What is Lesson Study?
Lesson Study is a form of collaborative lesson development. During one Lesson Study process, a team of approximately three to six teachers works through four key phases:
In Phase 1, the team identifies an important pedagogical-didactic question or challenge at their own school. In Phase 2, the team researches this question together and considers a suitable approach for their own lessons. The approach is tested in a lesson that is planned and prepared in great detail by the team. In Phase 3, one member of the team teaches the jointly planned lesson while the other team members observe the lesson and systematically observe the students' learning behaviour. In Phase 4, the teachers reflect on their perceptions of the lesson together. This process gives teachers the opportunity to take an investigative look at their own lessons and to better understand the needs and learning behaviour of their students.
Lesson Study relies on collegial exchange and cooperation to provide a framework for overcoming challenges as a team and continuously developing one's own practice. Lesson Study needs to be embedded in the structures of everyday school life. In this case, teachers can use Lesson Study to collaboratively pursue long-term school development goals and implement them in the classroom.
History and Origin of Lesson Study
Lesson Study originated in Japan, where it has been an integral part of the school system there for over a century. At the beginning of the 21st century, researchers around the world became aware of the method and its potential. This was primarily due to the results of the first TIMSS study (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, 1995), in which Japanese pupils performed above average in mathematics. These results were attributed, among other things, to the continuous and collaborative development of lessons that is common in Japan: the Lesson Study method.
Lesson Study around the globe
In this figure, the countries using Lesson Study as a method of lesson development are marked in blue (Hallitzky et al., 2021; Yoshida et al., 2021; personal communication).
References
Hallitzky, M., Herfter, C., Kinoshita, E., Leicht, J., Mbaye, M., & Spenderin, K. (2021). Lesson Study in German-speaking countries: Between classroom research and teacher education. In J. Kim, N. Yoshida, S. Iwata, & H. Kawaguchi (Eds.), Lesson Study-Based Teacher Education: The Potential of the Japanese Approach in Global Settings (pp. 155–170). Routledge.
Yoshida, N., Matsuda, M., & Miyamoto, Y. (2021). The landscape of lesson study: A methodology for teachers’ professional development and educational research. In J. Kim, N. Yoshida, S. Iwata, & H. Kawaguchi (Eds.), Lesson Study-Based Teacher Education: The Potential of the Japanese Approach in Global Settings (pp. 29–50). Routledge.