Lesson study (or ''jugyō kenkyū'') is a teaching improvement process that has origins in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

elementary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or firs ...

, where it is a widespread

professional development Professional development is learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning Informal learning is characterized "by a low degree of planning and ...

practice. Working in a small group, teachers collaborate with one another, meeting to discuss learning goals, planning an actual classroom lesson (called a "research lesson"), observing how their ideas work in a live lessons with students, and then reporting on the results so that other teachers can benefit from it.

Different levels of lesson study

In Japan, lesson study is conducted at the school, district, and national levels. Features common to all three levels are: * preparation of a detailed lesson plan, providing background research information, lesson goals, connections to state or local learning standards, reasoning behind the design of the lesson, and steps of the lesson along with anticipated student responses; * observation of a live lesson conducted with students (the ''research lesson''); and * a discussion following the lesson, analyzing its impact on students and implications for future instruction. School-, district-, or national-level lesson study differ with respect to the students they consider. * School-based lesson study (discussed in more detail below) aims to address a school-wide ''research theme''. * District-level lesson study is often used for schools to share learning with other schools. A school might have an open house, with research lessons held at every grade, which district leaders and educators from other schools will attend. * National-level lesson study is conducted by enthusiastic volunteers who are also very experienced, highly respected teachers. The research lesson is done at a major conference. The objective may be to explore new content or to present a new approach to teaching particular content. National-level research lessons often inform changes in the national Course of Study. Despite differences between Japanese and American educational systems (see

Education in Japan Education in Japan is managed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. Education is compulsory at the elementary and lower secondary levels. Most students attend public schools through the lower ...

and

Education in the United States Education in the United States is provided in public and private schools and by individuals through homeschooling. State governments set overall educational standards, often mandate standardized tests for K–12 public school systems and sup ...

), the practice is gaining in popularity in the United States in K-12 education and

teacher training Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs, policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, approaches, methodologies and skills they require to perform their t ...

(See

Instructional rounds Conducting instructional rounds is a process that school districts and schools use to better understand teaching and learning in schools in order to improve learning at scale. In an instructional rounds session, a group of educators, from perhaps 20 ...

), and more recently it is finding a home in

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

as a form of

faculty development Faculty development is a similarly used term to staff development and professional development, in settings that pertain to educators. Professional development for educators may include teacher training, and is usually considered pre-service, or ...

. This is a specific example of the ongoing Japanese devotion to the Plan-Do-Check-Act

PDCA PDCA (plan–do–check–act or plan–do–check–adjust) is an iterative design and management method used in business for the control and continual improvement of processes and products. It is also known as the Shewhart cycle, or the control ...

decision-making discipline pioneered by

W. Edwards Deming William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993) was an American engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant. Educated initially as an electrical engineer and later specializing in mathematical ...

, which is based upon the Shewhart Cycle (named after Deming's collaborator from

Bell Telephone Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mul ...

, Walter A. Shewhart).

School-based lesson study

] The most common form of lesson study in Japan is school-based. In contrast to the other forms of lesson study, school-based lesson study usually involves a sequence of research lessons, extending through one or more academic years, focused on a common teaching/learning issue referred to as the ''research theme.'' A research theme may be content-specific – e.g. "For students to see the connection between science and their everyday lives" – or cross-curricular – e.g. "For students to clearly express their ideas and carefully consider the ideas of their friends" – or affective – e.g. "For students to feel the joy of learning." Another common objective of school-based lesson study is to address changes in the national Course of Study, which in Japan is revised every 9 years or so. Through multiple research lessons at different grade levels, a school faculty works toward a common vision of how to achieve their goals. Since the goal is not to refine individual lessons, it is not considered a normal part of lesson study to revise and reteach a lesson, although that is done on occasion. The median time for the planning of one research lesson in Japan is more than 5 weeks.

References

External links

Lesson Study Group at Mills CollegeLesson Study Alliance in ChicagoTexas Lesson StudyInstitute for Lesson Study Research and ApplicationGlobal Education ResourcesIMPULS Improving Math teacher Profesionalization Using Lesson Study (Tokyo Gakkugei University)
* ttp://www.sowi-online.de/journal/2004-1/lesson_lewis.htm Does Lesson Study Have a Future in the United States?
APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation) Lesson Study Project

International Lesson Study Movements supported by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Lesson Study at Developmental Studies Center Support, resources and case studies from across the UK
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