Lesson study
Introduction to Lesson Study
The CfEM project developed a Lesson Study Toolkit, which provides information about lesson study.
The practice of Lesson Study originated in the Far East. It has been developed in the Confucian tradition and has been used in Japan for about 150 years. Lesson Study came to prominence in the West when researchers Stigler and Hiebert published a book, 'The Teaching Gap' that told of their research in classrooms in Japan, Germany and the U.S.A. Based on video observations of many lessons they found that Japanese mathematics lessons were substantially different to others around the world and they attributed the high performance of Japanese students in international studies, such as the OECD's PISA studies, to the lesson structures that were used. In turn they attributed teachers' knowledge and behaviours that allowed them to teach in this way to Japanese Lesson Study. Following publication of the Teaching Gap, many researchers and educators around the world have tried to adopt and adapt Japanese Lesson Study for use in their different countries. The growth in Lesson Study as a practice has been rapid and substantial.
The Lesson Study cycle
The lesson study cycle typically has six steps. In Japan, teachers will typically be involved in a number of cycles in one year within a research theme. This section considers each of the steps in turn.
Identify the research focus
In the Mastering Maths study, our research theme is how we can teach to the five key principles of teaching for mastery and each of the research lessons has two research questions: one with a mathematical focus, the other with a pedagogical focus.
Plan the research lesson
We now move to the second of the element of the lesson study cycle.
The research lesson is not just any old lesson, it is a lesson that is carefully designed to allow the group to explore a question that they have identified that is important to their teaching within the overall focus of the research theme that informs all their work. In Mastering Maths this planning has been done for you – in the Mastering Maths lessons. However, that isn't the end of the story. As a reminder, everyone will teach Lesson 2: Ratios and fractions, in the first Window and each cluster group will choose four further lessons to be taught, by everyone in that cluster group, in the other four windows. At your cluster group meetings, you will work through the lesson your group will be teaching in the following window.
This will be the start of planning – as each teacher for each of their classes will need to think carefully about how they will get it to work. For example, they might need to reduce the initial workload for their students if they might be overwhelmed – even though the lesson has been planned to work for many students.
Teach the research lesson
When the lesson is taught, one of the teachers of the group will teach the lesson with others observing. Teachers should:
observe student learning, not judge the teaching.
focus on observations that may help address the research question(s).
avoid distracting students by talking to them or interacting with them in any other way (apart from maybe saying hello and being overtly friendly at the start of the lesson). (This is important because if an observer, for example, helps a student or group of students during the lesson, it interferes with the reality of teaching the actual lesson. The intention is to research how the lesson works when taught by an individual teacher).
make detailed notes about specific examples of student learning (for example their written work, discussions in pairs, and so on) so that they can contribute to the post-lesson discussion.
Observers might find it useful to focus on only one group or pair of students to start with. This can be used to provide valuable insight during the post-lesson discussion. It is very unusual to get detailed evidence of students' reactions during a lesson, so we recommend that you take full advantage of this opportunity
In Mastering Maths, you will have observation sheets to help you to keep a record of your observations.
Analyse the research lesson
This is the fourth part of the lesson study cycle.
In Japan in Lesson Study there is a post-lesson discussion. This discussion usually begins with the teacher reflecting on their teaching, and explaining if and why they may have made changes to the lesson plan. Then the other teachers describe what they saw.
In Mastering Maths, this will form a major part of the cluster meeting. The other major part of the meeting will be introducing and working through the next lesson for the next lesson study cycle.
Revise the research lesson
This is the fifth part of the lesson study cycle. In Japan teachers may re-work the lesson for next year. We won't do that in Mastering Maths.
Disseminate
This is the last part of the lesson study cycle. In Japan, there is a lot of sharing of what is learned in research lessons. Here in Mastering Maths each cluster group will bring together their findings and may share more widely.