Researchers studied how culturally unfamiliar classroom practices spark deeper reflections among Indian and Swedish future teachers

This study explores what pre-service teachers from India and Sweden notice in a Japanese classroom video. The findings reveal how familiarity with mathematical procedures supports detailed noticing of mathematics discourse. The unfamiliar teaching practices prompted discussions and offers learning opportunities. To incorporate culturally contrasting examples in mathematics teacher education has the potential to deepen teachers’ reflections on teaching and contribute context-sensitive awareness.

What happens when future teachers from India and Sweden observe the same Japanese mathematics classroom? Our study suggests that what teachers notice—and what they learn from it—is shaped not just by pedagogical training but also by their cultural familiarity with mathematics and teaching practices.

The article, “Unlocking the Unfamiliar: What Pre-Service Teachers From India and Sweden Notice in a Japanese Video Vignette”, investigates how cultural familiarity influences the noticing practices of pre-service teachers (PSTs). Drawing on video-prompted focus group interviews, the study examines how participants from two national contexts respond to an open-ended geometry lesson from Japan—chosen precisely because it would be unfamiliar to both groups.

The results highlight a compelling contrast. Indian PSTs, whose educational backgrounds include a strong emphasis on formal geometry, were able to follow the Japanese students’ mathematical reasoning in great detail. Their familiarity with geometric constructions and use of formal mathematical language enabled them to notice nuanced aspects of students’ problem-solving processes. In contrast, Swedish PSTs, more accustomed to algebraic methods and less exposed to open-ended geometry problems, initially struggled to interpret the same mathematical discourse—but found it a valuable learning experience.

Interestingly, the pattern was reversed when it came to noticing teaching practices. Both groups noticed what felt unfamiliar to them: the Japanese teacher’s approach of letting students create their own problems, the emphasis on group consensus, and the use of silence and patience as instructional strategies. While Swedish PSTs appreciated the inclusive tone of the classroom but debated the absence of explicit answers from teachers, Indian PSTs commented on the high level of classroom resourcing and the teacher’s detailed facilitation of groupwork—conditions rarely seen in their own practicum settings.

“We found that familiarity with a particular discourse—mathematical or pedagogical—affects what future teachers are able to notice,” explain Harita Raval et al. of Stockholm University. “In mathematics, prior familiarity supports detailed noticing. But when it comes to teaching, it is often the unfamiliar that provokes reflection and learning.”

The study adopts a discursive perspective on noticing, moving beyond cognitive models that assume noticing is simply about identifying and interpreting classroom events. Instead, the authors argue that what teachers see is shaped by cultural ideologies embedded in language and classroom norms. The research contributes to a growing body of comparative noticing studies that emphasize the need to understand teacher noticing as a culturally situated process.

For teacher education programs, the findings underscore the importance of introducing PSTs to classroom practices that differ from their own experience. By engaging with the unfamiliar, future teachers are encouraged to reflect more deeply on their assumptions and taken-for-granted practices. Video-based activities using international or contrasting examples can serve as powerful tools to prompt their noticing.

For education policymakers, the study highlights one of the limitations of universalist approaches to teacher professional development. While global standards for teacher competencies often emphasize cognitive skills and mathematical precision, this study suggests that cultural familiarity and discourse shape how those competencies are enacted and developed. Incorporating cross-cultural perspectives can help design more inclusive and context-sensitive teacher education frameworks. When the unfamiliar enters the classroom—whether through a new video vignette, a teaching practice, or a cross-cultural dialogue—it opens up space for transformative learning.

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Reference

Titles of original paper: Unlocking the Unfamiliar: What Pre-Service Teachers from India and Sweden Notice in a Japanese Video Vignette

Journal: ECNU Review of Education

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311251335667