TEACHERS’ COMPETENCY IN MATHEMATICS TEACHING BY LESSON STUDY AND OPEN APPROACH

Abstract

This research aims to study teachers’ competency in mathematics teaching by Lesson Study and the Open Approach. The target group were 11 mathematics teachers in primary schools from the school network on the development of Mathematics Teachers by Lesson Study and the Open Approach. The research methodology used was the mixed method. Research tools included: lesson plans, teachers’ interviews forms, questionnaires, and voice recordings. The data analysis followed the framework of Sugiyama (2008) and Inprasitha (2011). The data was analyzed by means of descriptive analysis and statistical percentages.

The research results found that: the teachers’ competency in mathematics teaching by Lesson Study and the Open Approach have a level of ability on level 3: Student-centered exploration was 100 percent. The teachers’ role was to provide student opportunities to discover and understand basic ideas, and support their learning in order for students to become independent learners by the Open Approach following that:  1) posing open-ended problems; The teachers’ role was to support and stimulate students’ learning through problem solving tasks and not through passive learning.  2) students’ self-learning; the teachers’ role was to  observe , take note of students’ ideas, not to intervene in students’ problem solving and use questions to stimulate students’ thinking.   3) whole class discussion and comparison; the teachers’ role was to order students’ ideas to present basic ideas and abstract ideas and expand students’ ideas through discussion and comparing different ideas.  4) summarization through connecting students’ mathematical ideas emerging in the classroom; The teachers’ role was connecting students’ ideas that were presented on the blackboard, providing materials and summarizing from students’ ideas, leading to the mathematical conception which is the goal of lesson. The process to support and enhance teachers’ competency included the lesson study cycle; collaborative planning, collaborative doing, collaborative observing.