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AnInvitationtoLessonStudy:AFacilitatorsGuideHandout4.

1OverviewoftheLessonStudyProcess

Overview of the Lesson Study Process


Setting goals. The lesson study process is guided by a broad, school-wide goal identified by the teachers to serve as a focus for their work (Lewis, 2002). The goal often comes from examining assessment data, defining the qualities that teachers want students to develop, or identifying a problematic issue that the teachers have observed in their classrooms. Lesson study teams often focus on the same long-term goal through multiple cycles of lesson study over the course of several years (Yoshida, 1999). Ideally, the goal will serve as a focus for the whole professional development program, not just lesson study. Planning the lesson. When the goal is identified, the lesson study team collaboratively designs a classroom lesson, which is called a research lesson. The teachers often begin their work by looking closely at a whole unit before narrowing their focus to a specific lesson. The teachers spend time investigating the teaching materials and conduct research, reading books and articles related to the goal and the content of the lesson. The team members also draw on their own experiences, ideas they have read about, and strategies they have seen other teachers use (Lewis, 2000). A smaller group of teachers may take responsibility for creating the lesson plan, presenting their draft to the teamand sometimes even the whole schoolfor feedback (Fernandez & Yoshida, 2004). The plan is a guide for teaching the lesson, but it also serves as a communication tool for the lesson study team, clarifying the goals and ideas being tested. Teaching, observing, and debriefing. When the plan is complete, one person teaches the lesson to his or her students. The other team members serve as data collectors, and sometimes they are joined by people outside the lesson study team. The observers take notes on what the teacher and students are doing and saying, and collect evidence of student thinking. The lesson plan serves as an observational tool, guiding observers in what to look for and helping them to keep the evaluation questions and goal of the lesson in mind (Fernandez & Chokshi, 2002). The purpose of the evaluation is to gather data about the effectiveness of the lesson, not to evaluate the teacher. After a break, the teachers meet together to discuss the lesson and their observations. The teacher who presented the lesson speaks first, outlining how he thinks the lesson went and identifying problems he observed. The other teachers in the lesson study team contribute their own observations and suggestions. If there are other observers, they will contribute their findings next. There is often an outside advisor working with the lesson study group, and she will speak last during the debriefing (Lewis, 2000). Revising and re-teaching. Based on the problems and student misunderstandings identified in the first presentation, the lesson study team makes changes to the lesson. The team may meet several times to revise the lesson, which is usually taught to a new group of students. The same processes for observing and debriefing are used for the second teaching. Reflecting and sharing. The teachers use the data collected and the notes from the discussion to develop the final version of the lesson. Lesson study teams record and share the research lessons they develop. The teachers often publish a report about their study, including the teachers reflections and a summary of group discussions (Yoshida, 1999). Lesson study reports are an important part of the process because they facilitate and capture the teachers reflections about the lesson and about broader issues of teaching and learning. The knowledge that teachers gain is also used to inform future lesson study cycles and other professional development efforts.

AnInvitationtoLessonStudy:AFacilitatorsGuideHandout4.1OverviewoftheLessonStudyProcess

References Fernandez, C., & Chokshi, S. (2002). A practical guide to translating lesson study for a U.S. setting. Phi Delta Kappan, 84(2), 128-134. Fernandez, C., & Yoshida, M. (2004). Lesson study: A Japanese approach to improving mathematics teaching and learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Lewis, C. (2000, April). Lesson study: The core of Japanese professional development. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA. Lewis, C. (2002). Lesson study: A handbook of teacher-led instructional change. Philadelphia, PA: Research for Better Schools. Yoshida, M. (1999, April). Lesson study [jugyokenkyu] in elementary school mathematics in Japan: A case study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.

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