What is Lesson Study ?

“Derived from the Japanese word jugyokenkyuu, the term ‘lesson study’ was coined by Makoto Yoshida…it can also be translated in reverse as ‘research lesson’, which indicates the level of scrutiny applied to individual lessons.”

Lesson study is the primary form of professional development for Japanese teachers. Its goalis continual improvement of teaching so that children will learn more. Its primary focus is how students think and learn. It differs from other forms of professional development because it takes place in the moment of teaching and learning. Its focus, as described by Jim Stigler and James Hiebert in The Teaching Gap, is teaching not teachers, children working, not children’s work.

The success of a lesson study is measured in teachers’ learning, not in the perfection of a lesson. That better lessons are created is asecondary byproduct of the process but not its primary goal. Groups of teachers work to formulate lessons that are taught, observed, discussed, and defined. Teachers engage in lesson study only a couple of times a year because the process is intense.

In Japan, teachers improve their teaching through “lesson study,” a process in which teachers jointly plan, observe, analyze, and refine actual classroom lessons called “research lessons”. Lesson study is widely credited for the steady improvement of Japanese elementary mathematics and science instruction. Since 1999, lesson study has rapidly emerged in many sites across the United States.
In Lesson Study teachers:
• Think about the long-term goals of education – such as love of learning and respect for others;
• Carefully consider the goals of a particular subject area, unit or lesson (for example, why science is taught, what is important about levers, how to introduce levers);
• Plan classroom “research lessons” that bring to life both specific subject matter goals and long term goals for students; and
• Carefully study how students respond to these lessons – including their learning, engagement, and treatment of each other.

Lesson study involves groups of teachers meeting regularly over a period of time (ranging from several months to a year) to work on the design, implementation, testing, and improvement of one or several “research lessons” (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999). Research lessons are actual classroom lessons, taught to one’s own students, that are (a) focused on a specific teacher-generated problem, goal, or vision of pedagogical practice, (b) carefully planned, usually in collaboration with one or more colleagues, (c) observed by other teachers, (d) recorded for analysis and reflection, and (e) discussed by lesson study group members, other colleagues, administrators, and/or an invited commentator (Lewis & Tsuchida, 1998).

During a three-year investigation of Japanese education, Lewis (2000) found that Japanese teachers were able to successfully shift their approach to teaching science from “teaching as telling” to “teaching for understanding” through intense studying and sharing during lesson study. Japanese teachers believe that time spent studying their lessons will subsequently improve their teaching. Furthermore, they believe that the most effective place to improve their teaching is in the context of a classroom lesson (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999). Japanese teachers consistently credit research lessons as the key to individual, school-wide, and national improvement of teaching (Lewis, 2000).

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About Author

A. Susanto is a freelance education columnist. He is creator SMP Roudlotul Aqoidi Bangil, a web site of SMP Roudlotul Aqoidi school. Visit his site at smp

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