Developing, implementing and researching Lesson Design Workshops
Lesson design workshop are developed, implemented and researched mainly within teacher education and in-service programs
Beskrivning
TePlab develops, implements, and conducts research on ‘Lesson Design Workshops’ (LDW). LDW are collaborative settings for bridging educational research and practice through the co-creation of lesson plans. The methodology is grounded in a commitment to enhancing the quality of education and recognises the value of research-based knowledge as well as the professional expertise of teachers. LDW gather teachers and researchers to design lessons together, each bringing their specific competences and experiences to the table.
There are a number of research approaches that combine an interest in developing knowledge about teaching and learning with the purpose of developing teaching practice. Examples of such so-called intervention research are action research, design-based research, and learning studies. They are important but are based on the assumption that scientific knowledge – about teaching, learning, design principles, etc. – can be continuously and effectively widely disseminated to teachers and that those teachers can immediately translate it into their teaching practice. The LDW approach is built on the idea that complementary activities are needed to successfully bridge research and practice on a national scale.
LDW are based on the following principles:
- Researchers and teachers work together to translate scientific knowledge (e.g. from subject-theoretical and didactic research) into relevant and effective teaching. For successfully implementing research findings, teachers' proven experience is indispensable. It allows to anchor the scientific findings in the practical reality within which the teaching is conducted. LDW can thus be considered a practical method of co-creation with a focus on bridging the well-known gap between theory and practice. Thus, LDW has similarities with Lesson Studies, but with the important differences that didactic research is always included in co-creation.
- The cocreated output of LDW are products that can directly be used in teaching: lesson plans and associated teaching materials, teaching methods, etc. As such, the co-creation activities can be considered to be ‘resource neutral’: they can take place within the time teachers already set aside for the preparation of lessons. LDW are practically organised so that, both, practical relevance and feasibility in relation to teachers’ working situation are taken care of. Its set-up as a limited series of (2-6) meetings of abut 2 hours, accompanied by in-between assignments, all focused on the production of directly applicable lessons and teaching materials. This should ensure that the time committed is worthwhile.
- LDW always start from a real-world challenge that teachers experience in their in-class practice. This further strengthens the practical relevance of the methodology and, thus, the practical usefulness of its output. Furthermore, such problems that teachers actually experience in their daily practice can be a powerful trigger for professional learning.
- LDW are ‘makerspaces’ for the co-creation of lessons and teaching materials in which a form of collective quality care is built in. LDW are designed for collaboratively enhancing the quality of the co-created output. LDW consciously pay attention to ensuring that the co-created products can be effectively disseminated to other teachers and be useful for enhancing and inspiring their teaching. Therefore, the lesson plans, teaching materials, etc. are accompanied with didactic reflections and can easily be disseminated via, for example, digital platforms.
- The design of processes of co-creation in LDW settings is based on scientific insights and on collective practical experience with initiatives to bridge theory and practice. The approach aligns, for example, with findings from research on crucial factors for enabling teachers’ professional development, such as collegial interaction and learning among teachers, partnerships with outside resource persons, bridging educational theory and practice in collaborative settings, practical usefulness and focus on in-class practice, active learning, a context-specific approach, significant duration (taking into account that time commitment may be an obstacle), and the quality of the facilitation.
- LDW are theory neutral, that is, it can be built on research with different theoretical backgrounds. The important thing is that the research-based knowledge used can contribute to relevant and effective teaching for the students. To facilitate this, the teaching challenges that form the starting point of a LDW are approached with the help of didactic models. Scientific-didactic models that are used in didactic research are transformed into professional-didactic models. The collaboration between teachers and researchers allows to, simultaneously, improve the quality and usefulness of didactic models for research and professional purposes.
Besides developing and implementing concrete LDW, TePlab also develops the LDW concept by carrying out research about, for instance:
- The co-creation that takes place within the setting of a LDW. The knowledge gained is used i.a. to develop better forms of effective and time-efficient co-creation.
- The implementation of the co-created teaching activities in practice and its consequences for students’ learning. The research results used, for example, to evaluate and develop the LDW.
- The dialogue between teachers' reflections, during the design phase and in the evaluation of completed teaching result, and didactical models resulting into what can be described as a hybridization of scientific and professional knowledge. These results can be developed into professional scientific publications.