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The practice of Lesson Study originated in Japan. Long the foremost form of professional development in Japan, lesson study is credited with success in improving classroom practices within the Japanese elementary school system (Fernandez, et al., 2001; Lewis, 2000; Lewis & Tsuchida, 1998; Shimahara, 1999; Stigler & Hiebert, 1999; Takahashi, 2000; Yoshida, 1999).

APEC's Education Network (EDNET) is conducting a project, called Classroom Innovations through Lesson Study, which explores the use of Lesson Study in the Mathematics Education.  The project includes Lesson Study videos of  classrooms (e.g., Hideyuki Muramoto's third-grade lesson on "Multiplication_Algorithm"_Grade_3_(Japan) in Japan). These videos can serve as models of mathematical teaching for use in professional development.  

Contents 1 Lesson Study in Japan 2 Improvements in Teacher Practice 3 References

Lesson Study in Japan

Lesson Study as Professional Development

Lesson Study has played an important role in professional development in Japan since the beginning of Japanese public education more than 200 years ago. One of the reasons for its popularity might be that Lesson Study provides Japanese teachers with opportunities to: (1) make sense of educational ideas within their practice; (2) change their perspectives about teaching and learning; (3) learn to see their practice from the child’s perspective; and (4) receive support from their colleagues. For example, one Japanese teacher said:

"It is hard to incorporate new instructional ideas and materials in classrooms unless we see how they actually look. In lesson study, we see what goes on in the lesson more objectively, and that helps us understand the important ideas without being overly concerned about other issues in our own classrooms." (Murata & Takahashi, 2002)

Three characteristics set Lesson Study apart from typical professional development programs. These characteristics are described below.

1. Lesson Study provides teachers an opportunity to see teaching and learning in the classroom in a concrete form.  Teachers to focus their discussions on planning, implementation, observation, and reflection on classroom practice. By looking at actual practice in the classroom, teachers are able to develop a common understanding or image of what good teaching practice entails, This in turn helps students understand what they are learning.
2. Another unique characteristic of Lesson Study keeps students at the heart of the professional development activity. It provides an opportunity for teachers to carefully examine the student learning and understanding process by observing and discussing actual classroom practice.
3. Lesson Study is teacher-led. Through it teachers can be actively involved in the process of instructional change and curriculum development.

Lesson Study as Teacher Research

Lesson Study is a form of research that allows teachers to take central role as investigators of their own classroom practice and to become life-long autonomous thinkers and researchers of teaching and learning in the classroom.  It has played an important role in improving curricula, textbooks, and teaching and learning materials in Japan. In fact, most Japanese mathematics textbook publishers employ as authors classroom teachers who are deeply involved in,and their materials are in some manner examined through the process of lesson study. In addition, Japanese teachers publish many Lesson Study case-study books, which usually contain examples of actual practices as well as their hypotheses and reflections about instruction and learning in the classroom, Most of these books are available in the education section of large bookstores. The books help allow teachers to obtain new ideas for instruction as well as understanding of student learning. The books help them teachers engage in the discussion of new educational ideas based on case studies,

 

Three Major Forms of Lesson Study

Example of Lesson Study Groups	Description	Main Purpose
School-Based Lesson Study	Usually all teachers from a school participate Establish a school Lesson Form several subgroups that engage in a lesson study cycle	Achieving systematic and consistent instructional and learning improvement in the school as a whole  Developing a common vision of education at the school through teacher collaboration
Cross-School Lesson Study (District-wide)	Organized as an intra-school Lesson Study group Usually subject-oriented groups (e.g., math teachers from each school in the district gather to conduct lesson study) Meet once or twice a month	Developing communication among the schools in the district Exchanging ideas between the schools Improving instruction and learning in the district as a whole
Cross-Districts Lesson Study (Regional or Nation-wide)	Usually a voluntarily organized group Group of enthusiastic practitioners with purpose of improving teaching and learning or curriculum in a certain subject Meet once or twice after school on off-school days	Developing new ideas for teaching chosen topics Investigating curriculum sequences and contents Developing curriculum

Improvements in Teacher Practice

Lesson Study embodies many features that researchers have noted are effective in changing teacher practice, such as using concrete  materials to focus on meaningful problems, taking explicit account of the contexts of teaching and the experiences of teachers, and providing on-site teacher support within a collegial network. At the same time, Lesson Study avoids many features noted as shortcomings of typical professional development, e.g., that it is short-term, fragmented, externally administered, and insensitive to the local context and individual needs of teachers (Firestone, 1996; Huberman & Gusky, 1994; Little, 1993; Miller & Lord, 1994; Pennel & Firestone).

One of the key components in these collaborative efforts associated with Lesson Study is “the research lesson," in which, typically, a group of instructors prepares a single lesson, which is then observed in the classroom by the Lesson Study group and other practitioners,  afterwords the lesson is analyzed during the group’s post-lesson discussion. Through the research lesson, teachers become more attentive attentive to the process by which lessons unfold in their class, and they gather data from the actual teaching based on the lesson plan that the lesson study group has prepared. During the post-lesson discussion,  teachers review the data together in order to 1) make sense of educational ideas within their practice. 2) challenge their individual and shared perspectives about teaching and learning. 3) learn to see their practice from the student’s perspective. 4) enjoy collaborative support among colleagues (Takahashi & Yoshida, 2004).

(see Classroom Innovations Through Lesson Study for videos of Lesson Study instruction)

References

Fernandez, C. and Yoshida, Makoto (2001). Lesson study as a model for improving teaching: Insights, challenges, and a vision for the future. In The Eye of the Storm: Improving Teaching Practices to Achieve Higher Standards: Proceedings of a Wingspread Conference, September, 2000. Washington DC: Council for Basic Education.

• Lewis, C. (2000). Lesson Study: The core of Japanese professional development. Paper presented at AERA annual meeting, April 2000.
• Lewis, C. & Tsuchida, I. (1998). The basics in Japan: The Three C’s. Educational Leadership 55:6, 32-37.
• Lewis, C., & Tsuchida, I. (1998) A lesson is like a swiftly flowing river: Research lessons and the improvement of Japanese education. American Educator, Winter, 14-17 & 50-52.
• Murata, A. & Takahashi, A. (2002). Vehicle to connect theory, research, and practice: How teacher thinking changes in district-level lesson study in Japan. In D. L. Haury (Ed.). Proceedings of the twenty-fourth annual meeting of North American chapter of the international group of the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Columbus, OH: ERIC *Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education. pp.1879 – 1888.
• Shimahara, N.K. (1999). Japanese initiatives in teacher development. Kyoiku Daigaku Gakkou Kyouiku Sentaa Kiyo, 14, 29-40.
• Stigler, J. & Hiebert, J. (1999). The teaching gap: Best Ideas from the World's Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom. New York: Free Press.
• Takahashi, A. & Yoshida, M. (2004). How Can We Start Lesson Study?: Ideas for establishing lesson study communities. Teaching Children Mathematics, Volume 10, Number 9. pp.436-443.
• Takahashi, A., (2000) A Current Trends and Issues in Lesson Study in Japan and the United States, Journal of Japan Society of Mathematical Education, Volume 82, Number (12): 49-6, pp.15-21.
• Yoshida, M. (1999). Lesson study: A case study of a Japanese approach to improving instruction through school-based teacher development. Dissertation, Department of Education, University of Chicago.
• Yoshida, M. (1999, April) Lesson Study [jugyokenkyu] in elementary school mathematics in Japan: A case study. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada. 

See also
Mathematics Education
Mathematics Standards
Mathematics Assessment