An Overview of Lesson Study.ppt

? 2001, Lesson Study Research Group (lsrg@). An Overview of Lesson Study Lesson Study Research Group (LSRG) Teachers College, Columbia University Clea Fernandez Makoto Yoshida Sonal Chokshi Joanna Cannon lsrg@ /lessonstudy Please do not use without permission. What is Lesson Study? Lesson study is a professional development process that Japanese teachers engage in to systematically examine their practice. The goal of lesson study is to improve the effectiveness of the experiences that the teachers provide to their students. A Focus on the Examination of Lessons The core activity in lesson study is for teachers to collaboratively work on a small number of “study lessons”. These lessons are called “study” lessons because they are used to examine the teachers’ practice. Working on a Study Lesson: Research and preparation: The teachers jointly draw up a detailed plan for the study lesson. Implementation: A teacher teaches the study lesson in a real classroom while other group members look on. Reflection and improvement: The group comes together to discuss their observations of the lesson. Second implementation and reflection: (optional but recommended) Another teacher teaches the study lesson in a second classroom while group members look on; this is followed by the group coming together again to discuss the observed instruction. Working on a Study Lesson: Lesson Study is a Goal-Driven Activity Teachers select an overarching goal to guide their work on all the study lessons. A school generally works on the same overarching goal and same content area for 3-4 years. Every year the overarching lesson study goal is refined as the group’s understanding of this goal evolves as a result of doing lesson study. For each study lesson, the teachers also select lesson-specific goals. The Process for Setting an Overarching Lesson Study Goal The teachers will identify and discuss the gaps they see between the kinds of children they want to n