A popular process of teacher professional development in
Japan
Derived from two Japanese word s : jugyokenkyu )
Jugyo = lesson ; kenkyu = study/research
Lesson study (by Makato Yoshida, 1999)
Research lesson (by Catherine C. Lewis, 1997)
3.
Aims to improve the quality of teaching and learning experience
that teachers provide to their students.
Practiced by Japanese teachers for more than 40 years
It is practised in
government in-service training,
special interest group,
teachers club or
school-based in-service training /
konaikenshu
4. Procedure to set up Lesson Study
Step 1: Form a group
Step 2: Focus on the goal
Step 3: Plan the research lesson
Step 4: Teach and observe the lesson
Step 5: Discuss and analyze the lesson
Step 6: Reflect and plan for the next steps
5. Lesson Study Cycle
3. TEACH AND OBSERVE
Conduct research lesson
Collect data
1. SET GOAL
Consider long term goals for student learning and
development
Study curriculum and standards
2. PLAN
Select or revise research lesson
Anticipate student responses
Plan data collection and lesson
4. REFLECT
Share data
What is learned about students learning, lesson design, th e
content?
What are implications for this lesson and instruction more
broadly?
6. Benefits of Lesson Study
reduces teacher isolation
helps teachers learn to observe & critique
Deepens teachers understanding of content and curricular scope
and sequence
Allows teachers to focus on helping all students learn
Increases collaboration and respect for each other
7. SOME MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT LESSON STUDY
8. Misconceptions about Lesson Study
1. LS is lesson planning
2. LS means writing lessons from scratch
3. LS means writing a rigid script
4. LS is writing the perfect lesson to be spread to others
5. The research lesson is a demonstration lesson or expert
lesson
6. LS is basic research
9. 1. LS is lesson planning?
Lesson planning is just a small part of LS
LS is a process involves formulating long term goals, studying
student responses to actual lesson and revising the approach to
instruction.
Teachers formulate questions and activities that will move
students to improve their current understanding to the desired
understanding of the subject matter.
The actual student reactions are used to revamp the lesson
plan, and the instructional approach more generally.
It is about research and watching students learn.
10. 2. LS is writing lessons from scratch?
Not necessary, you may search out good available lessons on the
topic.
Refine or modify to adapt to your setting
(so that you have more time to observe the students
learning)
Spend more time on anticipate student responses, study student
work, and refine the lesson.
The focus is on improvement, not creation
11. 3. LS means writing a rigid script?
No, the research lesson plan is NOT a script because
Every problem or question is chosen carefully so as to promote
student thinking
Every step/activity is planned carefully so that the experience
that students gain will help them to understand the lesson
better.
forget about the details, teach them by looking at their
faces
Need to be flexible and change when necessary
12. 4. LS is writing the perfect lesson to be spread to others
There is no perfect lesson. The world is diverse and constantly
changing, there is no guarantee that
a particular lesson is right for all students in all schools,
or
it will continue to work well with future students
LS provides a mean for teachers to continue to refine lesson so
that they can respond effectively to the students in their class
today (not yesterday).
Students lives are changing, so lesson study never ends.
13. 5. Research lesson is a demo lesson/ expert lesson?
Every teacher has something important to contribute
An effective LS should consists of both expert and novice
teachers - to be open and learn from each other.
All group members take responsibility to develop the approach
and for collection and analysis of data on the students.
14. 6. LS is a basic research?
It is different from most educational research or even action
research
2 main differences:
a) the primary goal of Lesson Study is NOT to generate new
knowledge. It is to improve instruction for students in ones own
purview.
(research methodology & statistical analysis do not come
into play)
b) LS examines an active improvement effort, NOT just an idea
or question.
The point of LS is not to study certain effect individually but
to practice all the qualities thought to comprise good
teaching.
15. Benefits of Lesson Study
Enhance content and pedagogical knowledge
Encourage collegial collaboration
Value teachers
16. Enhance content and pedagogical knowledge I feel that
Lesson Study is very important for teachers to get new ideas. When
we discuss, we share a lot and I have gained many new ideas. I also
feel that Lesson Study will be helpful for me to prepare a lesson
because after the discussion, we have a different perspective on
teaching certain lessons . . . it is really interesting to know how
others teach the same topic. (Journal of a lady mathematics teacher
, 19-07-04)
17. Enhance content and pedagogical knowledge cont I learn a
lot because there are a lot of things that I dont think [never
thought of] but other teachers do. So, when we share them, we are
getting new ideas . . . just for the lesson plan about integers, I
have never heard about using the colored-chips at all and I have
never even thought about it. (Interview of a lady mathematics
teacher, 10-08-04)
18. Encourage collegial collaboration
a change in the nature of the staff-room discourse
greater focus on the study lessons and alternative teaching
strategies,
a lot more sharing of ideas.
greater support among the colleagues.
19. Value teachers LS recognizes the central importance and
difficulty of teaching - of actually bringing to life standards ,
frameworks and best practices in the classroom. Lesson Study
invests time and resources in planning , studying and refining what
actually happens in classroom. It is a system of research and
development in which teachers advance theory and practice through
the careful study of their own classrooms, constantly testing and
improving on best practice.
20. Contrasting views of professional development (courtesy of
Lynn Liptak) Traditional Lesson Study
Begins with answer
Driven by outside expert
Communication flow:
Trainer teachers
Hierarchical relations between trainer & learners
Research informs practice
Begins with questions
Driven by participants
Communication flow:
Among teachers
Reciprocal relations among learners
Practice is research
21. Ask yourself . . .
How can teachers improve their teaching without lesson
study?
Akihiko Takahashi, De Paul University
22. Lets work through misconceptions and build a robust version
of Lesson Study in our school . . .
We can only improve our teaching in depth collaboratively in a
supporting setting!