Blend Lesson Study

 From What is a Research Lesson?  by Catherine Lewis

Above is the powerful visual support for how teachers in the U.S. and Japan differently improve their instruction.  The grey color represents Choose curriculum, write curriculum, align curriculum, write local standard.  Red follows and states Plan lesson individually.  The next color, purple, stands for Plan lesson collaboratively.  The last color green says Watch and discuss each others' classroom lessons.  

Isn't it so true, how many, many teachers burn out by dealing with curriculum?  I have heard of several retired teachers lamenting, "I can't do it anymore."  The fortunate advantage in Japan is the high quality and consistent national common curriculum.  Like these triangles show, Japanese teachers don't have to spend so much time on developing the curriculum itself.  That is one enormous relief off from their plate.  Although there are different stress points here and there in Japan, the fact is that evidently whatever stress they have is not from curriculum development.  This fact allows teachers more time to develop and strengthen for the hands-on part in the classroom.  The rest of the colors (red, purple, and green) implicate directly what and how to deliver quality of lessons to students.  If you want to demonstrate the best practices in your classroom, you have to spend energy and time in your own classroom instead of spending endless time on writing standards.  

Next, it seems like both countries spend a similar amount of time on the lesson planning (red and purple). The U.S instruction triangle represents more red than purple, versus another country, it is the opposite.  During the busy schedule, plus a large amount of extra time on organizing curriculum, it is almost impossible for teachers to find collaborative planning time.  It is obvious that the quality of lessons vary depending on teachers' skill levels. Yes, the teaching gap is existing, however, it is an elephant in the room.   

In my collaborative lesson planning experiences a few years back, the atmosphere throughout all staff training sessions were negative and draining.  When grade level teachers gathered and began working, it was extremely difficult to even start collaborating.  I moaned and grouched during every planning session, although I knew it was important to work together.  I wondered what the reasons why my energy drained so badly.  Maybe because we were just not used to constructing lessons together.  But the Achilles’ heel was that the teaching knowledge (content, pedagogy, instruction, etc) differences were too large to compromise each other.  We clearly failed on this project that was intended to be positive. 

Another fatal failure was that this project didn't involve any activities, interactions, and conversations about what is really happening in the real classroom.  Its process and my inner voices are:  

1. Construct the lesson together...."A good way to start, I think." 

2. Do that lesson in your classroom by yourself...... "I don't know if I am doing this right..."

3. Bring the evidence of effectiveness of the lesson....."Does this paper really tell the whole picture?"

Finally, the U.S. teachers are not used to and they don't feel comfortable by being observed, according to several researches and my own experiences. However, that is the way teachers improve their instructional skills.  Listening to and sharing with the colleagues' professional observation is significantly valuable in order for the professional growth. Teachers must improve their instruction by observing each other, not for the purpose of evaluation, but learning.  The team of teachers, later,  would discuss about how the lesson went and reflect on the lesson plan they constructed.  That is the "collaboration" that we are looking for.  If we plant the "observation" during the study cycle, the teaching gap will be narrowed. The Common Core State Standard will reduce selecting curriculum time.  I have a tremendous hope on the instructional improvement by conducting the "lesson study". Now we know what's good.  The time has come.  Start looking for the funding source for substitute teachers while teachers are away for the observation in the different classroom.  Blend what's good into the instructional team!