Lesson Study and Lesson Sharing: An Appealing Marriage

Mackenzie Hird, Richard Larson, Yuko Okubo, Kanji Uchino

Engineering Systems Division, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
Open Education Solutions, Fujitsu Laboratories of America, Sunnyvale, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ce.2014.510090                

Abstract

Lesson study and lesson sharing are two educational initiatives that, if merged, have the potential to revolutionize how teachers plan and deliver lessons. Lesson study is the joint production of lessons by a small team of teachers over the course of a few months. The resulting lesson plan is usually “on paper” and used only locally. Lesson sharing occurs on the Internet, providing contributing teachers with a mechanism for sharing their lessons with others. Typically a single teacher authors these shared lessons. We discuss the advantages and associated implementation barriers of each when viewed as separate activities, and then argue for their joint or merged implementation, describing how each would synergistically support the other. Not only would more vetted lessons be delivered to the Internet, but also the teacher teams participating in lesson creation would develop a much deeper understanding of pedagogy. We offer policy recommendations to support this new educational paradigm: A virtual marriage of lesson study and lesson sharing.

Keywords

Lesson Study, Lesson Sharing, Technology Enabled Education, Professional Development

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Arani, M. R. S., Fukaya, K., & Lassegard, J. P. (2010). Lesson Study as Professional Culture in Japanese Schools: An Historical Perspective on Elementary Classroom Practices. Nichibunken Japan Review, 22, 171-200.
[2]	Arani, M. R. S., Shibata, Y., & Matoba, M. (2007). Delivering Jugyou Kenkyuu for Reframing Schools as Learning Organizations: An Examination of the Process of Japanese School Change. Nagoya Journal of Education and Human Development, 3, 25-36.
[3]	BetterLesson.com. blog.betterlesson.com
[4]	Droese, S. (2010). Lesson Study in the US: Is It a Mechanism for Individual and Organizational Change? A Case Study of Three Schools. Ph.D. Dissertation, Madison: The University of Wisconsin.
[5]	EdSurge (2013). TeachersPayTeachers Gets New CEO. https://www.edsurge.com/n/2013-06-05-teacherspayteachers-gets-new-ceo
[6]	Fernandez, M. (2008). Developing Knowledge of Teaching Mathematics through Cooperation and Inquiry. Mathematics Teacher, 1, 534-538.
[7]	Grennon, J. B. (1999). In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms. ASCD.
[8]	Grey, A. (1997). Constructivist Teaching and Learning. Saskatchewan Schools Trustees Association Research Center. http://www.saskschoolboards.ca/old/ResearchAndDevelopment/ResearchReports/Instruction/97-07.htm - What is Constructivism?
[9]	Herman, J., & Golan, S. (1991). Effects of Standardized Testing on Teachers and Learning—Another Look. Los Angeles, CA: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing, UCLA.
[10]	Ingersoll, R. M. (2001). Teacher Turnover and Teacher Shortages: An Organizational Analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 38, 499-534. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/00028312038003499
[11]	Larson, R. C. (2009). Education: Our Most Important Service Sector. Service Science, 1, i-iii. http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/serv.1.4.i
[12]	Larson, R. C. (2011). Foreword. In H. Demirkan, J. C. Spohrer, & V. Krishna (Eds.), Service Systems Implementations (p. v). New York, NY: Springer.
[13]	Lewis, C. (2002). Does Lesson Study Have a Future in the United States? Nagoya Journal of Education and Human Development, 1, 1-23.
[14]	Makinae, N. (2010). The Origin of Lesson Study in Japan. The 5th East Asia Regional Conference on Mathematics Education: In Search of Excellence in Mathematics Education, 15, Tokyo.
[15]	National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) (2006). Teaching Science in Five Countries: Results from the TIMSS 1999 Video Study. US Department of Education.
[16]	OECD (2012). Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing.
[17]	Pavey, S. (2012). Plan-Do-Check-Act (PCDA). Mindtools. http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_89.htm
[18]	Rillero, P. (1993). The Enlightenment Revolution: A Historical Study of Positive Change through Science Teacher Education. The Journal of Science Teacher Education, 4, 37-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02628884
[19]	Roberts, M. (2010). Lesson Study: Professional Development and Its Impact on Science Teacher Self-Efficacy. Ph.D. Dissertation, New York: Columbia University.
[20]	Schmidt, W., Houang, R., & Cogan, L. (2002). A Coherent Curriculum: The Case for Mathematics.
[21]	Schwandt, T. A. (1994). Constructivist, Interpretivist Approaches to Human Inquiry. In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 118-138). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[22]	Stigler, J. (2010). Needed: Fresh Thinking on Teacher Accountability. Education Week, 29, 30-36.
[23]	TeachersPayTeachers (2014) http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/About-Us
[24]	Yamanshi Nichinchi Shimbun Newspaper (2012). Students in Lesson Study Classroom [Photograph].
[25]	Yoshida, M. (1999). Lesson Study [Jugyokenkyu] in Elementary School Mathematics in Japan: A Case Study. American Educational Research Association 1999 Annual Meeting, Montreal.