10/25/14

How can Lesson Study make an impact

on student learning of mathematics?

Akihiko Takahashi, Ph.D.

Lesson Study Alliance

Helping  teachers  work  together  to  improve  teaching  &  learning.  
h6p://www.LSAlliance.org 1

Three Levels of Teaching

(Sugiyama, 2008)

•  Level 1: Teachers can tell students important basic ideas of

mathematics such as facts, concepts, and procedures.
•  Level 2: Teachers can explain the meanings and reasons of
the important basic ideas of mathematics in order for
students to understand them.
•  Level 3: Teachers can provide students opportunities to
understand these basic ideas, and support their learning so
that the students become independent learners.

Lesson Study Alliance

Helping  teachers  work  together  to  improve  teaching  &  learning.  
h6p://www.LSAlliance.org

1
 10/25/14

Suppor8ng  Teachers  to  Become  Life-­‐Long  Learners  

•  Phase  1  professional  development  focuses  on  developing  the  

knowledge  for  teaching  mathema8cs,    
–  through  reading  books  and  resources,  listening  to  
lectures,  and  watching  visual  resources  such  and  
video  and  demonstra8on  lessons.  
•  Phase  2  professional  development  focuses  on  developing  
exper8se  for  teaching  mathema8cs  
–  teachers  should  plan  the  lesson  carefully,  teach  
the  lesson  based  on  the  lesson  plan,  and  reflect  
upon  the  teaching  and  learning  based  on  the  
careful  observa8on.  Japanese  teachers  and  
educators  usually  go  through  this  process  using  
Lesson  Study  
Lesson Study Alliance
Helping  teachers  work  together  to  improve  teaching  &  learning.  
h6p://www.LSAlliance.org

Contrasting methods of professional

development
(reprinted from Lewis, 2002, p.12)

Traditional Lesson Study

•  Begins with answer •  Begins with question

•  Driven by outside “expert” •  Driven by participants
•  Communication flow: •  Communication flow:
trainer to teachers among teachers
•  Hierarchical relations •  Reciprocal relations
between trainer & teachers among teachers

•  Research informs practice •  Practice is research

Lesson Study Alliance

Helping  teachers  work  together  to  improve  teaching  &  learning.  
h6p://www.LSAlliance.org

2
 10/25/14

Lesson Study cycle to impact on student

learning of mathematics
Iden8fy  the  
issue  to  
overcome

Kyozai  Kenkyu  
Summarize  the  learning  
and  iden8fy  the  next  step as  a  ground  work  for  
designing  lesson

Post-­‐lesson  discussion  to  

Develop  unit  plan  and  
solidify  the  ideas  to  
lesson  plan    
overcome  the  issue

Research  lesson

Lesson Study Alliance

Helping  teachers  work  together  to  improve  teaching  &  learning.  
h6p://www.LSAlliance.org

Essentials for Effective Lesson Study

•  Well planed lesson plan with clear hypothesis

•  At least more than a month for planning

•  Live lesson observation with various participants

(fresh eyes)
•  With understanding of the goal of lesson study

•  Focused post-lesson discussion based on

participants’ observation
•  Moderator
•  Final commentator (knowledgeable other)

Lesson Study Alliance

Helping  teachers  work  together  to  improve  teaching  &  learning.  
h6p://www.LSAlliance.org

3
 10/25/14

An  example  of  preparing  a  research  lesson  

Takahashi,  A.  &  McDougal,  T.  (2014)  

1.  Decide  on  the  topic  of  the  research  lesson  and  who  will  teach  the  lesson.  Develop  a  rough  
idea  of  a  lesson  plan  and  conduct  kyozaikenkyu  related  to  the  topic.  
2.  Three  weeks  before  the  research  lesson:  The  first  lesson-­‐planning  mee8ng  is  held  to  
discuss  the  rough  draM  to  check  for  consistency  with  other  grade  groups’  approaches.  
3.  Develop  the  first  draM  of  the  lesson  plan  based  on  the  discussion  at  the  first  mee8ng.  
4.  Two  weeks  before  the  research  lesson:  The  second  lesson-­‐planning  mee8ng  is  held  to  
discuss  the  lesson  plan  and  the  team’s  focus  strategies.  
5.  Update  the  draM  lesson  plan  and  the  focus  strategies.  
6.  One  week  before  the  research  lesson:  Finalize  the  lesson  plan  and  send  it  to  the  invited  
final  commentator  of  the  research  lesson  (the  knowledgeable  other)  via  express  mail,  
including  a  handwriXen  leXer  by  the  teacher  who  will  teach  the  lesson.  
7.  Print  the  lesson  plan.  Share  the  tasks  needed  to  prepare  for  the  research  lesson,  including  
the  prepara8on  of  materials  such  as  manipula8ves,  posters,  and  worksheets.  
8.  On  the  day  of  the  research  lesson:  Conduct  the  research  lesson  and  the  post-­‐lesson  
discussion.  Support  the  teacher  who  teaches  the  research  lesson.  
9.  Note:  Although  each  grade  group  is  mainly  responsible  for  the  prepara8on  and  execu8on  
of  its  lesson,  the  above  prepara8ons  should  be  done  through  the  grade  band  team’s  
collabora8on. Lesson Study Alliance
Helping  teachers  work  together  to  improve  teaching  &  learning.  
h6p://www.LSAlliance.org

A  list  of  criteria  for  lesson  plans  for  Lesson  Study  

Takahashi,  A.  &  McDougal,  T.  (2014)  
•  Does  the  lesson  plan  provide  sufficient  informa8on  for  the  reader  to  
understand  the  task  and  the  flow  of  the  lesson?  
•  Does  the  lesson  plan  provide  sufficient  informa8on  about  how  the  
planning  team  decided  to  teach  the  lesson  as  described  by  the  plan?  
•  Do  the  objec8ves  of  the  lesson  plan  clearly  address  the  COS?  
•  Are  the  tasks  appropriate  for  the  students  given  the  date  of  the  lesson?  
•  Are  the  key  ques8ons  clear?    
•  Will  they  push  students  to  think  mathema8cally  and  help  them  complete  
the  task  independently?  
•  Does  the  lesson  plan  include  reasonable  an8cipated  student  responses  
and  indicate  how  the  teachers  will  help  students  overcome  any  
misunderstandings?  
•  Does  the  lesson  plan  include  a  plan  for  forma8ve  assessment  and  a  plan  to  
accommodate  individual  student  differences  during  the  lesson?

Lesson Study Alliance

Helping  teachers  work  together  to  improve  teaching  &  learning.  
h6p://www.LSAlliance.org

4
 10/25/14

Kyozaikenkyu regarding the content of a

specific subject matter

•  What does this idea really mean?

•  How does this idea relate to other ideas?
•  What is/are the reason(s) for teaching this idea at this particular
point in the curriculum?
•  What ideas do students already understand that can be used as
a starting point for this new idea?
•  Why is this particular problem useful in helping students develop
this new idea?
•  How can students solve this problem using what they already
know, and how can their solution strategies be used to develop
this new idea?
•  What are common mistakes? Why do students make such
mistakes? How should teachers respond to those mistakes?
Lesson Study Alliance
Helping  teachers  work  together  to  improve  teaching  &  learning.  
h6p://www.LSAlliance.org

Careful  observa8on  to  document  student  

learning  process
•  Tablet  device  as  a  tool  for  students  as  well  as  teachers  
–  Textbooks  and  suppor8ng  materials  for  students  and  teachers  (Bansho  
and  note  taking)  
–  A  tablet  based  applica8on  for  suppor8ng  effec8ve  lesson  study,  
LessonNote    

Lesson Study Alliance

Helping  teachers  work  together  to  improve  teaching  &  learning.  
h6p://www.LSAlliance.org

5
 10/25/14

Some Observations during

Post-Lesson Discussions
•  Discussions that start and end with “the lesson went well”
•  Reporting only what they saw
•  Planning group that is not open to opinions and suggestions
of participants
•  Planning groups that make excuses

•  Forgetting the purpose of Post-Research-Lesson Discussion

as opportunity for learning
•  Thinking of Public-Research-Lessons as a demonstration/
presentation of their achievement (showcasing good
lesson)

Lesson Study Alliance

Helping  teachers  work  together  to  improve  teaching  &  learning.  
h6p://www.LSAlliance.org