Developing Students’ Thinking and Essential Skills in an Innovative Mathematics Classroom through Pre-Service Teachers’ Use of a Translated Japanese Mathematics Textbook for Designing Problem Situations

Abstract

Mathematics learning plays a crucial role in fostering students’ higher-order thinking skills, while textbooks serve as fundamental tools for teachers in planning instruction. This study aimed to investigate the development of students’ thinking skills—problem solving, analytical thinking, creativity, and innovation—as well as essential skills, including communication and collaboration. Pre-service teachers used a translated Japanese mathematics textbook as a tool to design problem situations. A qualitative research methodology was employed, focusing on classroom practice based on the Transformative Lesson Study Incorporating Open Approach (TLSOA) framework (Inprasitha, 2011; 2022). The development of students’ thinking and essential skills in this study involved transforming classroom contexts, including teacher professional culture, textbook use, and teaching approaches, through the TLSOA process. The research participants consisted of six Lesson Study teams (Grades 1–6), each including one mentor teacher and two pre-service teachers, totaling 18 participants, along with one researcher. The target group comprised 120 students from four partner schools in teacher education implementing TLSOA. Research instruments included 18 lesson plans (three lessons per grade), classroom observation records, activity sheets, video recordings, and photographs. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The findings revealed that Lesson Study teams collaboratively transformed classroom practices through weekly TLSOA cycles. During the collaborative plan, the translated Japanese textbook was used to design problem situations and instructional materials, emphasizing textbook goals and real-life contexts relevant to students. In collaboratively do, teachers employed the Open Approach, encouraging independent thinking and valuing diverse student ideas. And collaboratively see, teams used observational data to identify and enhance students’ thinking and essential skills. These changes in classroom context led to a continuous cycle of skill development grounded in students’ natural thinking processes, with observable evidence of both thinking and essential skills emerging within the TLSOA context.