Jugyou Kenkyu: The Central Feature of Teacher Learning in Japan Is Called Jugyou Kenkyu or Lesson Study

Jugyou Kenkyu
The central feature of teacher learning in Japan

is called Jugyou Kenkyu or lesson study.
• The success of teaching may very well lie with
the teachers working collaborative in a process
called jugyokenkyu, which roughly translates to
"lesson study.”
It is a way for teachers find opportunities to reflect on
many school and classroom problems that challenge
them and develop their own responses. Fujii (2013) says
Jugyou Kenkyu is based on a long-term continuous improvement model
and focuses on pupil learning, improvement of teaching
and collaborative activities. It provides various opportunities:
• for change and enriching classroom practices

• for improving teaching
• for understanding children thinking
• for advancing students’ academic achievement
• for enhancing learning
• for progressing school effectiveness
• for teachers’ professional development
• for creating schools as professional learning communities
• The idea is simple enough. If we want to improve
education, we need to get together to study what we
are doing and then focus on improvement.
• It is a way of improving the knowledge base of the
teaching profession. Self-study, self-reflection and
colleague critiques of our teaching are important
parts of this process.
Stigler and Hiebert (1999) in ‘The teaching gap: Best ideas from
the world’s teachers for improving education in the
classroom’ describe lesson study as consisting of the following
eight steps:
1. Defining the problem
2. Planning the lesson
3. Teaching the lesson
4. Evaluating the lesson and reflecting on its effect
5. Revising the lesson
6. Teaching the revised lesson
7. Evaluating and reflecting, again
8. Sharing the results
But some argue that this doesn’t go far enough in explaining
what is involved. Lewis and Hurd (2011) characterize Lesson
Study as a four part cycle:
1. Study curriculum and formulate goals

• Consider long-term goals for student learning and development.
Study curriculum and standards, identify topic of interest.
2. Plan
• Select or revise research lesson. Write instruction plan that
includes: Long-term goals, Anticipated student thinking, Data
collection, Model of leaning trajectory, Rationale for chosen
approach.
But some argue that this doesn’t go far enough in explaining
what is involved. Lewis and Hurd (2011) characterize Lesson
Study as a four part cycle:
3. Conduct the research lesson

• One team member teaches the lesson, others observe and collect data.
4. Reflect
• In a formal lesson colloquium, share data from the lesson to illuminate
student learning, discrepancies in content, lesson, and unit design, and
broader issues in teaching-learning. Document the cycle to consolidate and
carry forward learning as well as new questions into the next cycle
of lesson study.
Kyozai kenkyuu
• Intimately connected to Jugyou Kenkyu is
kyozaikenkyu (or kyozai kenkyuu) which means
the study of instructional materials and it is the
central activity in their everyday practice.
• In kyozaikenkyu, teachers examine the content, the
teaching tools and the literature related to the
teaching and learning of the specific content.
• It is intention and intensive.
But this isn’t about creating ‘outstanding’ and there are
some misconceptions to avoid as noted by Chokshi and
Fernandez (2004):
1. Lesson study is about creating a unique, original, or
never-seen-before lesson.
2. There will be no benefit from just a few lesson study
lessons; it’s important to conduct lesson study for as
many lessons as possible.
3. Lesson study is about perfecting a single lesson.
4. Lesson study is about producing a library of tried-and-
tested lessons for others to use.
• Lesson study is a teacher-led and teacher-driven
professional development activity that looks at what
works and what doesn’t. It also involves sharing insights
with each other and knowledgeable others.
• It is about achieving learning improvements,
increasing teacher collaboration, developing new ideas,
investigating content and developing curriculum.
Sources
• https://johndabell.com/2018/11/28/jugyou-kenkyu/
• Fincher, S., Kolikant, Y., & Falkner, K. (2019). Teacher Learning and
Professional Development. In S. Fincher & A. Robins (Eds.), The
Cambridge Handbook of Computing Education Research (Cambridge
Handbooks in Psychology, pp. 727-748). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108654555.026

Jugyou Kenkyu: The Central Feature of Teacher Learning in Japan Is Called Jugyou Kenkyu or Lesson Study

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Jugyou Kenkyu: The Central Feature of Teacher Learning in Japan Is Called Jugyou Kenkyu or Lesson Study

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Jugyou Kenkyu: The Central Feature of Teacher Learning in Japan Is Called Jugyou Kenkyu or Lesson Study

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Jugyou Kenkyu

The central feature of teacher learning in Japan

• for change and enriching classroom practices

1. Study curriculum and formulate goals

3. Conduct the research lesson

You might also like