Lesson Study: what place could it have in enhancing university teaching?

1. Lesson Study: what place could it have in enhancing university teaching? Karen Smith and Julia Mackintosh, School of Education

2. session overview • Our interest in lesson study • Your experiences of observation • Introduction to lesson study • Example of its use in initial teacher education • How lesson study has been used in higher education • What could lesson study have to offer university teachers at UH?

3. What have been your experiences of observation in higher education (either as an observer or an observee?)

4. what is Lesson Study? • Originated in Japan in 1870s • Used to improve teaching at school, district and national level • Gained popularity in the USA from late 1990s and was introduced to the UK by Peter Dudley around 2008 (Leading Teachers Programme) • Most frequently used within schools as part of teacher CPD, but growing use in universities for (school) teacher training • To date – more limited use with higher education teachers.

5. how Lesson Study works? • Highly specialised approach to action research, aimed at developing teacher-practice knowledge (Dudley 2011) • Collaborative in nature – joint working to improve an aspect of teaching practice by examining a lesson’s impact on case pupils. • Teachers work together to plan a lesson, observe how the lesson works, revise and re-teach the lesson (over three cycles), and share findings with other teachers. • Development is on-going and iterative – not just a one-shot event. Lewis 2002, cited in Watson et al 2013, p.383

6. Lesson Study process Using a lesson study approach for developing the teaching of pupils with special educational needs / disabilities, University of Exeter, p.9

7. CASE STUDY • Because teachers tend to practice in isolation as lone professionals with their classes, other teachers seldom get an opportunity to see others’ tacit knowledge manifested in action. • Through Lesson Study’s processes of joint planning, joint observation and joint analysis, teachers get to see aspects of pupil learning through the eyes of others as well as through our own • They can compare actual learning observed in the research lesson with the learning they imagined when they planned it • Teachers engage with collaborative enquiry or experimentation in order to solve a problem or improve an approach

8. Research Project • UH: Could LS contribute to the learning of trainee teachers undertaking school-led and employment-based ITE? • St Andrews: Could LS encourage collaboration between staff and aid CPD? • Established Lesson Study groups containing ‘triads’ of teachers, covering all year groups • Research project focused on the experiences of ‘Suzy’ and ‘Anna’ SDS trainees

10. At the start of the project… • “…being a trainee I let them take the lead a little bit…and naturally, we fell into that order because they were the teachers and I was the trainee” (Anna) • “I think that being a trainee you sit on the outside of it a little bit” (Suzy) • But both trainees did feel that listening during the meetings was of benefit

11. Findings Trainees learned from the following experiences in the LS process: • Observing pupils and teachers • Reporting on their observations • Analysis as part of iterative cycle There were barriers to trainee teacher learning • Time • Uncomfortable feelings

12. 1. Observing pupils and teachers • “actually being able to watch how the children learn, as opposed to how it is being taught … I think it allowed me to see it from a different perspective” (Suzy) • Helped trainees to develop a learner-centred view of lessons • Confirmed and disconfirmed recently formed ideas about teaching due to pupil observation • Opportunity to observe teachers that they had not seen before was seen as a real value

13. 2. Reporting on their observations • Trainees developed knowledge and ‘expertise’ from pupil observations that the teachers did not have • “It got them to have their voice heard…they realised that their opinions were valued” (T4) • Increased trainees’ confidence which impacted on their contributions to collaborative meetings • “…made the students realise that there’s no experts in this. We are all learning new things and that’s what teaching is all about, we’re all learners.” (HT) • Started to develop a different relationship from traditional mentor-trainee observations

14. 3. Analysis as part of an iterative cycle • “It’s like, ‘Right, I’ve got that one done, now when’s the next one?’ It’s hard to have that reflection time, to actually take things in and see. And as much as you want to, you don’t seem to have time for that.” (Suzy) • “…the way that we re-taught it, what we had learned from the mistakes first time around did have an impact” (Suzy) • Trainees began to connect visible changes in pupils’ learning to changes in teaching • Analysing lessons, identifying changes to be made, implementing them and seeing the impact was an important learning experience

15. Barriers to trainee learning • Time • Uncomfortable feelings

16. Learning Outcomes • LS ‘pieced together’ and connected trainees’ new ideas about teaching and learning • Learning about teaching • Learning about learning • Pupils • Teachers • LS helped ‘movement’ from trainee to teacher • Models of teacher development: journeyed outwards and inwards • Models of workplace learning: changed power relationships and helped trainees to move inwards from the periphery of their community of practice

17. Lesson Study in higher education • Saito, E.; Hawe, P.; Hadiprawiroc, S.; & Empedhe, S. (2008) Initiating education reform through lesson study at a university in Indonesia, Educational Action Research, 16(2), 391-406 • Becker, J.; Ghenciu, P.; Horak, M.; & Schroeder, H. (2008) A college lesson study in calculus, preliminary report, International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 39(4), 491-503 • Demir, K.; Czerniak, C.M.; & Hart, L.C. (2013) Implementing Japanese Lesson Study in a Higher Education Context, Journal of College Science Teaching, 42(4), 22-27 • Dotger, S.; Barry, D.; Wiles, J.; Benvento, E.; Brzozowski, F.; Hurtade-Gonzales, J.; Jacobs, N.; Royse, E.; Sen, Debjeet, S.; Snyder, J.; Stokes, R.; & Wisner, E. (2012) Developing Graduate Students’ Knowledge of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium Through Lesson Study, Journal of College Science Teaching, 42(1), 40-44 • Watson, S.E.; Rex, C.; Markgaf, J.; Kishel, H.; Jennings, E. & Hinnant, K. (2013) Revising the “one-shot” through lesson study: collaborating with writing faculty to rebuild a library instruction session, College and Research Libraries, 74(4), 381-398

18. Could we / should we use Lesson Study here at UH? • What might be the benefits of this approach? What would be the challenges?