Utilizing an Iterative Research-Based Lesson Study Approach to Support Preservice Teachers’ Professional Noticing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how participation in iterative lesson study cycles within an elementary classroom setting could potentially provide preservice teachers opportunities to develop the ability to professional notice students’ science thinking. Using a case study approach, we examined how six preservice teachers professionally noticed while engaged in a lesson study model in an early field experience context that focused on collection of evidence of students’ thinking and collaborative reflection and discussion. We analyzed video and artifacts from five lesson study cycles, mapped how the preservice teachers professionally noticed throughout each cycle, and examined interactions between the three components of noticing. Participants’ abilities to attend to student thinking ranged from general descriptions of how students were exploring and discussing the content, to detailing the specific actions and words of individual students (attending), and to identifying patterns of student thinking across the class and across the five lessons (interpreting). The preservice teachers were able to respond to students’ thinking at various levels, thus demonstrating the ability to engage in the three components of noticing, and sometimes connected their observations (attending) to their interpretations and their responses to how students were thinking. We believe participants’ abilities to notice can be attributed to the iterative approach to our model of teaching, reflecting, and revising through the lens of assessing and revising lessons based on students’ learning needs in an authentic context. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for supporting preservice teachers as they further develop their abilities to professionally notice.