Lesson Study – an Introduction

From “teaching as telling” to “teaching for understanding”

“Being here with you Felicia, with the stars twinkling high above, and the moon shining down upon us, I realize more than I ever did before, how little I know about astronomy.”

What is Lesson Study?

A systematic inquiry into teaching practice

Lesson study is an ongoing practice used in schools throughout Japan in which teachers collaborate to plan, observe, and refine a lesson.

Teachers’ Activities to Improve Instruction

Choose curriculum,write curriculum, align curriculum, write local standards

U.S. JAPAN

Plan lessons individually

Plan lessons collaboratively

Watch and discuss each other’s classroom lessons

“Successful teachers are effective in spite of the psychological theories they suffer under.”

Educational Proverb

The pervasive concern with student learning throughout lesson study distinguishes it from other types of teaching improvement activities. In lesson study, teachers:

• Base the lesson design on their ideas about how students learn

• Observe student learning when the lesson is taught

• Analyze observations of student learning after the lesson is taught

• Use information about student learning to revise the lesson.

Lesson Study differs from:•Lesson planning

•Curriculum writing

•Coaching/mentoring

•Demonstration lessons

•Basic research

• Begins with answer

• Driven by expert

• Communicationtrainer -> teachers

• Relationships hierarchical

• Research informs practice

• Begins with question

• Driven by participants

• Communication among teachers

• Relationship reciprocal

• Practice is research

TRADITIONAL LESSON STUDY

By Lynn Liptak, Paterson School #2, New Jersey.

Professional Development

How is lesson study different from the planning that my colleagues and I already do?While planning units and activities is part of lesson study, it is

only one aspect of the process. Lesson Study also encompasses observing students, testing new ideas, discussing beliefs about learning and reflecting on specific episodes of teaching. Lesson study enables teachers to learn from their practice and to share professional knowledge.

Lesson Study Provides Opportunities to:• Think Deeply About Long-term Goals for Students

• Carefully Consider the Goals of a Particular Content Area, Unit, and Lesson

• Study the Best Available Lessons

• Plan Lessons that Bring to Life both Short-term and Long-term goals

• Deepen Subject Matter Knowledge

• Develop Instructional Knowledge

• Build Capacity for Collegial Learning

• Develop the “Eyes to See Students”

Seeing something once is more important than discussing it one hundred times.

-Confucius

What is a Research Lesson?

• Actual classroom lesson with students, watched by other teachers

• Planned for a long time, collaboratively• Brings to life a goal or vision of education• Recorded: video, audio, student work• Discussed by faculty and sometimes outside

commentators

1. Form a Team 2. Develop Student Learning Goals

3. Research best

practices

4. Plan the Research Lesson5. Teach

the Lesson

6. Gather Evidence of Student Learning

7. Analyze Evidence of Student Learning

8. Reflect and

Evaluate

9. Revise the

Lesson

10.Teach the revised lesson

Share results!

Lesson Study Cycle

“What’s a successful research lesson? It’s not so much what happens in the research

lesson itself that makes it successful or unsuccessful. It is what you learned

working with your colleagues on the way there.”

- A Japanese teacher

23

1. Form a Team

• Groups of three to six people from the same discipline form a team

• Team members discuss what they would like students to learn as a result of the lesson.

• The learning goal is the backbone of a lesson and provides the “reason” for teaching and observing it.

2. Develop Student Learning Goals

3. Plan the Research Lesson

• Teachers design a lesson to achieve the learning goals, anticipating how students will respond.

Be sure to consider how you will measure your goal- can you state it as a testable question?

Do Lesson Study groups have to invent a new lesson?

• Whenever possible, groups should build on the best available lessons, rather than writing a lesson from scratch.

A library of lessons is a by-product of Lesson Study, not the goal.

4. Figure out logistics

• Decide when to meet to plan, teach and observe the lesson.

5. Gather Evidence of Student Learning• One team member teaches the lesson while others observe, collecting evidence of student learning.

6. Analyze Evidence of Student Learning

• The team discusses the results and assesses student’s progress made toward learning goals.

7. Revise the Process

• The group revises the lesson, repeating steps 2-5 as necessary, and shares findings.

8. Repeat the Process

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

-Alvin Toffler

What Next?

Suggested Steps:

Lesson Study Resources

Lesson Study: A Handbook of Teacher-Led Instructional Change Catherine Lewis (2002) www.lessonresearch.net

Teacher to Teacher: Reshaping Instruction Through Lesson Study Jan Gahala, Ruth O’Brien and Linda Schuch, Eds. (2002)

Lesson Study: Teachers Learning Together, Northwest Teacher, Spring 2001 www.nwrel.org/msec/nwteacher/

The Lesson Study Research Group at Teachers College/Columbia University in New York www.tc.edu/centers/lessonstudy/

Global Education Resources www.globaledresources.com

Lesson Study for College Teachershttp://www.uwlax.edu/sotl/lsp/index2.htm