Lesson Study

Taking control of your own

CPD

Lesson Study
provides for schoolbased professional
learning of both
individual teachers
and departments.

Identify
research
focus
Plan
research
lesson

Dissemination

Teach
research
lesson

Summarise
the
learning
Analyse
research
lesson

Lesson Study:
Nice to have or must-have?
Lesson Study is one of only two out of 643
professional development interventions that
demonstrated a significant positive impact on
students mathematical proficiency.
Teachers reported higher quality of professional
development
Gersten, Taylor, Keys, Rolfhus, & Newman-Gonchar,
(2014)

Action
Research

How is it
different?

Lesson
Study

Choose
research
question

Choose
research
question

Write Proposal

Research and
collaboratively
plan lesson

Complete
action
research

Conduct
research
lesson

Analyse
results

Post lesson
discussion

Write up
research

Write up
research

 As a group (3 or 4 people with the

same interest) you begin by
identifying aresearch focus and
develop a research question
The focus should be something you
want to improve e.g. questioning
to develop deeper thinking
This could be a whole school focus
or a departmental focus (MAT)

Lesson
Study
Choose
research
question

Research and
collaboratively
plan lesson

Conduct
research
lesson

Post lesson
discussion

Write up
research

Planning

requires time

When will it take place?

During meeting times (faculty development and/or INSET twilight)

First meeting
Decide on a research question. This is the most
important part as it will drive everything you do. Email question to KEY.
Base the question on something you are all
wanting to work on (groups have been selected
based on similar teaching groups).
Decide if one person wants to teach the lesson or
select at random at a later stage.

Lesson
Study
Choose
research
question

Research and
collaboratively
plan lesson

Conduct
research
lesson

Post lesson
discussion

Write up
research

Question:
How when [Teaching strategy] do we
improve [Learning issue]?
Teaching strategy (specific to
subjects)
Anticipating responses of
pupils.
Using mixed ability pairs.
Using of feed forward
Using a variety of
representations.
Using variation when writing
questions
Using sample student work

Learning issue (specific to

subjects)
communication of reasoning
book work
spoken fluency
conceptual understanding of
key content/vocabulary
ability to evaluate effectively
speed of recall

How does comparing and discussing other peoples

responses develop a students own ability to reason?

Lesson
Study
Choose
research
question

Research and
collaboratively
plan lesson

Conduct
research
lesson

Post lesson
discussion

Write up
research

At the meetings
A task is decided on by the group, based on
which task will provide the best evidence of the
one thing you are looking for.
With the research question in mind everyone
completes the task.
All members of the group then write anticipated
pupil responses and teacher responses to the
task as well as any misconceptions which may
arise.
Update lesson plan and send a to your
knowledgeable other
Note this is not a normal lesson plan, nor should it
be thought of as an exemplar lesson plan

Lesson
Study
Choose
research
question

Research and
collaboratively
plan lesson

Conduct
research
lesson

Post lesson
discussion

Write up
research

Lesson study timeline

Lesson study meeting 1
Decide on a research question

Lesson study meeting 2

Bring a resource

Lesson study meeting 3

Have a skeleton lesson ready and now complete all tasks, writing the
detailed lesson plan as you go

Lesson study meeting 4

Complete lesson plan.
Final details such as cover requests etc.

The lesson
Will take place .
Everyone from the group (including
knowledgeable other) attends the lesson.
(Cover to be sorted in advance where needed)
Each observer watches two students for the
entirety of the lesson, focussing purely on the
research question and collecting evidence for
this. It can be useful to take photos of students
written work.
The observers must not interact with the
students at any point (however frustrating this
may be!).

Lesson
Study
Choose
research
question

Research and
collaboratively
plan lesson

Conduct
research
lesson

Post lesson
discussion

Write up
research

After the lesson

Analyse the research lesson
during a Post Lesson
Discussion.
Discussion should focus on
evidence relating to the
research question only not on
the teaching.

Lesson
Study
Choose
research
question

Research and
collaboratively
plan lesson

Conduct
research
lesson

Post lesson
discussion

Write up
research

After the lesson

Extract from Implementing Japanese Lesson Study in Foreign
Countries: Misconceptions Revealed. Toshiakira Fujii 2013

These were quite critical such as "There is a need for the

teacher to do ". Not surprisingly, there were five
contradictions made by the teacher in response to the ten
comments. This was not productive.

Lesson
Study
Choose
research
question

Research and
collaboratively
plan lesson

Conduct
research
lesson

Post lesson
discussion

Write up
research

Next steps
What impact has this had on your future
teaching?
Disseminate findings to the faculty
meeting.
Can you suggest changes to the SoL to
take in to account your findings?
It is not necessary to re-write the lesson plan,
we are not wanting to perfect a lesson plan but
simply take something away which we can
apply to our teaching. However, if you decide it
should go in to the SoL then by all means amend
and save it.

Lesson
Study
Choose
research
question

Research and
collaboratively
plan lesson

Conduct
research
lesson

Post lesson
discussion

Write up
research

Benefits of Lesson Study

Increased collegiality between teachers as a result of

collaboration in planning, observing and reflecting on
lessons
Enhanced personal skills of the teachers and an increased
capacity for critical analysis, for creative design, and for
linking practice to goals
The opportunity to develop a better picture of what
constitutes good teaching from close observation of
learning as it takes place in the classroom
The teacher-led nature of the professional development,
which keeps students at the centre in ways that have
immediate practical value in teachers classrooms.

Lesson
Study
Choose
research
question

Research and
collaboratively
plan lesson

Conduct
research
lesson

Post lesson
discussion

Write up
research