding.

Aims

The study explored teacher development through the use of learning study and related teacher interaction in the context of teaching English as a second language in two Hong Kong primary schools.

Sample

From 2002 to 2003, a team of five teachers in School A focused on the teaching of subject verb agreement in the present tense for Primary 4 students. From 2004 to 2005, a team of three teachers in School B focused on the teaching of pronouns for Primary 3 students and the teaching of time references for Primary 5 students. Only one teacher from School A and two teachers from School B were familiar with variation theory and learning study.

Method

Twenty meetings with School A and six meetings with School B were conducted. Four research lessons (RLs) were taught in each school by different teachers. Minutes of the meetings, field notes, and researcher’s reflections were collected. RLs were video-recorded and analysed.

Findings

Although the learning studies were facilitated by the same researcher, teacher learning varied because of the variation in the teachers’ prior understanding of learning study, the group dynamics, and the researcher’s growing understanding of the learning study process. In School A, the emphasis of teaching had been put on language forms and distinguishing the language forms became an end in itself. Highly contrived sentences (e.g., ‘A cook cooks meals.’) were used as simplified examples to help students differentiate the plural ‘s’ from the third person singular ‘s’. In School B, a story was used to illustrate the use of language forms in context, and the contrast of the language forms was achieved through facilitating students’ understanding of the events in the story, and not only the structure of the sentences.

Implications

The study pointed to the challenge faced by teams who needed to grapple with the learning study concepts on one hand and to struggle with the implementation on the other hand. The author recommended a separate training session on the central concepts of learning study to take place before teachers are involved in the implementation. She also called for a balance to be kept between language forms and meaning so that natural language use is not compromised.

Original article retrieved from Google Scholar.