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Royea, Diana

University of British Columbia

Learning Study is an approach to teacher professional development involving collaborative planning, teaching, and revision of learning situations. Differentiating itself from similar approaches, Learning Study is driven by a focus on what students are to learn and uses a theory throughout—typically Variation Theory—to focus on the object of learning. Previous research has documented the benefits of Learning Study as professional development for practicing teachers, such as enhancing mathematical knowledge for teaching. However, there is little research on preservice teachers engaging in Learning Study. This study investigates preservice teachers’ lived experiences participating in Learning Study, learning about Variation Theory, and using Variation Theory to inform their pedagogical decision-making while learning about teaching mathematics. The research questions are: (i) What are preservice elementary teachers’ lived experiences of participating in Learning Study as part of their learning to teach mathematics coursework? and (ii) How do preservice elementary mathematics teachers understand and use Variation Theory to inform their pedagogical decisions while collaboratively planning learning situations? Descriptive phenomenological methods guide the collection and analysis of seven preservice teachers’ lived experiences. Activity Theory and professional theorization are used to interpret and describe the experiences of seven preservice teachers. Results indicate that the principled use of theory to design learning situations and guide pedagogical decision-making amplified preservice teachers’ awareness of theory in relation to teaching mathematics. Results also indicate that thinking about teaching through the approach of Learning Study and Variation Theory helped preservice teachers discern new relationships between theory, theorizing, and teaching. Learning about and using Variation Theory to collaboratively design learning situations, however, presented certain challenges, such as learning about a novel learning theory and collaborating in ways that support learning. This study points to the significance of pedagogical strategies, such as Learning Study, for teacher educators and ways to support preservice teachers in valuing and learning how to collaborate as part of their ongoing professional learning.

Text

2025-01-16

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90131

Curriculum Studies

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/