Curricular noticing in Chinese lesson study: teachers’ interactions with textbooks for project-based learning

Abstract Project-based learning (PjBL) represents a fundamental instructional reform in the new Chinese national curriculum. This study uses a new type of noticing, termed “curricular noticing,” to address the questions: How teachers attend to, interpret, and respond to textbooks through the PjBL lesson study? What shared patterns emerge in teachers’ curricular noticing in this PjBL-LS? This study included analyses of Chinese mathematics textbooks at the junior secondary level, as well as multiple case studies of several teachers and their classes. Data consist of lesson plans, videotaped lessons, interview, discussions, and reflection reports. Epistemic network analysis was used to identify the interaction between teachers and textbooks. Findings suggest that teachers shifted from fragmented to cohesive curricular noticing, progressively integrating PjBL principles—authenticity, academic rigor, and assessment practices—into textbook adaptation, while balancing the centralized curriculum’s demands with innovative instructional approaches.