Abstract
This chapter discusses how edited videos were used as a medium to introduce the concepts and processes of Lesson Study to 54 multi-ethnic Malaysian teachers as part of their professional development. These teachers were teaching in one of the three different types of vernacular primary schools which were underperforming in mathematics and science. The chapter begins with a brief introduction of the Malaysian school system, the recent decline of the Malaysian student performance in international studies and thus the need to upgrade the teacher quality. The Japanese model of Lesson Study was chosen, but to address the language proficiency issues of the participating teachers, various strategies were used to improve teachers’ engagement with the contents of the edited videos during the introductory workshop. The chapter concludes that video can be an effective medium; however, teacher commitment and administrators support remain the most important factor for the success of any professional development programme.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Abd Hamid, S. R., Syed Hassan, S. S., & Ismail, N. H. (2012). Teaching quality and performance among experienced teachers in Malaysia. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 37(11). Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2012v37n11.2
Akiba, M., LeTendre, G. K., & Scribner, J. P. (2007). Teacher quality, opportunity gap and national achievement in 46 Countries. Educational Researcher, 36(7), 369–387. doi:10.3102/0013189X07308739.
Bakar, A. R., Mohamed, S., & Zakaria, N. S. (2012).They are trained to teach, but how confident are they? A study of student teachers’ sense of efficacy. Journal of Social Sciences, 8(4), 497–504. doi: 10.3844/jsssp.2012.497.504. Retrieved from http://www.thescipub.com/jss.toc
Barber, M., & Mourshed, M. (2009, July 7). How good education systems can become great in decade ahead. Report on the International Education Roundtable, Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/southeastasia/knowledge/Education_Roundtable.pdf
Doig, B., & Groves, S. (2011). Japanese Lesson Study: Teacher professional development through communities of inquiry. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 13(1), 77–93.
EPU (2010). Tenth Malaysia plan (2011–2015). The Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department, Putrajaya. Retrieved from http://www.pmo.gov.my/dokumenattached/RMK/RMK10_Eds.pdf
Fernandez, C., & Yoshida, M. (2004). Lesson study: A Japanese approach to improving mathematics teaching and learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Goh, P. S. C. (2012). The Malaysian teacher standards: A look at the challenges and implications for teacher educators. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 11, 73–87. doi:10.1007/s10671-011-9107-8.
Lewis, C. (2002). Does lesson study have a future in the United States? Nagoya Journal of Education and Human Development, 1, 1–23.
Lewis, C., Perry, R., & Hurd, J. (2009). Improving mathematics instruction through Lesson Study: A theoretical model and North American case. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 12, 285–304. doi:10.1007/s10857-009-9102-7.
Lewis, C., & Tsuchida, I. (1997). Planned educational change in Japan: The shift to student-centered elementary science. Journal of Educational Policy, 12(5), 313–331.
Lim, C. S., & Kor, L. K. (2012). ‘Excellent’ primary mathematics teachers’ espoused and enacted values of effective lessons. ZDM Mathematics Education, 44(1), 59–70. doi:10.1007/s11858-012-0390-5.
Lim, C. S., Kor, L. K., & Chia, H. M. (2013, November 11–14). One mathematics teacher’s evolving pedagogical practice through Lesson Study. Paper presented at the 5th international conference on science and mathematics education [CoSMED 2013], “Empowering the future generation through science and mathematics education”, at SEAMEO RECSAM, Penang.
Maat, S. M., & Zakaria, E. (2010). An exploration of mathematics teachers’ reflection on their teaching practices. Asian Social Science, 6(5), 147–152.
Makinae, N. (2010). The origin of lesson study in Japan. Paper presented at the 5th East Asia regional conference on mathematics education: In search of excellence in mathematics education, Tokyo. Retrieved from http://www.lessonstudygroup.net/lg/reading_table.php
Ministry of Education. (2012). Malaysia education blueprint 2013–2015: Preliminary report- executive summary. Retrieved from http://www4.unescobkk.org/nespap/sites/default/files/Preliminary-Blueprint-ExecSummary-Eng_0.pdf
Mohd Sofi Ali. (2003). English language teaching in primary schools: Policy and implementation concerns. IPBA E-Journal. Retrieved from http://kajianberasaskansekolah.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/article70.pdf
Owings, W. A., Kaplan, L. S., Nunnery, J., Marzano, R., & Myran, S. (2006). Teacher quality and troops to teachers: A national study with implications for principals. NASSP Bulletin, 90, 102–131. doi:10.1177/0192636506289023.
Rice, J. K. (2003). Teacher quality: Understanding the effectiveness of teacher attributes. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute.
Tee, Y. J. (2007). Reflective thinking practices among secondary mathematics teachers. Master thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Retrieved from http://psasir.upm.edu.my/4824
Yoshida, M. (1999) Lesson study: An ethnographic investigation of school-based teacher development in Japan. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago.
Yoshida, M., & Fernandez, C. (2002). Lesson study: An introduction [CD-ROM]. Madison: Global Education Resources.
Zawojewski, J., Chamberlin, M., Hjalmarson, M., & Lewis, C. (2008). Developing design studies in mathematics education professional development: Studying teachers’ interpretive systems. In A. Kelly, R. Lesh, & J. Baek (Eds.), Handbook of innovative design research in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Acknowledgement
The study reported in this paper was made possible by the generous support from the Research Grant of the Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia. Highest appreciation is also granted to Dr Ng Swee Fong for her insightful comments and suggestions for the early draft of this paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lim, C.S., Kor, L.K. (2015). Video as a Medium for Introducing Lesson Study to Multi-ethnic Malaysian Mathematics Teachers. In: Ng, S. (eds) Cases of Mathematics Professional Development in East Asian Countries. Mathematics Teacher Education, vol 10. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-405-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-405-4_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-287-404-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-287-405-4
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)