Theoretical Understanding of Lesson Study Quality and Effectiveness in Professional Learning

• In Event: Understanding Lesson Study From Different Theoretical Perspectives

Abstract

Objectives
This study explores lesson study in Japan from the viewpoint of the quality of lesson study. The aim has been to develop a theoretical understanding of how constituent parts of the process lead to effective professional learning as teachers seek to improve their teaching. This focus has been stimulated by a desire to develop new modes of teaching as part of a planned major curriculum change in mathematics education.

Theoretical Framework
Lesson Study is well-established and part of an ongoing process of teachers’ professional learning in Japan. It has grown organically over some 150 years or more and until now has been under-theorized, if theorized at all. In this study I have developed a theoretical understanding of the process of lesson study drawing on work of researchers internationally, whilst also identifying key mechanisms for teacher learning contained therein. Study of different models (school, district and national) of lesson study draw attention to how these provide different levels of quality that is not necessarily model dependent.

Methods
I analyze a substantial survey of teachers about their experiences in teacher research groups using lesson study to inquire into their classroom practice. This was conducted by the International Math-teacher Professionalization Using Lesson Study project (IMPULS) in 2012 in Japan. In conjunction with this quantitative data I analyze some typical lesson study research lessons in Japan using qualitative data from video, my observations and teacher self-reports. I particularly focus on lesson studies in difference phases of schooling – primary, lower secondary and upper secondary school. This is to facilitate comparison of the key elements/mechanisms of the lesson study cycle so as to determine a range of quality in the different models of professional learning. Furthermore I use emergent theorisations to consider lesson study as it develops in the UK to test the validity of the theoretical model.

Data sources
Case studies of different practices have been developed drawing on:
• documentary evidence including lesson plans
• video of lessons and post-lesson discussions
• teachers’ self-reports of post-lesson discussion and reports of outcomes from lesson study
• interviews with senior school management and teachers at key moments in the lesson study cycle.

Results
Theoretical understanding of lesson study as an on-going professional learning practice identifies the following factors as essential elements for its enactment as a high quality practice:
• teachers’ understanding of key mechanisms involved in the process
• teachers’ meta-cognition of the lesson study cycle and its intentions
• the role of the Koshi (knowledgeable other/ outside expert) and their ability to not only reflect on key aspects of the research lesson of the study but also give the teachers an overview of their work within the lesson study cycle.

Significance
The study provides a theoretical perspective on Japanese Lesson Study from an insiders’ perspective and has significance in being able to inform the development of high quality lesson study to support major curriculum change.

Author

• Keiichi Nishimura, Tokyo Gakugei University