What is a Lesson Study?

• A form of long-term professional development in

which teams of teachers collaboratively plan,
research, and study their lesson instruction as a way
to determine how students learn best.
 Professional Development
• Traditional
• Begins with answer
• Driven by experts • Research Lessons
• Communications trainer - teacher • Begins with Questions
• Relationship is hierarchical • Driven by participants
• Research informs practice • Communications among teachers
• Relationship is reciprocal
• Practice is research
 Teachers’ Activities to Improve
Instruction

Choose curriculum,
write curriculum,
align curriculum,
write local standards

Plan lessons
individually

Plan lessons collaboratively

Watch and discuss each other’s

classroom lessons

U.S. JAPAN
 Lesson Study
• Teacher-led, school-based continuing professional
development model (originated in Japan)
• The Japanese say that lesson
Study develops the eyes to see children.
Global Growth of Lesson Study
• Japan: 145 years
• China: 65 years
• US: 19years
• Hong Kong: 18years
• UK, Singapore, Sweden: 16 years
• Vietnam, Australia, Iran – 13 + years
• Philippines, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia – 9 + years
 Purpose of Lesson Study
STUDENTS
• What the students know
• How the students think & learn
TEACHERS
• Improve the ways of teaching
• Making instruction more effective
 Lesson Study Cycle
PLANNING A RESEARCH
LESSON

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RESEARCH

LESSON

POST-LESSON REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

 Planning of a
Research Lesson
• How the lesson will flow
• Share how they teach the lesson & how the students learn
the topic
• Study available teaching & learning resources
• Choose challenging task or activity
 Planning of a
Research Lesson
• * How the lesson will flow
• List the expected responses of the students (both correct &
incorrect)
• Organize the questions to be used in processing the students’
responses and in developing the lesson’s main ideas
Research Lesson Implementation
• Implement the research lesson as planned while the others observe

• Observers:
• take note of what actually happened
• problems encountered by the teacher
• difficulties experienced by the teacher & how these were addressed
• how the students responded to the lesson
• whether the lesson brought the students closer to the goal and if learning
was achieved
 Post Reflection and Discussion
• The focus is on the lesson and the responses of the
students (not on the teacher)
• Modifications and revisions – to improve the lesson
The Lesson Study Process
 The Lesson Study Process
I. FORMING A LESSON STUDY GROUP
• Roles of the members of the lesson study
• Facilitator – lead the meetings & be responsible for coordinating the activities
• Documenter – record the meetings, decisions made by the group
• Implementer – will carry out the lesson plan
• Observers – observe & collect data about the lesson & students
• KNOWLEDGEABLE OTHER (KO) – to ensure that the group is developing the correct
concepts in terms of the subject area & the skills appropriate for the cognitive level of
the learners
 The Lesson Study Process

II. FORMULATING GOALS

Something that you want to achieve
Long term goal – skill or attitudes or qualities of the students
- may be drawn from the school’s mission & vision or
aligned with the national curriculum
 The Lesson Study Process
II. FORMULATING GOALS
How can you improve the present status of science teaching and learning in
your school?
 The Lesson Study Process
Subgoals – focusing on one component of the long-term goal at a time

Long Term Goal Subgoals

* Develop student’s thinking * Develop students’ inquiry skills &
communication skills through student-centered science through inquiry
* Contextualize science activities in
real-life situations
 The Lesson Study Process
III. PLANNING
Planning the Unit – choosing the unit,
making the outline of the unit, identifying
the research lesson
Unit – group of related topics
Bases in choosing the unit????
 The Lesson Study Process
III. PLANNING
Planning the Unit
How to set the unit goal, long-term goal and subgoals ?
Why do students need to learn this unit?
What is the most important idea or concept in the unit?
What are the skills that students need to learn in this
idea or concept?
 The Lesson Study Process
III. PLANNING
Planning the Unit
Setting the unit goal, long-term goal and subgoals

Unit: Sun-Moon-Earth System Unit Goal: Understand that

the motion and position of the sun, moon, and earth is
related to natural phenomena such as day and night,
seasonal patterns, phases of the moon, eclipses and tides.
 The Lesson Study Process
III. PLANNING
Planning the Unit
Identifying the lessons that will be included
Outline of the unit (title, time frame & lessons within the unit)

Lesson study is not just about a single lesson, but about the
teaching of an entire unit and subject area (Lewis, 2002)
 UNIT OUTLINE IN SCIENCE
Unit Title: Sun-Moon-Earth System
Time Frame: Two weeks Lessons within the
Unit: I. Earth’s Motion
a. What are the effects of the Earth’s rotation? (Day & night)
b. b. Why do places on Earth have different time? (Time telling)
c. c. How do Earth’s inclination and revolution affect the seasons? (Season)
II. Moon’s Motion
a. What are the effects of Moon’s revolution? (Phases of the moon)
 UNIT OUTLINE IN SCIENCE

III. Positions of the Sun, Earth and Moon

a. When does a solar eclipse occur?
b. When does a lunar eclipse occur?
c. Do eclipses bring bad luck? (Superstitious beliefs)
d. How do the positions of the Sun, Earth and Moon affect the
Earth’s waters? (Tides)
 THE STUDY LESSON
• III. PLANNING
PROCESS
• Planning the Research Lesson
• Meeting
• Plan – title, objectives, number of class sessions, rationale for
choosing the research lesson, prerequisite knowledge and skills,
and materials
 THE STUDY LESSON
PROCESS
III. PLANNING
• Planning the Research Lesson
• Activity or problem that the students will perform or solve
• Opportunities for students to express, in words, or in action,
what they are thinking
• Anticipated solutions or responses of the students
 THE STUDY LESSON
PROCESS
III. PLANNING
Planning the Research Lesson
• NOT TO CREATE A “PERFECT LESSON”
• Important ideas about the chosen topic, promotes
student learning and reveals student thinking
• Should be written clearly
THE STUDY LESSON PROCESS
III. PLANNING
Implementing the Research Lesson
Implementation Dates?
Who will implement the lesson?
In which class or section this will be done?
Observation instrument
TASKS BEFORE IMPLEMENTATION
 THE STUDY LESSON
PROCESS
IV. OBSERVING THE RESEARCH LESSON
• Observers – record what actually happened during the
implementation
• Observers may have similar tasks or may have different tasks
• Video or audio recording maybe very helpful
• Observers must perform their tasks quietly
 THE STUDY LESSON
PROCESS
IV. OBSERVING THE RESEARCH LESSON
• Observers need not be limited to the members of the LS group
and the “knowledgeable other”
LESSON IMPLEMENTATION
VS DEMONSTRATION
TEACHING
• Learning of students is being studied through a research lesson
• to improve instruction
• Revisions are made
• Implementations of the revised lessons
• Adjustment of the research lesson and instruction accordingly
• Teachers actively learn together as they practice
 SAMPLE OBSERVATION
GUIDE
School:__________________________ Year
Level:___________ Section:__________ Number of students
in class:___Boys:__Girls:__ Name of
observer:________________________ Time
started:______Time ended:____Date:____ Title of the
research lesson:_________________
_______________________________________
 SAMPLE OBSERVATION
GUIDE
Time Parts of the Lesson Plan Observations Personal Reflections
Introductory Activity/ Motivation
Lesson Proper/Activity
Development of the Lesson
Consolidation/Post Discussion
Test/End of Lesson Evaluation
Assignment/Agreement
 THE STUDY LESSON
PROCESS
• V. CONDUCTING A POST-LESSON REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

• Share gathered evidence on how students think and learn

through the research lesson
• Right after the lesson implementation (ideally)
• Decision – what changes to make in the research lesson
• Second implementation
 THE STUDY LESSON
PROCESS
VI. REVISING THE RESEARCH LESSON
• Meeting to revise the research lesson
• Lesson study cycle
• teaching the lesson again after the first revision
• The lesson can be re-taught by another member using the
revised version