Learning from differences: a strategy for teacher development in respect to student diversity

TLDR

The study acknowledges challenges in implementing the proposed strategy. The study proposes an innovative strategy to help teachers respond positively to learner diversity, based on evidence from collaborative action research in eight secondary schools across three European countries. The strategy merges lesson study with an emphasis on listening to students' views. The research shows that emphasizing students' views makes a difference in responding to learner diversity, giving the process a critical edge that encourages teachers to move beyond sharing existing practices and invent new ways to engage students.

Abstract

Drawing on evidence gathered as a result of collaborative action research carried out in 8 secondary schools in 3 European countries, this paper proposes an innovative strategy for helping teachers respond positively to learner diversity. The strategy merges the idea of lesson study with an emphasis on listening to the views of students. The research suggests that it is this latter emphasis that makes the difference as far as responding to learner diversity is concerned. It is this that brings a critical edge to the process that has the potential to challenge teachers to go beyond the sharing of existing practices in order to invent new possibilities for engaging students in their lessons. The paper also considers some of the difficulties involved in using this strategy.