Facilitation: Roles and Postures : the Example of Initial Teacher Education
Formation et professionnalisation
- Presutti, Sara ORCID HEP-VS
- 2025
English
For those who have practiced lesson study (LS), it is common knowledge to consider the facilitation and the presence of koshi as key elements of the process. Academic literature provides evidence of this phenomenon both inside and outside Japan (Takahashi, 2014; Takahashi & McDougal, 2016). However, while in Japan the distinction between the facilitators and the koshi/knowledgeable others is very clear, in LS forms developed abroad these two figures may overlap (Takahashi & Clivaz, 2018). This fact leads to an increasing complexity of the tasks, the interventions, as well as the required knowledge and skills.
The context of initial teacher education further complexifies the picture: in this setting, the facilitator is also an expert and an educator. Besides, in some cases there may be more than one guiding member with different skills or areas of expertise, which can additionally modify the dynamics and the power imbalance with the preservice teachers.
When researching LS or training new facilitators in this context, it becomes essential to better understand this multifaceted figure. This contribution explores facilitation within a PhD research on LS in initial teacher education (Presutti, 2024). The study is based on the distinction between the educators’ roles and postures during the LS process. Roles are determined by the institutions to which the educators are subject. Postures, on the other hand, depend on educators’ positioning within the roles and influence how they act, think or speak in a given situation, as well as their attitude towards knowledge. Thus, for each episode that occurs during LS, it is possible to identify a predominant posture based on the educators’ actions and speech.
The contribution presents the analysis of some episodes taken from a LS conducted at Lausanne University of Teacher Education, in Switzerland. The LS was part of the Mathematics education programme, with the group reflecting on the teaching and learning of integer numbers in lower-secondary school. This analysis reveals the dynamics between the members of the LS group in terms of postures. Results show a ‘mirror effect’ between the posture of the educator and of the preservice teachers, and subsequent changes on the didactical contract and the learning responsibility. Broader results on the group’s dynamics through all the LS process show an evolution, with the educator adopting more of an expert posture at the beginning and more of a practitioner-researcher posture at the end.
These findings raise a number of questions about their use for training new facilitators. For instance, how can awareness of these postures help new facilitators to develop their reflective attitude? What is the influence of the facilitator’s own knowledge on these postures? When is it appropriate to hold this knowledge and when is it appropriate to disclose it?
The context of initial teacher education further complexifies the picture: in this setting, the facilitator is also an expert and an educator. Besides, in some cases there may be more than one guiding member with different skills or areas of expertise, which can additionally modify the dynamics and the power imbalance with the preservice teachers.
When researching LS or training new facilitators in this context, it becomes essential to better understand this multifaceted figure. This contribution explores facilitation within a PhD research on LS in initial teacher education (Presutti, 2024). The study is based on the distinction between the educators’ roles and postures during the LS process. Roles are determined by the institutions to which the educators are subject. Postures, on the other hand, depend on educators’ positioning within the roles and influence how they act, think or speak in a given situation, as well as their attitude towards knowledge. Thus, for each episode that occurs during LS, it is possible to identify a predominant posture based on the educators’ actions and speech.
The contribution presents the analysis of some episodes taken from a LS conducted at Lausanne University of Teacher Education, in Switzerland. The LS was part of the Mathematics education programme, with the group reflecting on the teaching and learning of integer numbers in lower-secondary school. This analysis reveals the dynamics between the members of the LS group in terms of postures. Results show a ‘mirror effect’ between the posture of the educator and of the preservice teachers, and subsequent changes on the didactical contract and the learning responsibility. Broader results on the group’s dynamics through all the LS process show an evolution, with the educator adopting more of an expert posture at the beginning and more of a practitioner-researcher posture at the end.
These findings raise a number of questions about their use for training new facilitators. For instance, how can awareness of these postures help new facilitators to develop their reflective attitude? What is the influence of the facilitator’s own knowledge on these postures? When is it appropriate to hold this knowledge and when is it appropriate to disclose it?
- Conférence
- WALS 2025 : World Association of Lesson and Learning Studies
- Language
-
- English
- Classification
- Higher Education Institutions
- License
-
License undefined
- Persistent URL
- https://fredi.hepvs.ch/hepvs/documents/335818
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