‘How-to’ Guide cal WHY LESSON STUDY?

Practi nal
LESSON sio
profes ment
op
devel chers • fosters the development of a common
STUDY for tea understanding of what good teaching practice
looks like
• focuses discussion on planning, implementing,
WHAT IS LESSON STUDY? observing and reflecting on classroom practice
• enables collaboration with colleagues
• a small team of teachers working together in a systematic cycle of planning, • supports teachers to become more attuned to
teaching, observing, refining and reviewing specific lessons how they structure lessons in their class and the
• focused on addressing an identified student learning need or pedagogical challenge impact of their teaching on students
• aims to provide a process for teachers to examine their practice in order to improve
their impact on student learning

WHAT ACTIONS ARE INVOLVED?

WHAT ARE THE KEY ELEMENTS? WHAT DO I NEED TO CONSIDER?
PHASE 1 PHASE 3
Plan the lesson Post-observation discussion • groups are led by teachers • completion of a single cycle can be time-intensive
• focus of the lesson study is • group meets to discuss observations • groups are unobtrusive observers in the classroom/s > reviewing and revising school structures may
defined using identified student • discussion is focused on data collected • an observation of student learning, not an evaluation be necessary to provide sufficient professional
needs or pedagogical challenge and notes recorded of the observed teacher learning time to complete Lesson Study
• teachers work collaboratively to • lesson plan is revised and amended • a commitment to collaborative learning that takes
draw up a detailed lesson plan based on the group discussion into account the school context and professional
• may use backward design - start with the learning culture, the experiences of teachers and
clarification of the learning goal, then PHASE 4 the needs of students
design of instructional experiences that • can be undertaken as frequently as desired
lead to the desired outcome Second classroom observation
• a different group member teaches
PHASE 2 the revised lesson plan with a
different class
First classroom observation • group members observe and take notes,
• the plan is used by one with the focus on what the students are doing
teacher to teach the lesson and understanding
• group members observe
the lesson and take notes, PHASE 5
with a focus on what
Final discussion
the students are doing Where can I find out more?
and understanding • group meets again to discuss both observed lessons
including differences, similarities, and changes Lesson Study (Lesson Study Research Group,
• a group report is produced outlining teacher Columbia University)
learning and achievements in relation to identified Lesson study guide (Cerbin and Kopp, 2011)
student learning needs
• outcomes are shared with other teachers in
the school

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