Pre-service teachers' experiences of a lesson study approach as a form of student support

Wiets Botes
Sol Plaatje University, South Africa
Boitumelo Moreeng
University of the Free State, South Africa
Moeketsi Mosia
Sol Plaatje University, South Africa

This paper reports on how a team of final-year pre-service teachers experienced a lesson study approach, as a program-specific form of student support. Guided by Bandura's social learning theory, this purposive qualitative case study reveals how the pre-service teachers' engagement in the lesson study approach triggered feelings of commitment, dedication and motivation to succeed in the process of developing well-structured lesson presentations for a teaching practicum experience. The paper describes how the lesson study approach allowed the team of pre-service teachers to engage in collaborative practices which enabled them to share creative lesson ideas in a small-group format. The paper further reports on the lesson reflection experiences encountered by the pre-service teachers which empowered them to reflect and learn from their fellow peers' teaching experiences. The paper suggests that the lesson study approach, as a form of student support, serves as a valuable intervention that has the potential to better the lesson preparation capabilities of pre-service teachers in development. Further research should consider a larger sample that might render more diverse experiences in terms of how pre-service teachers experience a lesson study approach.
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Authors: Dr Wiets Botes is lecturer in Natural Science education in the School of Education at the Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley, South Africa. He holds a doctorate in higher education studies from the University of the Free State, South Africa. His research interest includes pre-service teacher development and support and natural science teacher education. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3024-8969 Email: wiets.botes@spu.ac.za Dr Boitumelo Moreeng has a PhD in curriculum studies. He is currently a senior lecturer at the University of the Free State, South Africa. His research interest is in curriculum studies, history teaching and teacher education. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3644-3140 Email: moreengbb@ufs.ac.za Dr Moeketsi Mosia has a PhD in mathematics education. He is currently the director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning and Program Development at the Sol Plaatje University, South Africa. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7189-0018 Email: moeketsi.mosia@spu.ac.za Please cite as: Botes, W., Moreeng, B. & Mosia, M. (2022). Pre-service teachers' experiences of a lesson study approach as a form of student support. Issues in Educational Research, 32(1), 57-70. http://www.iier.org.au/iier32/botes.pdf