Lesson Study as Pedagogic Transfer: A Sociological Analysis (Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, 69)

This book examines education transfer, specifically focusing on pedagogic transfer, and analyzes what happens when lesson study is introduced into foreign contextual settings. Lesson study, a professional development approach that originated in Japan 150 years ago, has been widely considered one of the best practices for collaborative professional development. There is an underlying assumption behind education transfer that when “best practice” is transferred to another country, it will generate a similar effect and improve schooling quality. Since pedagogic practice is socially constructed, the best practice in one setting may not be meaningful in another contextual setting. This book makes a unique contribution to the field of comparative education by offering a sociological examination of why pedagogic transfer often fails to bring expected benefits. It is comprised of three parts. Part I, ”Pedagogic Transfer and Lesson study,” provides contextualized analysis of lesson study in Japan and abroad and presents how the meaning of practice is always reinterpreted against the local educational context. Part II presents a sociological analysis of Indonesian teachers’ practice based on ethnographic fieldwork. It conceptually analyses the nature of the teacher community and their practice and is presented as “teacher strategies.” The concept showed that teacher culture and practice are not fixed but constantly negotiated within the institutional setting. Part III, “Sociological Understanding of Pedagogic Transfer,” builds on the analyses in Part I and II and provides a theoretical understanding of the issue of pedagogic transfer. Professional responsibilities of teachers, collegiality, and teaching expertise in Japan and Indonesia are compared to understand how the meaning of lesson study was reconstructed in the Indonesian setting. In conclusion, recommendations for an alternative approach to professional development are offered. Series Editor’s Introduction The Recontextualisation of Lesson Study: A Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Contents Part I Lesson Study and Pedagogic Transfer 1 Introduction 1.1 Education Transfer and Recontextualization 1.2 The Global Discourse on Education Quality 1.3 Transfer of Student-Centered Pedagogy 1.3.1 Background of Student-Centered Pedagogy Introduction 1.3.2 Criticisms of Student-Centered Pedagogy 1.3.3 Local Adaptation of Student-Centered Pedagogy 1.3.4 Pedagogic Transformation and Teacher Agency 1.4 Overview of the Book References 2 Historical Development of Lesson Study in Japan 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Origins of Lesson Study 2.3 Lesson Study as Teachers’ Initiatives 2.4 The New Education Movement and Lesson Study 2.5 Promulgation and Stagnation of Lesson Study 2.6 Lesson Study as a Learning Community 2.7 Lesson Study Today 2.8 Conclusion 2.8.1 Student Learning as a Social and Holistic Experience 2.8.2 Teacher-Initiated Inquiry 2.8.3 Teacher-Generated Knowledge and Professional Knowledge Base 2.8.4 A Flexible Learning System 2.8.5 Practitioner–researcher Dialogue and Collaboration References 3 Importing and Exporting Lesson Study 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Foreign Attraction to Lesson Study 3.3 Parallel Development of Lesson Study in China 3.3.1 Historical Development in China 3.3.2 Features of Chinese Lesson Study 3.4 Lesson Study in the U.S. 3.4.1 Background 3.4.2 Progress and Diversification of Lesson Study in the U.S. 3.4.3 Contextual Gaps of Lesson Study in the U.S. 3.4.4 Local Adaptation of Lesson Study in the U.S. 3.5 Lesson Study in Asia 3.5.1 Asian Curriculum Reform under Globalization 3.5.2 Singapore 3.6 Lesson Study in Developing Countries 3.6.1 Introduction of Lesson Study in Developing Countries 3.6.2 Features of JICA Lesson Study 3.6.3 Challenges in JICA Lesson Study 3.6.4 Implications for Pedagogical Transformation 3.7 Conclusion References Part II Ethnography of Lesson Study in a Javanese Junior High School 4 Teacher Professional Development in Indonesia: Issues and Challenges 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Sociological Analysis of Teacher Professional Development 4.3 Background of Lesson Study in Indonesia 4.4 The Research Setting and Fieldwork: SMP Sari 4.5 Data Analysis 4.6 Conclusion References 5 The Javanese Teacher Community and Their Coping Strategies 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Overview of the Teachers’ Community 5.3 The Indonesian Familism System 5.3.1 Family Responsibilities 5.3.2 Two Discourses in the Familism System 5.4 School Leadership Under the Familism System 5.4.1 Leadership of Principal 5.4.2 Symbolic Leadership of Mr. Beni 5.4.3 Authoritative Leadership of Mrs. Dewi 5.4.4 The Impossibility of Balancing Two Accountabilities 5.5 Teacher Cooperation Under the Familism System 5.5.1 School Programs as Community Participation 5.5.2 Accountability to Teach for Exam Preparation 5.5.3 Discourses in Professional Accountabilities 5.5.4 Professional Interests as a Personal Choice 5.6 Negotiating Responsibilities in the Familism System 5.6.1 Negotiations Between a “Good” Family and a “Good” Teacher 5.6.2 Seniority as Privileged Status 5.6.3 Understanding of Teaching Competence 5.6.4 Hidden Competition 5.6.5 Good Cooperation Under the Patronage 5.6.6 The Ambuguity of Bureaucratic Boundaries 5.7 Coping Strategies of Teachers 5.7.1 Internalization 5.7.2 Conformity and Compliance 5.7.3 Externalization 5.8 Conclusion References 6 Teachers’ Pedagogies, Strategies, and Authority 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Pedagogic Strategies 6.2.1 Zone of Proximal Development as Social Space 6.2.2 Restricted Pedagogic Strategy 6.2.3 Elaborated Pedagogic Strategy 6.3 Features of Teaching Practices at SMP Sari 6.3.1 Presentation of Materi as Standardized Texts 6.3.2 Minimum Teacher Support 6.3.3 Teacher Discourse in RPS 6.3.4 Class Management 6.3.5 Teaching to the Test 6.3.6 Variations in the Lesson Format 6.3.7 The Pedagogic Scope and Challenges 6.4 “Good” Teachers and Their Pedagogies 6.4.1 Mr. Edi 6.4.2 Mr. Halim 6.5 Pedagogic Strategies and the Pedagogic Discourse 6.6 Teacher Expertise and Authority Strategies 6.6.1 Career Advancement (Traditional Versus Bureaucratic) 6.6.2 Responsibility to Students (Bureaucratic Versus Charismatic) 6.7 Conclusion References 7 Enactment of Lesson Study as a Bureaucratic Project 7.1 Introduction 7.2 The Bureaucratization of Lesson Study 7.2.1 Lesson Study as a School Program 7.2.2 Lesson Study as Bureaucratic Protocols 7.3 Lesson Study Implementation 7.3.1 Indonesian Language Open Class by Mr. Basuki 7.3.2 Interpretation of Lesson Study 7.3.3 Teacher Support in Student Activities 7.3.4 Interpretation of Student Learning 7.3.5 Teacher Cooperation in Post-Lesson Discussions 7.4 Conclusion Reference Part III Sociological Understanding of Pedagogic Transfer 8 The Recontextualization of Lesson Study 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Professional Accountabilities 8.3 Collegiality 8.3.1 Teacher Cooperation 8.3.2 Responsibility for Professional Development 8.4 Professional Expertise 8.4.1 The Contextual Difference in Teaching Expertise 8.4.2 Interpretation of Student Activities 8.5 Contents of Post-Lesson Discussions 8.6 The Bureaucratization of Lesson Study 8.7 Conclusion References 9 Conclusion 9.1 Teacher Professional Development and Pedagogic Transformation 9.2 Essential Features of Lesson Study in Japan and Its Relation to Local Educational Contexts 9.3 Teachers’ Response to Teacher Development 9.4 Accountability to Teaching 9.5 Teacher Collegiality and Community Accountability 9.6 Lesson Study and Teacher-Student Interactions 9.7 Recommendations References