Building up Learning Communities for E quality and Quality

1. Building up Learning Communities for Equality and Quality Kiyomi Akita, Ph. D (The University of Tokyo) kakita@p.u-tokyo.ac.jp Singapore Lesson Study Symposium 3.Jun,2011

2. Prologue Two episodes Episode 1 • Two e-mails from the principles in the area damaged by the earthquake and in the contaminated by radioactivity

3. ‘ Our school will start the school year from April 11th that five days behind than usual. We suffered from the cut off the life line and anxieties about radioactivity but we are recovering our daily life gradually. Please come to LS on May 13th. It is our pleasure to do lesson study with you even in such situation. The lesson study is spiritual nourishment of our school and it is a chance to empower the teachers’ minds and hearts. Our mission is to take care of our children through lessons in the classroom.’ (Ｈelementary school in Fukushima city, 1st, April,2011)

4. “Schools in our city were damaged seriously by the Tsunami. My school was not damaged luckily. But we have shared our school building with the children and the teachers in the neighboring school. Our goal is the reconstruction of functions based on LS. Many children need mental care. But the most important work for the teachers is doing the good lessons as they can and it is a good opportunity that teachers in two schools join the LS in our school together. I know you are so busy. But please visit our school and support teachers through LS.”(Ｏ elementary school, Ishinomaki city,1st, June, 2011)

5. Lesson study makes the school identity. It forms the school culture and enables for teachers to engage in their school reform continuously. Teachers get not only knowledge and skills but also identify their missions through Lesson study.

6. Episode 2 First grade Mathematics Unit “Addition”9=4 + ? Can you guess what are the children’s answers?

7. Fig A □□□□□□□□ □　 １２３４１２３１２ C: For this reason, the answer is 5. Cs: Ah! T : ?? Fig B □□　 □□ 　 □□ 　 □□　 □　　 the beauty of the number sequence

8. After the lesson, one child writes on the blackboard as follows 3+2+1=6 4+3+2=9 5+4+3= 6+5+4=

9. The novice teacher gets the insight of how children are competent that he supposed to and the joy of doing math lesson . • That is the staring point that he has engaged in LS actively. ( the episode in his report) The teacher’s perspective on Lesson and belief on learning were changed, facing one event in the classroom. LS shows us many stories of teachers’ and children’s learning and developmental process in the classroom.

10. topics 1 Why should we think about equality and quality in education now? 2 How can we realize equality and quality in public education through LS? 3 How can LS improve on teachers’ professional learning?

11. 1 Why SHOULD we think about Equality and Quality in education now? THE Japanese situation

12. The Quest for EqualityJapan is currently ranked 4TH in the world in terms of income inequality, behind Mexico, the US, and Turkey(OECD,2008)

13. Japan as the worst one country Accumulated debt and evolution of underlying deficitsAs a percentage of GDP Note: Increase in debt includes cumulated deficit for 2010-12, debt-increasing equity participations in companies and the impact of GDP growth. *. Cumulated deficits correspond to mainland only. 3. As a percentage of mainland potential GDP. Source: OECD Economic Outlook 88 database.

14. The Review of Japan by the OECD Economic and Development Review Committee 2011.4.20 “The large share of private education spending, which accounts for one-third of the total, places heavy burdens on families, thereby discouraging fertility, and creates inequality in educational opportunities and outcomes. Reducing dependence on private after-school educational institutions known as juku would help reduce the burden and enhance fairness.”

15. The Quest for Quality The issue of teacher employment The high quality and standards of Japanese teachers were underpinned by the two solid bases of intense competition in teacher employment examinations and their high salaries. In recent years, however these bases have collapsed.

16. Two Directions of Educational Reform （Moss, 2008）　 Market-oriented model Individual choice Cost-benefit efficiency Quality control Management/control/ Check and Improve Single ideal model of reform Top-down reform Factory model Democratic Experimentalism model Dialogue, citizenship participation Meaning-making Autonomous Collective choice and Decision making Multiple model of local reform Bottom-up reform Lesson Study

17. How can we guarantee for children’s rights of learning ? A:Market-oriented model Equality of Input simple easy task process Equality of Outcome single standard B: Democratic experimentalism model Equality of learning process Giving full play to child’s ability

18. Process-oriented model for quality and equality (Laevers,1987) PROCESS APPROACH   EFFECT INVOLVEMENT WELL - BEING

19. Public Education for ALL (children and teachers) • A. Participation in learning Introducing a sense of belonging • B. Dialoguethrough listening, multi-voices Forming identity (authorship) in the community • C. Learning through individual differences Making understanding deeper • D. Co-constructingthrough the sharing of knowledge Fostering a sense of solidarity • E. Reflecting through learning trajectories Making sense of progress and development

20. 2How can we realize equality and quality in school education through LS?

21. Children’s learning Teachers’ learning Key words: ”Inquiry” “communication” Beyond the boundaries of subjects and grades Inquiry, and making the next task visible Long span research cycle Challenge for new practice Goal ”autonomy・collaboration” Beyond the boundaries of the classroom Inquiry and feeling that Leaning is useful Transmission and creation of new culture vision Flexible learning group Formative assessment Creation of school culture participation collegiality parallel structure

22. Shimin Junior high schools Parents and citizen teacher student Narratives on lessons Narratives in class Collaboration Writing reflection reports about lessons Writing reports and diaries Report documentation Forming identity of schools through opening classrooms Self explanation through learning Listening culture long-term cycle Forming an identity throughongoinglearning School development (students, teachers, and parents) Co-living and caring

23. Learning theory and learning systems Learning theory, vision, value, rules Learning systems (groups, tools, media materials, resources) Discourse style, documentation systems

24. Public Education for ALL (children and teachers) • A. Participation in learning Introducing a sense of belonging • B. Dialoguethrough listening, multi-voices Forming identity (authorship) in the community • C. Learning through individual differences Making understanding deeper • D. Co-constructingthrough the sharing of knowledge Fostering a sense of solidarity • E. Reflecting through learning trajectories Making sense of progress and development

25. Listening to multi voices Pair Individual learning Group pair Whole class Small group A. Increasing the chances for participation and dialogue among children

26. Listening to multi- voices Pair Research Lesson observation Group Pair talk Whole Staff talk Small group talk A. Increasing the chances for participation and dialogue among teachers

27. B. Culture of Listening • Information processing approach： interaction of information metaphor of conduit • Baftinian approach (1988, 2002), Wertsch (1993) voices of the mind socio-cultural approach • Dialogue (VS monologue) Poliphony • Dialogue is the sequences of listening to others’ voices and making their own voices Appropriating others’ voices and internal dialogue with my inner voice of mind and addressing it to the other Voice= identity Addressee：the relationship between who and whom Understanding the intention of the speaker in context

28. The act of listening • The act of listening as an “internal dialogue” with others’ words (Bakhtin, 1981). •  1) with preceding comments •  2) with the flow of interaction •  3) identifying other students as listeners who engage in “responsive understanding” (Bakhtin, 1981), then through an “internal dialogue” with their expected responses, create their own answer

29. The importance of listening for learning Many researchers have emphasized the role of dialogic interaction in the classroom • Students(teachers) can participate in a dialogic process not only by speaking, but also by listening • “Learning means learning from others, Taking advantage of others’ ideas and the results of their investigations” (Hiebert et al., 1996) • Students (teachers)are required to listen actively not only to (experienced) teachers, but also to other students ( colleagules) (Hiebert et al., 1996; Cazden, 2001)

30. Levelsof listening skills (Ichiyanagi,2010) • Level 1 Attitude: watching the speaker, etc. • Level 2 Understanding: what is being said • Level 3 Grasping the speakers’ intention, sympathizing with the speakers’ feelings • Level 4 Understanding embedded meaning in a context relating the present talk to previous talks • Level 5 Relating one’s own ideas to other talks, clarifying, questioning, and finding new meaning

31. What about teachers’ listening skills? Cases of LS at Atago Junior High School

32. Teachers’ role = connecting ①　Connecting one student’s idea with and another’s ②Connecting students to the subject matter ③Connecting students with the new academic world

33. １年生　Geography Let’s read contour lines, July

34. Geography The secret of land use in Holland 　　　（reclamation land “Polder”） October

35. Other teachers’ comments ●The task is not stimulating that students are motivated to think ●The strategies of connection isweak. ●The teacher speaks too much

36. Suggestionsfor Next Steps ◎　Clarify the goal(object) of learning ◎　Make the task more interesting The teacher should not speak too much. “The teacher must believe that students are thinking and she must wait for their responces”

37. Teachers’ ability to listen in improvisation （Ishii, 2010） • Listening to children’s speech when it is incorrect • Accepting children’s ideas beyond the teacher’s expectations • Listening to the relationship between one child’s words and another child’s • Articulating emergent issues that children want to inquire about through dialogue • Questioning - make deep, meaningful issues (big ideas) easier so that every child can think about them • Connecting children’s ideas with each other • Connecting children’s ideas to the learning materials for deep comprehension of the subject matter

38. LS study discourseWhose talk doteachers listen toin LS meeting? • Sakamoto (2011) Im Immediate recall method (six times during two years) The teachers remember the experienced teachers’ talks in the meeting more frequently.

39. Older teachers listen to newcomers’ and novices’ voices,but newcomers cannot remember well the other colleagues’ talk.

40. Two types of Discourse at Conferences(Nakatubo, Akita et al., 2011, in press) Presentational talk style (Burns,1985) Exploratory talk style Each talk is short and re-voicing is frequently used. The content of teachers’ talks are complimentary. Nod, “ah,” ”uh-huh”, ”well” pauses Emotional disclosure, using emotional words requently. The teachers sympathized with the teacher in the video. • Each talk is long and ideas are organized logically. • The coherence in a talk Is high; it is well-organized. • Each teacher emphasizes his or her own ideas. • The behavior of teachers in the video is examined critically.

41. C,D Sharing the ideas by making learning visible Tools and artifacts as media enables learners to interact with each other. Joint attention fosters learners’ solidarity as a learning community.

42. Note-taking on the board in the meeting. It encourages emergent thinking process of new ideas

43. E. Reflecting through learning trajectories Research meeting Writing report Writing report Spring seminar Summer seminar Open house workshop Open class seminar redesign Open class lesson LS conference redesign LS conference

44. The Factors of Learning Activities that contribute to learning Personal activities and understanding Group discussion Planning, Observing, Debriefing, Documenting Artifacts/tools (discourse, writing, books, DVD) Culture of teaching, Community of learners Social context, School culture, Physical environment

45. Math Lesson 2nd grade Junior High School Formula expressed by Letter • Activity 1 13+31=44 25+52=77 78+87=165 Students find the rule, explain by their own words, and express using formula with letter ab+ba= C C is a multiple number of 11. 11(a+b)=11×natural number • Activity 2 “Please replace one item to other item and find new rules through the operation.”

46. 3 How can LS improve on teachers’ learning?

47. Three routes of professional learning • It is a long journey to build sustainable learning communities for equality and quality. Lesson studies in Japan have created three kinds of teachers’ learning routes.

48. 1st route Teachers learn through LS cycles.

49. LS research cycle through connection, enactment, narration, and abstraction Pedagogical content knowledge KCT design enactment connection vision document do Narrative of Learning Trajectories dialogue Embodied implicit knowledge Knowledge of children’s learning KCS abstraction narration

50. Building Learning Communities