9 - School–University Partnerships for Professional Development of Teachers: A Case of Lesson Study Intervention in Mathematics

Source abstract

School–university partnerships for the professional development of teach- ers continue to be used extensively in South Africa to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, especially in mathematics. The success of such partnerships in changing teachers’ classroom practices, however, remains in doubt, in part because very few studies present empirical evidence of the changes. This paper assesses the impact of one such partnership, which resulted in perceived changes in teachers’ instructional practices and curriculum decisions after the intervention. Using retrospective pre- testing design, the study established that there were significant differences between teachers’ pre- and post-test scores, which suggests that teachers changed their instructional practices and curriculum decisions after the intervention. The findings provide some empirical evidence that partner- ships of this nature, between schools and universities, may prove valuable in attempts to improve the teaching of school mathematics, especially in the South African context.