Teacher-dominating lessons in Shanghai: A triangulation from three perspectives

Abstract

Students learning in teacher-dominating classrooms in Confucian-heritage cultures give very good performances in comparative studies such as TIMSS. These results create a myth regarding the value of the teacher-dominating lessons. In the LPS data from different countries it is not difficult to find episodes with different levels of control or intervention from the teachers. We argue here that what really matters can be perceived from three perspectives: (1) what the teacher wants his students to learn, (2) what the students capture their lessons, and (3) how the teacher's input creates a possibility of understanding the mathematics. The data in this paper come from 15 consecutive (grade 7) mathematics lessons by a teacher in Shanghai, including the teacher's and students' interviews. In this attempt to triangulate the picture of a lesson from three different angles, we see that the teacher's and the students' characteristics are essential elements contributing to the success of the lesson. It is worth noting that like his counterparts in other parts of the world the Shanghai teacher values his students' thinking and participation very much and agrees that knowledge should not be acquired by transmission. However, in the implementation the teacher shows a version of student-centredness different from that in the western world. In spite of the similarity in the belief of what a good learning environment should embrace, the image of the lesson is very much content-oriented and teacher-controlled. Referring to a detailed analysis of the content of a specific lesson via the framework of variation, it is found that the teacher is very skilful in using variation even though he may not be aware of it. The teacher demonstrates a personalized pedagogical theory which he demonstrates successfully in his own lesson.