3 Key Points for Lesson Study
Learnings from Actual Student-centered Lesson Study
SALASUSU invited a teacher specializing in Japanese-style lesson study in order to conduct a lesson study and “lesson study of lesson study” that is its advanced stages. The lecturer subsequently gave a lecture on lesson study to be used for reference.
In this article, the outline of the lesson study and lecture conducted at SALASUSU is described, as well as the key points of lesson study and what we took away from it.
Overview of the Practical Lesson Study
The conditions for implementation were as follows:
● Online relay of training and reflection at the SALASUSU community factory in rural Cambodia
● Nine students and five trainers, all Cambodian
● Around 10 Japanese observers from inside and outside the organization.
● Trainings were conducted in Khmer. Translation was provided at some times.
● The trainer's reflection was conducted in English.
The actual flow of the training, which took four hours in total, was as follows:
1 Observation of life skills training
2. Group discussion and general discussion on the observations in 1.
3 Observation of the trainer's reflection on the training
4 Group discussion and plenary session on observation 3
Parts 1 and 2 are called “lesson study”. In this case, the observers were staff members who are not trainers of the organization or people outside the organization. Essentially, trainers who are not conducting the classes had the role of observing, discussing, and reflecting on the observations to help improve the classes. This reflection part is an important element in lesson study.
Parts 3 and 4 are called the “lesson study of lesson study”. The administrators of the school or organization observe the trainer's reflections and use them to improve the school's operations.
Three Important Points in Lesson Study
Below are three important points about lesson study that we took away from this lesson study.
1. The importance of lesson study focusing on observation of students
Lesson study can be divided into the following three categories [1,2].
(1) Teacher-centered lesson study: a lesson study that focuses on the teacher's movements and teaching plan
Teacher-centered Lesson Study: Lesson study based on observation of students
(2) Student-centered Lesson Study: Lesson study focusing on observation of students
(3) Engineering Lesson Study: Lesson study as science, hypothesis testing (PDCA, etc.), and evaluation
Teacher-centered lesson study and engineering lesson study have been conducted under the assumption that there is a method that can be applied to all teachers and students. When actually conducting a class, it seems natural to try to find a method based on clear indicators, aiming for all students to receive equal learning in accordance with the Courses of Study.
However, various studies have shown that each teacher and student is different, and there is no one method that works for all classes. In addition, although not limited to teachers, changes in the form of experts also influences changes in the form of lesson study.
The most common form of an expert is a technical expert, a person who rigorously applies systematized standard knowledge and principles of a specialized field within the field, and who gains proficiency through repeated experience [3].
However, Donald Schoen proposed a new professional model called the Reflective Practitioner, which was introduced to Japan by Manabu Sato and others [3,4]. The more professional a person is, not just a teacher, the better they are at observing, reacting to situations, and making repeated appropriate decisions in daily practice. It is also believed that they are able to look back and learn something new from their previous experiences [3,4].
Due to this influence, since the 1990s in Japan, student-centered lesson study has been attracting significant attention [1]. The observer observes the students in class and learns from the students' behavior in order to improve the lesson. Afterwards, they discuss and reflect on the lesson with their colleagues with the aim of enhancing the observers' practical insights including situational thinking skills, and improving their developmental stage as professionals.
For more information on the practical thinking style defined by the five elements that are necessary for a proficient teacher, please check this article:
The primary focus of the Student-Centered Lesson Study is not on improving the skills of the teacher who conducted the observed lesson, but in fact on the observers themselves. However, through discussions with observers, teachers are able to understand students' individual situations that they may not be aware of, and can reflect upon this to be useful in their own lessons.
2. Observing Each Student in Lesson Study’s Observation Part
In the Student-Centered Lesson Study, which is designed to improve the teacher's practical insights, it is said that the key is to pay attention to each individual student.
In the group discussions in 2 and 4 of this lesson study, the instructor asked us to identify one student (or one trainer in 4) and describe what we noticed and then each observer made a statement. Since this point of view had not been given prior to the observation, it was a surprising suggestion to the observers who had only observed the whole process passively without this notion in mind.
During the group discussion, one observer said, "The student in colorful clothes was troubled when she was asked a question," and "The student in red was looking down.”
In a lesson study conducted by a teacher in an actual Japanese school, the teacher said, "X number of students have not learned in the first Z minutes of class,” "Who was not listening to the teacher? How many students were not listening and why? “
In this trainer's review, the fact that one student seemed bored and was not learning was discussed. They attributed the cause to the student's personality and talked about it in a removed way from the situation. It is supposed that lesson study should be based on the facts of observation and video recordings, not on fantasy.
For more information on how to make fact-based observations, please refer to this article: https://salasusu.substack.com/p/what-is-ideal-lessons-how-should
3. Fostering a Community of Trainers where Learning can Occur
It is said that merely observing does not foster practical thinking, and that teachers can learn by observing together with colleagues and discussing afterwards.
Another important factor in this process is the relationship between the trainers who are acting as observers. If there is a power imbalance amongst the observers, it may lead to a situation where only specific members speak up as some members may be too concerned about the opinions of their superiors to say what they really think.
In this lesson study, the trainers spent time together on a daily basis, so they were able to reflect and discuss smoothly. In lesson study, it is also important to create a community of trainers where observers can equally express their opinions and learn from each other, and where mental safety is ensured.
Conclusion
Training of Trainers (TOT) is often conducted for in-service teachers to teach them valuable teaching skills. While TOT is important for deepening teaching skills and for deepening the understanding of subject matter, lesson study is essential for fostering practical thinking styles in order to conduct classes that enable all students in the classroom to learn.
In particular, this article has shown that lesson study that focuses on observation of students can foster practical thinking styles, including situational thinking skills, allows the observer to focus on each student’s individual situation.
Although TOT is often used in the training of in-service teachers in Cambodia, our organization's JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project is planning to make lesson study focusing on observation of students as a key point. As a result, we would like to foster teachers' expertise as reflective practitioners and aim to contribute to inclusive education in Cambodian schools.
**Photos are not related to the text.
References
1. Nagashima, T., Murase, K., and Tsukui, J. The Descriptive Potential of the Quality of Lesson Study Sessions and the Transformation of the School as a Whole: Focusing on the Classification of the Narratives in the Post-Consultation Sessions and the Physical Responses of the Colleagues Listening to the Narratives. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 2021; 36: 43-55.
2. University of Tokyo CoREF. Project for creating cooperative learning classes in collaboration with local governments Activity report for fiscal year 2018: Diversity of learning produced by cooperation, Vol. 9 - lesson study supporting the quality of independent, interactive and deep learning. Tokyo: University of Tokyo CoREF, 2018.
3. Fujinuma, Y.. What is a Reflective Practitioner? Journal of the Japanese Association for Primary Care, 2010; 33: 215-218.
4.Ishii, Eishin. How to envision the professional image of teachers: Beyond the dichotomy of technical proficient and reflective practitioner. Inquiry of Educational Methods, 2013; 16: 9-16.