Teacher Learning Teacher Learning Through Lesson StudyThrough Lesson Study

Thomas TaskerEnglish Language Fellow Program

Kyiv, Ukrainetct118@psu.edu

AUC/NileTESOL ConferenceConnections: Implications for Students,

Teachers and Educational SystemsFebruary 2-4, 2110

OverviewOverview

Theoretical frame: Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT)

Inquiry-based approaches to teacher professional development

Lesson StudyChallenges starting a Lesson

Study Group

Research interestsResearch interests

How do teachers develop through participation in professional development activities?

What is the trajectory of learning?

A theory of cognition and A theory of cognition and development: Activity development: Activity

TheoryTheoryCultural-historical activity theoryVygotsky & Luria LeontievEngestrom A framework for understanding

developmentAn intervention to change social

practices (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006)

Lesson Study is the instrument used in the intervention

Professional developmentProfessional developmentTwo broad types

1. Experts control the content, direct the learning

Workshops, seminars, presentations Journal articles, books Bring expert knowledge to the

classroomExperts = legitimate producers of professional knowledge

Teachers = consumers of ‘expert’ knowledge

Professional developmentProfessional development2.Teachers control the content,

direct their own learning Inquiry-based approaches Collaborative, teacher-directed Meet regularly Bring teacher knowledge to a wider audience

Teachers = consumers of ‘expert’ knowledge but also legitimate producers of local knowledge

Inquiry-based approachesInquiry-based approachesAn general term for school-based

professional development.◦teacher-driven◦often collaborative◦answers questions posited by teachers themselves

◦focuses on improving practice◦reshapes teacher understanding of their professional lives (Tasker et al., 2010)

Inquiry-based professional Inquiry-based professional development development

Collaborative Development (Edge, 2002),

Teacher study groups (Dubetz, 2005),

Critical friends groups (Bambino, 2002; Key, 2006; Franzak, 2002)

Lesson study (Stigler and Hiebert, 1999; Fernandez, 2002).

Lesson StudyLesson StudyLesson Study is a teacher-driven,

collaborative professional development activity that encourages teacher investigation into student learning, which can ultimately promote EFL teacher learning. Lesson Study helps teachers pursue issues and solutions that are meaningful to their local contexts, and gives them the opportunity to contribute to the knowledge base of EFL education.

The Lesson Study CycleThe Lesson Study Cycle1. Identify gaps in student learning2. Create an long-term (overarching) goal3. Choose a topic and investigate it4. Consider how the topic fits in the

curriculum5. Create a ‘research’ lesson that begins to

address the long-term goal6. Teach / observe the research lesson7. Critically reflect on and revise the lesson8. Teach / observe again, and reflect9. Write an evaluation of what was learned10. Make the knowledge public

Lesson Study in the Czech Lesson Study in the Czech RepublicRepublic

• The School– 300 teachers (about half NNESTs)– Professional development program in place– Institutional goal to focus on student reading

• 4 EFL teachers in the Lesson Study group– American, male, 6 months full-time EFL

experience– English, female, 1 year experience (dropped out)– Danish, male, 5 years experience, Senior Teacher– Slovak, female, 4 years experience, Senior

Teacher

Students are all adults: 18 to 50

Lesson Study Cycle: identify gapsLesson Study Cycle: identify gaps

1. Identify gaps between what students are achieving now and what you would like them to achieve in the long-term.

• Independent thinkers, fluent, articulate, motivated learners, good listeners, critical thinkers, accurate, ability to analyze and draw conclusions, ability to work with others, self-confident

What student learning issues are you concerned about?

Lenka: they keep forgetting vocabulary because they don’t practice at home. So I mean they are busy, they want to learn quickly but they don’t realize that they won’t learn only in the classroom, that a lot of learning has to be done by themselves that they have to spend time and energy on English and sometimes they expect that it’s like a magic thing that happens and I will teach them and they will learn. So that’s very frustrating when you can’t see any progress.

Steve: um kind of the motivation of students. it’s something I’ve had to come to grips with that you know I can go and I can put three hours of planning into every lesson and have an amazing lesson and then I see them again next week and I put three hours into the lesson and it’s an amazing lesson but then they go home … but if they don’t ever do homework or they don’t ever read or watch movies or anything in English than it doesn’t matter how much I put into the lesson. They have to put in something too.

2. The overarching aim2. The overarching aimThe overarching aim is the long-

term goal you would like your students to achieve

Focus on a few of the ideal qualities you would like your students to have.

I would like my students to…

The overarching aimThe overarching aim

“We would like our students to take more responsibility for their English language learning outside of class. We feel that this overarching goal, although broad and difficult to measure, will have the most lasting impact on our students English development in both the short- and long-term” (from the lesson plan, teachers in the Czech Republic)

3. Choose a topic and 3. Choose a topic and iinvestigatenvestigateWhat areas are challenging for

your students?What areas are difficult to teach?Are there weak topics in your

curriculum?Is your institution encouraging the

development of a particular skill?Czech Republic teachers: develop

critical reading skills

Investigate student Investigate student learninglearning

Teachers consider their own collective experience

collaborate with content area experts in the area

talk to other teachersInterview studentsexamine tests, textbooks and

student workConsult professional literature

Investigate student Investigate student learninglearning

Czech Republic teachers:Student questionnaires about

reading habits (n=30)teacher questionnaire about

teaching reading (n=36)Professional literature on

encouraging student responsibility for learning

4. Consider how the topic fits in 4. Consider how the topic fits in

the curriculumthe curriculumHow is the topic you picked

currently approached or taught in your institution?

Czech Republic teachers: ◦consulted with the Director of

Studies◦read a document the School issued

about reading guidelines◦spoke to other teachers

5. Create a research lesson5. Create a research lesson

•Teachers collaboratively create a ‘research’ lesson, situated within the curriculum, that begins to address the overarching goal.

Topic within curriculum: How is the topic taught now (and in the past)?

Overarching goal: how does the research lesson further our goal?

Research lesson: how can we improve this one (small) part of our curriculum?

Create a research lessonCreate a research lesson

Focus: critical reading skillsResearch question: How do we

encourage our students to be more autonomous learners through the development of critical reading skills?

Ultimately, they wanted their students to become self-motivated critical readers of English

Create a research lessonCreate a research lessonTeachers create a lesson that

begins to address their overarching goal

What artifacts can you introduce into the research lesson that helps students begin to achieve the overarching goal?

What teaching practices do you need to change to help students begin to achieve this goal?

Create a research lessonCreate a research lesson• How do we get student to notice

language in the texts they read? How do they begin to become more critical readers?

• Creation of activities for students to do while they read at home.

• Doing one or more activities at home and later in class focuses the students’ attention on specific language features in the reading

• Over time, students begin to attend more to the language features in a text and no longer need to do the activities to focus their attention

CharactersCharactersBefore class: As you read the story, choose

one character you find interesting. In the margins of the book, write down (or underline) 6 interesting facts about the character (role in the story, personality, job, age, relationship with another character, etc.).  

In class: Don’t tell your group who your character is. Read the facts you found to your group and ask them to guess who the character is. Then ask them either to talk about other facts they remember about the character or tell you their opinion of the character.

SettingSettingBefore class: Pick a setting from the story

(house, city, countryside, etc.), and then think of 5 interesting adjectives you would use to describe the setting. You might need to use your dictionary. Using those adjectives, either compare the place you selected to another place in the story, or compare a place in the story to a place you’ve been to.

In class: Compare the two places for your group. Then ask the group for their opinion of the places you compared, or other differences / similarities between the two places.

Create a research Create a research lessonlesson

To encourage autonomy, students should ◦Choose what they read◦Decide how much they would like

to read◦Select an activity to do at home,

while reading◦Be given the responsibility to discuss / teach the activity they chose in a small group in class

6. Teach / observe the 6. Teach / observe the lessonlesson

Observers focus on critical points in the lesson

Sit apart to see different things, but can move around to see what students are doing

Do not participate; remain silent The teacher collects student

work at the end of the lesson

7. Critically reflect on and 7. Critically reflect on and revise the lessonrevise the lesson

The teacher who taught the lesson talks about the lesson first

The observers then make comments about the lesson, and the success of the materials / artifacts / new teaching practices

The group revises the lesson as needed

8. Teach / observe again, 8. Teach / observe again, and reflectand reflect

A different teacher does the revised lesson with her students

The other teachers observeAfterwards, the teachers again

reflect on the outcome of the lesson

9. Write an evaluation of 9. Write an evaluation of what you learnedwhat you learned

Describe the entire processHighlight what you did right, and

what was less successfulA teacher outside the group

should know exactly what you did at each step in the process.

10. Make the knowledge 10. Make the knowledge publicpublic

• Share the results with colleagues• Post your report on-line• Give it to the local teacher

professional organizations• Present the results at

conferences• Teachers should contribute to the

knowledge base

Challenges in creating Challenges in creating a Lesson Study Groupa Lesson Study Group

Different from ‘top-down’ approaches to professional development

Teachers often see themselves as consumers of expert knowledge, not producers

Passive receivers to active participants

Challenges in creating Challenges in creating a Lesson Study Groupa Lesson Study Group

Teachers not excited about the overarching goal

Not enough time spent researching the topic of the research lesson

Too much time spent on the procedure, too little time spent on developing artifacts and teaching practices

Difficult to critique other teachersDifficult to establish trust in a group

And finally…And finally…Lesson Study is “more than just the

study of lessons; it is rather a systematic inquiry into teaching practice much more broadly defined, which happens to be carried out by examining lessons” (Fernandez, 2002, p. 394)

Exploring student learning in depth ultimately promotes EFL teacher learning.

Questions or comments?Questions or comments?Thank you!Research Support:Gil Watz Dissertation FellowshipThe Pennsylvania State University: RGSO Dissertation Support Grant

tct118@psu.edu

A theory of cognition and A theory of cognition and development: Activity development: Activity

TheoryTheoryCultural-historical activity theoryVygotsky & Luria LeontievEngestrom A framework for understanding

developmentAn intervention to change social

practices (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006)

Lesson study is the instrument used in the intervention

An Activity System (Engestrom, 2001)

a. Unit of analysis = two systemsb. Multi-voicedc. Transformsd. Develops from internal contradictionse. Undergoes expansive transformation

Mediating Artifacts

Subject Collective Object

Rules Community Div. of labor

Outcome

An Activity System

Object = Student Learning: “the relationship between students and the knowledge they are supposed to acquire” (Engestrom, 2002)

Mediating Artifacts

EFL Teachers

Student Learning

Rules Community Div. of labor

An Activity System

Mediating artifacts: things and ideas that help organize and control the object of our activity.

All of these tools help teachers direct student learning

Course books

EFL Teachers

Student Learning

Rules Community Div. of labor

Other teachers

Work shops

Lesson plans

Technology

Prof. articles

An Activity System

Books, other teachers, workshops, etc

EFL Teachers

Student Learning

Rules:Explicit and implicit

expectations

Community:Others who

share the same object

Div. of labor: Hierarchy in the school;

responsibilities

Outcome: we are always searching for ways to promote student learning

Books, other teachers, workshops, etc

EFL Teachers

Student Learning

Rules Community Div. of labor

Outcome

Lesson Study Expert help

How does learning take place? How does learning take place? Expansive learningExpansive learning

Teachers notice a contradiction in student learning

Questioning the established teaching practice(s).

Modeling a new solution. Develop tools and models that could solve the contradiction.

Examining and implementing the model. Evaluating the process, which shifts the

emphasis to the internalization of the new practices.

Teachers in the

school

Previous experience; resources top down PD; limited, informal teacher collaboration

Student learning; literacy issues

Academic Management

Client satisfaction; teacher management; teacher learning:student literacy

Coordinate PD (e.g. reading seminar); materials on Intranet; raising awareness of resources available

StudentsLearn English (only in class)

Teachers, texts, peers, etc.

Division of labor: work alone

1. Mirror data 2. Lesson Study (other

teachers, materials, questionnaires)

3. Outside expert

Student learning

4 LS Teachers

Does the process of engaging in Lesson Study mediate the teachers’ transformation from an everyday, classroom-based conceptualization of teaching and student learning towards a more professional or expert conceptualization? Does expansive learning take place?

Student reading activities

Lesson Study (other teachers, materials, questionnaires)

Outside expert

Student learning: promote learner autonomy through critical reading skills

4 LS Teachers

Division of labor: collaborative; teacher, observer, evaluator

• teachers begin to internalize new mediational means , leads to reconceptualization of the object, student learning; changes in teaching practices

Questions or comments?Questions or comments?Thank you!Research Support:Gil Watz Dissertation FellowshipThe Pennsylvania State University: RGSO Dissertation Support Grant

tct118@psu.edu