Building professional learning: lesson study as a model of collaborative reflective practice in English as a foreign language teaching in Indonesia

This study investigated potential applications of Lesson Study (LS) as a collaborative form of reflective practice and as a model of effective Professional Learning (PL) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching in Indonesian tertiary contexts. Three research issues were addressed: the EFL secondary school teachers’ and LS specialists’ beliefs about LS as a form of PL, the EFL tertiary lecturers’ beliefs about PL, and the potential applications of LS as a model of PL in tertiary contexts. LS is presented as a model of PL that offers EFL teachers in Indonesia a way to shift current transmissive teacher-centered approaches to EFL teaching to more student- centered learning. It is argued that in Indonesian tertiary educational settings, secondary school teachers PL should similarly become the centre of their own learning. Drawing on theories of reflective practices in teaching and learning and the principles of LS, the study sought to demonstrate the applicability of LS as a model of EFL lecturers’ PL in tertiary contexts. Informed by interpretivist approach and naturalistic inquiry, the study involved twelve EFL teachers from secondary schools, three LS specialists, and seven EFL lecturers from the Gama Language Training Centre (GLTC) in Indonesia. Using qualitative methods, focus group interviews and in-depth interviews were utilized to gather the data. Focus group interviews were conducted with the EFL secondary school teachers and the EFL lecturers in the GLTC, while individual in-depth interviews were carried out with the LS specialists. These three lenses on the phenomenon under enquiry provided rich data for exploration. The data were triangulated for trustworthiness and credibility. The data were analysed thematically using increasingly rigorous levels of coding. The findings are illustrated by verbatim quotations to give voice to the participants. The findings indicate that many of the participants in the secondary school contexts considered LS an efficacious approach to teacher reflective practice and PL. The collaborative work and reflective practice embedded in the phases of LS provided many learning opportunities for enhancing EFL content knowledge and creating effective pedagogies that contributed positively to their sense of self as professional educators. Another finding reveals that after having focus group interviews, the EFL lecturers in the GLTC shifted their beliefs from a paradigm of professional development to one of PL. LS with its phases of PLAN, DO, SEE offers a potential framework of PL to achieving this. When comparing and contrasting the school teachers’ beliefs about LS as a collaborative and reflective practice form of PL with those beliefs held about PL at the tertiary level, it was found that both groups of participants believed their PL activity was an opportunity for them to become better practitioners. The findings too revealed that the characteristics of LS as the form of the EFL secondary school teachers PL have embedded in the EFL lecturers’ PL in the GLTC. This provides opportunities for LS to be adopted as a collaborative model of reflective practice so that the transmissive mode of EFL teaching in Indonesia can be shifted to one more focused on student learning. LS proved to be effective model of PL and it is currently undertaken by secondary school teachers; therefore, it will be particularly useful for EFL teaching in Indonesian tertiary contexts. The implication of this study of LS as collaborative and reflective PL in Indonesian tertiary institutions is that PL is essential in improving teacher professionalism and supporting a shift from a transmissive teaching practice to one that is learner centred.