Clarity on the Purpose of Lesson Study

This entry is a result of a question posed by Jia Min when we had the first Lesson Study session.

In the midst of discussing about team formation, she asked for clarity, what exactly are we looking to accomplish with Lesson Study.

There I was, dizzy with the fervour of trying to get the whole Lesson Study engine started, just re-emphasized the idea of teacher professional development. Even after the session, my soul was not satisfied with my own answer. I rewatched a Lesson Study intro video and re-read a couple of Lesson Study materials just to appease my own quest for clarity.

So, here it is: What on earth are we trying to accomplish through Lessson Sudy.

Lesson Study, in essence, only has one primary purpose: to investigate how best to instruct our pupils so that they may achieve long-term and short-term goals. Long-term goals usually include some form of character development or habits of thinking. Short-term goals are mainly content goals or skills related to specific topics or concepts.

It is in the course of the pursuit to design and conduct the "best"-fit lesson that we, as teachers, get professionlly developed. This pursuit often requires us to revisit our pre-conceptions on curriculum content and pedagogical approaches. At the end of the cycle, we become better teachers because our instructions have been well-thought through to get our pupils to learn effectively.

Only 1 lesson cannot dramatically turn a mediocre teacher to become a master teacher; but Lesson Study has an effect of making us better than we were before. Sub-consciously, the experience of discussing, designing, observing our design in action (succeeding or failing), reflecting, shapes the way we think, say and act when we meet our class in our many other thousand lessons when the Lesson Study cycle is long completed.

That to me, is the magic of Lesson Study.

Yes, Lesson Study is a simple idea which is complex to implement well (similar to Invitational Education). That probably is the magic of it; and that's probably why I found it initially tongue-tied to explain clearly to Jia Min and the rest of the P5 teachers.

Jia Min has already the first step in the spirit of Lesson Study by asking difficult questions.
The time is now and upon us to do the same.

Will you?

Mun Wai

"The Hour of Change has and always will be upon us; it's our choice to bring change and to make a difference. The hour and minute hands do not shape the times and bring change. It's our hands of clay which create the times and bring change." - mine