Stepping up Lesson Study: An Educator’s Guide to Deeper Learning(WALS-Routledge Lesson Study Series)

This is a much-needed book for educators who want to learn more than just the surface features of lesson study, to deepen the process and learning. Bringing together current knowledge and resources from lesson study practitioners and researchers all over the world, this book provides models and examples of how teachers can learn more deeply and how to support them to learn more in lesson study. The chapters connect current research/educational theories to classroom practices and are filled with examples to illustrate how deeper learning looks with lesson study; for example, highlighting the research process, paying attention to educative talk, using of case pupils (students) as the teachers’ focus, doing kyouzai kenkyuu well, facilitating mock-up lessons and so forth. This is not a basic "how-to" handbook of lesson study, and readers can choose chapters with topics of interest to learn and use the new ideas promptly in their work. Coming from the global network of lesson study educators, the book not only provides new learning guides but also provides stories of how lesson study has been adopted in different cultures and educational contexts.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction 2: Lesson study as research: relating lesson goals, activities, and data collection 3: How case-pupils, pupil interviews and sequenced research lessons can strengthen teacher insights in how to improve learning for all pupils 4: Teacher learning through seeing students’ mistakes during inclusive mathematics lesson study 5: Going deeper into lesson study through Kyouzai Kenkyuu 6: Refining the research lesson’s instructional approach during lesson study: Mock-up lessons 7: Strengthening knowledge development in teachers’ conversations in lesson study 8: Scaffolding student teachers professional noticing when using lesson study 9: Facilitators’ roles in lesson study: from leading the group to doing with the group 10: Facilitating a lesson study team to adopt an inquiry stance 11: Learner-centered facilitation in lesson study groups 12: Conclusion: How do we judge the success of lesson study adaptations?

About the Author :
Aki Murata is an independent lesson study researcher in the United States. Christine Kim-Eng Lee is an associate professor in curriculum and teaching at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Review :
"In my research in the US and around the world, I have seen how teachers appreciate the collaborative learning offered by lesson study – and how their students benefit from their teachers’ growing expertise. This wonderful new book – Stepping Up Lesson Study: An Educator’s Guide to Deeper Learning – will extend those benefits. Combining the knowledge of lesson study experts across the globe with a wealth of resources and information, the book is filled with practical examples and guidance that will help teachers and teacher educators deepen their understanding of less study. I highly recommend this book to all who want to strengthen teaching practices and student learning." -Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Teaching and Teacher Education at Stanford University, USA and Founding President of The Learning Policy Institute "It’s easy to get started with Lesson Study, but then what? There are riches to be mined beyond those first steps. Stepping Up Lesson Study: An Educator’s Guide to Deeper Learning offers insights into how a professional learning community can move to the next level. That’s essential, because the more deeply you know about Lesson Study, the more you can grow as a teacher." -Alan Schoenfeld, Elizabeth and Edward Conner Professor of Education at University of California, Berkeley, USA "Lesson study has the power to transform teaching by focusing teachers’ attention on the teaching-learning process. It provides a clear structure for teachers to engage in a careful, critical examination of the impact of their teaching decisions on student learning. This collection builds on other lesson study guides by providing the next level of support for teachers who want to go deeper into their inquiry work. These chapters make visible the very particular aspects of Lesson Study that facilitators and teachers need focus on to strengthen the potential of this form of professional learning to improve classroom teaching. It is this level of detail that is so often missing – but so sorely needed – for professional development to make an impact." -Elizabeth van Es, Professor, University of California, Irvine, USA "It has been 20 years since Japanese lesson study has been introduced to the rest of the world which has subsequently developed independently in a variety of contexts. This book explores numerous ways lesson study has extended beyond the shores of Japan, causing it to blossom through collaborative networks of researchers and practitioners. The book contributors work at the forefront of lesson study and explore the most recent developments as they adapted and contextualized lesson study in their respective countries. They bring a wealth of knowledge on the initiatives teachers take to transform their lessons to ensure high-quality learning experiences for all children. This book serves as an excellent guide for lesson study that shows us the way forward by illuminating the future of education in a post-COVID-19 world." -Kiyomi Akita, Dean of Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, Japan