CHAPTER 50: Developing Inquiry-Based Teaching Through Lesson Study

Inquiry-based teaching is widely promoted in mathematics education to help students develop a deep understanding of mathematics and mathematical thinking. In inquiry classrooms, students construct mathematical meaning through reasoning, communicating, exploring, and collaborating with peers and teachers while working on inquiry-oriented tasks, including non-algorithmic problems and investigations (NCTM, 1991). However, adopting an inquiry perspective is challenging for teachers because they were taught mathematics that way. This can create a difficult situation when preparing today’s students and tomorrow’s workers for the demands of the 21st century unless teachers are provided with meaningful learning opportunities to deepen their understanding of inquiry-oriented pedagogy. This article describes such a learning opportunity based on the experience of a group of elementary teachers. Specifically, it discusses a lesson-study approach and the type of knowledge of inquiry teaching and actual teaching resulting from the experience.