by Wendy Buckwalter
To many teachers who experience lesson study, it is the kind of professional development that they've been waiting for. The collaborative process gives teachers the opportunity to share best practices, hone their curriculum, and anticipate and observe how students think. On another level, the process acknowledges teachers as professional, knowledgeable practitioners, whereas so many other professional development options are seen as "top-down."
RBS Currents interviewed staff at several schools in the Mid-Atlantic region about their early efforts with implementing lesson study and learned about some of the rewards they are experiencing.
Opportunity to Collaborate. Many teachers find the collaborative element to be a welcome change from teaching and planning in isolation. Andrew Goldberger, staff development teacher at Charles R. Drew Elementary in Silver Spring, MD, explains, "Lesson study gives teachers a terrific chance to collaborate, but more than usual, they can be on the same page about having not only developed the lesson together but also having seen the lesson taught. It gives the teachers a chance to observe, dwell on and talk about how children learn or don't learn. Teachers can also discuss the impact of planning decisions and make adjustments."
"Conversations go deep into what is good mathematics instruction, down to the details of comparing the impact of using various manipulatives to teach the same concept."
Instructional specialist Robin Bowden
Applying Learnings to all Lesson Planning. Several teachers indicated that through experiencing just one lesson study cycle, they learned new techniques and ways of thinking that they've been applying to all of their lesson planning. They now think more carefully about student responses, rather than simply planning to meet the lesson's objectives. Patricia Jones, instructional facilitator at Lafayette Elementary in Lancaster, PA, says, "Lesson study presents teachers with an opportunity to study student misconceptions and use that information to make adjustments to a lesson. I have seen carry over from what we learned last year into teachers' day-to-day planning and lesson implementation this year."
Seeing Results. Through the process of collaborating and anticipating various student responses, many teachers see tangible results in students' learning. Jackie Skandalis, a teacher at Drew Elementary, says, "The students felt ownership over their learning. They took time to listen to how other students solved the problems. They made the connections between the manipulatives and the mathematical notations on their own."
Teachers as Professionals. Lesson study allows teachers to be intimately involved in their own professional development. The classroom becomes the laboratory where teachers' experiences, observations, and expertise are tapped into to improve instruction. Robin Bowden, instructional specialist in Montgomery County, MD, explains, "One goal is to focus on getting teachers to talk to each other about good teaching and to have that talk at a professional level." And she's finding that teachers are very much enjoying the opportunity. "Conversations go deep into what is good mathematics instruction, down to the details of comparing the impact of using various manipulatives to teach the same concept."
Like any effort to make significant and sustainable reform in teaching and learning, lesson study faces challenges. What are the challenges to conducting lesson study in an American setting?
Time. Most readers are probably thinking, "Lesson study sounds great, but where is the time?" Finding the time for lesson study in an already jam-packed schedule can be daunting for a school or district that is considering lesson study. Schools in the Mid-Atlantic region have reported that while substitutes and release time can sometimes be used, the teachers often resort to holding collaboration meetings after school on their own time, implementing lesson study with only one grade level per year, conducting lesson study with only a handful of teachers, or completing only one lesson study cycle per year.
"It's a Matter of Time" in this newsletter details one school's approach to finding the time for lesson study. Every school is different, and it will certainly take time to sort out exactly how the lesson study model can work with the time constraints of American schools.
Support from the Administration. To undertake lesson study with the goal of improving teaching and learning requires the commitment of school-based and district-level administrators. Support for professional development, flexibility in scheduling, accountability for all staff, a willingness to look at the current curriculum, and a commitment to change will help lesson study take hold. The school and district administration also must understand that lesson study is not a "quick fix" for test scores, but rather a process that improves teaching and learning over time.
Several schools in our region have been starting lesson study on a very small scale, after learning about it through conferences and publications. While it has been an extremely rewarding process for the small groups of teachers implementing it, scaling up to a whole-school level will be difficult without administrative support from the school and district.
Breadth of Curriculum and Standards. Lesson study, as based on the Japanese model, demands a concise curriculum in which topics can be studied in depth. In the U.S., the breadth of state and local standards, the demands of large curricula, and pressures to raise test scores quickly present challenges to districts that wish to implement lesson study. More concise curricular options, such as Singapore Math, are potential ways to mitigate this challenge.
Learning How to Observe, Critique, and Be Critiqued (see "Guidelines" in this issue). The notion of being observed by a room full of colleagues is not everyone's idea of fun. It takes a lot of courage to volunteer to teach a lesson in front of fellow teachers, administrators, and university-level partners. Similarly, to offer constructive critiques-critiques that help everyone, hurt no one, and really get at the heart of student learning-is a skill that takes some work to develop. Without an openness to learning these skills, lesson study will tend not to take hold among all staff members.
Finding Knowledgeable Others (see related article in this issue). A key element in Japanese lesson study that proposes a challenge to U.S. educators is the incorporation of "knowledgeable others" into the lesson study process. Knowledgeable others, including teachers, administrators, and professors, can bring in critical observations about math content issues, share the latest research on mathematics education, or help elucidate mathematical concepts within lessons.
But how do U.S. schools develop relationships with university-level educators who understand lesson study? In Japan, university relationships often begin while teachers are in their preservice years and extend to lesson study partnerships. In U.S. schools, we have not yet bridged the gap. Organizations focused on supporting lesson study in the U.S. are looking for ways to facilitate such relationships.
There are lessons to be learned in both the rewards and challenges of lesson study. In the words of Drew Elementary teacher Skandalis, "Lesson study allows you to take risks together and work collaboratively to overcome obstacles." Lesson study practitioners in the U.S., such as those in the Mid-Atlantic region, are contributing to the process of adapting lesson study to the American education system.
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