It is indisputable truth that Japanese students are doing good in international exams. If we have a glance at the related literature, we across this Lesson Study model as the main reason behind their success. Therefore, it is worth to investigate and have a try to implement in Turkey considering the cultural differences.
As for the content of Lesson Study, this model enables teachers to work as researchers, professional learners and teachers. 3 to 7 teachers (from the same department and successive levels are prefered) gather to form a professional learning community with the aim of improving students' learning abilities and the quality of instruction. That sounds simple, yet there are huge amount of work for teachers. So the initial characteristics of those mentioned community members are being really eager to work voluntarily, determined and energetic. Here is the circle of lesson study:
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What’s Going on Backstage? Revealing the Work of Lesson Study (2009) by Catherine Bruce and Mary Ladky
1. Set goals
As teachers, we have several problems with applying new teaching techniques not just because of the lack of time ,which intensiveness of curricula causes, but also because of the variety of different learners as well as learning and individual differences of them. Therefore, we can set the goal around what we really aim to develop among our students considering the problems and needs.
2. Plan the lesson
In lesson study team, there are always bright teachers to make brainstorm about the steps and flow of the lesson. The aim is clear so it is time to search for the best ways to reach them. In this phase, teachers work collaboratively and as researchers. They collect data and plan their research lesson.
3. Implement
It is time for action! One teacher who is selected in democratic ways teach the research lesson while the others are observing. The vital thing here is that observer teachers do not judge the teacher but investigate how students think, answer, react, interact. That makes lesson study more special and less competitive. Observer teachers can record the video and jot down details. Besides, they should have the research lesson plan to follow up and make notes in the related parts as well as the sitting plan to examine students after the implementation. Oberserver teachers do not interfere in the class.
4. Discussions and Revize the Plan
Sometimes, plans just do not go how we predict. Lesson study model enables teachers to scrutinize students learning and plan of the lesson. In this phase, it is time to reveal observation notes and video recordings to discuss students learning reactions and how we understand if they learn. Revised plan is ready to implement for the second time. (Even it is optional for lesson study model, it is recommended to do since new student profiles and different teacher characteristics will enrich the data and report of the planning process.)
Here is the sample videos how to conduct a lesson study with real discussions:
Here is the video of Clea Fernandez who conduct a research about lesson study in Columbia University
Here is the tools to give a picture of the model in action
In Turkey, there are few researchers who work on Lesson Study. You can find the articles here:
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