N1 Reflections on WALS 08 Conference

Reflections on WALS08

2008-12-27T19:35:00.001-08:00

I had very small knowledge on lesson study before attending the conference. This conference gave me an opportunity to know more about lesson study through keynote speeches and parallel sessions on lesson study.

The first keynote speaker was Professor Ference Marton, Goteborg University, Sweden. I came to know the following from his speech

i) What authentic learning is and how we can create authentic situation so that the children can learn by themselves.

ii) Definition of learning study and similarities between Asian learning study and Swedish learning study.

iii) Variation theory of learning and its effectiveness in learning.

iv) Variation and invariance in Chinese pedagogy.

The second keynote speaker was Professor Manabu SATO, University of Tokyo, Japan. He had shown us about both origin and traditions of the Japanese lesson study experience. Lesson study was implemented in Japan in the year 1920. He has explained how gradually the lesson study movement was progressed in Japan since 1920.

The third speaker was Dr Makoto Yoshida, William Paterson University, USA. Through his speech, I came to know the following

i) Current Status of mathematics lesson study in USA

ii) Misunderstanding and Lack of Understanding of Lesson study, insufficient content and pedagogical knowledge by teachers, lack of support and resources and non systematic approach are the main factors that cause non effective lesson study.

iii) How to develop a high quality and sustainable lesson study in schools.

The fourth speaker was Professor John Elliott, University of East Anglia, UK. From his speech, I came to know about Variation for the Improvement of Teaching And Learning (VITAL) project in Hong Kong Education and how the schools became involved in the VITAL project. The speaker had explained the benefits for learners and teachers through this project. His evaluation report said that there were both qualitative and quantitative evidences to prove the improvements in the capabilities of teachers to bring about worthwhile curriculum and pedagogical change.

The last speaker was Professor Lo Mun Ling. She had added more information on VITAL project that was carried out in HONGKONG schools. Through this project it was possible to narrow the gap in learning outcomes between high and low achievers in the same class.

Parallel sessions gave me insights on how the lesson study had been carried out in different countries. Lesson study in Brunei and Hong Kong focus on how content can be organised so that learning becomes effective whereas lesson study in UK and US focus on how learning can be organised.

On the whole, I have gained knowledge to develop effective lesson study and also to infuse the variation theory in to the teaching.

Padma Ramachandran

Bowen Secondary School

Reflections_WALS

2008-12-22T19:47:00.001-08:00

Reflections_WALS Conference

Being in Hong Kong and away from home and school. I found it easier to focus and benefitted much from the trip. Upon reflection, I think my learning may not be as much if I were distracted by other matters in school and at home back in Singapore.

I attended a total of 5 keynote speeches and 4 parallel sessions during the conference.

The parallel sessions served to confirm that we have been moving in the correct direction and that many of the things shared are not new but may be useful modifications. This further confirms the need for platforms like Lesson Study for teachers to improve professionally and to help their students. With the progress made in the educational scene in some other countries, we should not shortchange our teachers or our students.

From the first keynote speaker, Professor Ference Marton, I learnt the difference between Lesson Study and Learning Study. He mentioned The Theory of Variation which is the main difference between Lesson Study and Learning Study. He also mentioned the importance of a conducive environment to make learning possible as we cannot make a person learn. The Master-Apprentice model where the learner learns through experiencing the process and generating the product was highlighted. As much as possible, getting the learners to learn through experience enhances the learning. In SE Asian countries, the focus for lessons is on the content and practice makes perfect. In the East, the emphasis is on how the content is organised whereas in the west, the emphasis is on how learning is organised. According to Professor Marton, giving learners all possibilities (instances and non-instances) will lead them to understand better. Therefore, the way the content is organised is very important. I agree with him. I think we should organise the content first and then think about the tools to bring about the learning of the content.

I am inclined to think that the Theory of Variation works for some lessons but not all. In this aspect, Lesson Study seems better suited for my teaching and learning purpose as it is more versatile without any particular theory. I feel it is better to have the choice to conduct lessons with different approaches rather than just one. As confirmed by one of the participants on this trip, she found herself lost during a parallel session when the Theory of Variation was applied.

The second keynote speaker, Professor Sato, emphasised on the post-lesson study reflection which I realised is most important in the spirit of lesson study.

When I was involved in my first lesson study in school, I think we emphasised more on the lesson planning stage than the reflection part. It could also be due to the inexperience of the teachers involved as it was the first time we were trying out the lesson study and might have problems doing the post-lesson study portion effectively. I believe it should improve with practice. I also agreed with Professor Sato about teaching as getting students to make connections. This will make their learning meaningful.

The fourth keynote speaker, Professor John Elliot, emphasised that Lesson Study is an approach for assessment for learning. He seemed at first to paint a bleak picture for Lesson Study as something thatv is time-consuming and not efficient but went on to say that it is actually beneficial and worth the time. I suppose we have to try out Lesson Study to understand and believe that it is really workable. It is probably the buying in of teachers that needs more consideration. We should design the experience to be a fruitful one so that the teachers will be convinced. I feel that Lesson Study is a good platform for a bottom up approach and more ownership on the part of the teachers involved. What we need is to provide the structure, like time-tabled time, and the available resources or know where to find resources to make the experience worthwhile.

The fifth keynote spreaker, Professor Lo Mun Ling, emphasised on the importance of the Theory of Variation for more powerful teaching and learning. Students need to experience the variation to remember. I too believe that only through experience can the learning be more impactful, both for teachers and students. So we must design the inclusion of Lesson Study for teachers to experience it to understand it. If done well, the buying in would be easier. We must also let teachers know that the lessons may not be perfect so if there are problems in the lesson, it does not mean that the Lesson Study research lesson is unsuccessful. Having a group of teachers own the lesson also makes it more palatable as the lesson is co-owned, resulting in less stress for the teachers.

I think I learnt the most from the third keynote speaker, Dr Makoto Yoshida. He gave a really clear pictue as to what Lesson Study is. He mentioned about sustainability of a high quality of teaching, nurturing a yearn for learning and having a high expectation of learning. Besides that, I feel sustainability of any initiatives, like Lesson Study, is also a challenge. I believe that Lesson Study is a really good tool for professional development and hope it is sustainable. Anyway, it has been in existence in Japan for such a long time already. It must have its virtues to be able to do that. I must also keep in mind that Lesson Study is not for the sake of creating the perfect lesson as there is no such lesson especially with different learners and changing environment. It is also not a Research and Development system. It is for professional development.

Dr Yoshida described an interesting relationship between Lesson Study (Jyugyokenkyu 授业研究) and Kendo. Shu (守) Ha（破）Ri（离）in Kendo means:

Shu (守) : Study and learn from the master, then acquire the form with understanding

Ha（破） : With the acquisition of the form with understanding, start experimenting your own ideas (break the form). If the experiment went well, start developing your own form

Ri（离） : Break away from the form and create own form

Lesson Study seemed to share some similarities. It is interesting to note that Lesson Study is really in the spirit of development where one improvises and modifies the original to better suit the situation and at the same time acquire better skills.

Lesson Study can be used in a professional learning community

- Working with colleagues

- Learning about content and pedagogy

- Learning about student thinking and understanding

- Engaging in discussion and reflection of teaching and learning in the classroom

- All participating members; teachers, students, parents,etc learn together

- Developing lifelong learners, independent thinkers, problem solvers and researchers

Lesson Study is professional learning not just for lesson development but opportunities for teachers to think deeply about instruction, pedagogy, etc. We need to look at the Big Picture and make learning meaningful. It is essential for us to look into what the students learn before the grade they are in and will learn after so that connections can be made and necessary scaffolding provided.

There are 3 essential elements of Lesson Study.

1. Well-researched and planned lessons with clear hypothesis (research questions)

2. Live observation of the lesson with various participants

3. Focused post-lesson discussion based on participants' observation

I agree that the post-lesson discussion is most important as was mentioned by the second keynote speaker, Professor Sato. We need to factor in more time for that to make the learning fruitful.

I learnt about one important aspect of Lesson Study that we might not have focused on – Kyozaikenkyu （教材研究）- Instructional Material Investigation – which includes textbooks, manipulatives, course of study (standards), educational context, learning goals, equipment, research and case study open houses, ideas gained from research lesson observations, students' prior knowledge, how they learn, etc. I feel it is important for the teachers to provide or be provided with the necessary materials to make informed decisions to ensure the sessions are fruitful and meaningful.

Lesson Study enhances the level of investigation. The collaboration helps deepen understanding of the instructional materials and teachers can influence one another to grow together as lifelong learners.

Kyozaikenkyu involves:

1. Studying

- Subject content and the required sequence (standards, textbooks, teacher manuals, etc - teachers look at entire curriculum)

- Values of activities

- Instructional tools, manipulatives and representations

- Student learning, state of learning, process of thinking and understanding, misunderstanding

2. Establishing

- Clear understanding of the goals and outcomes (need to compare to find out the best materials)

3. Developing

- Instructions, instructional materials, learning activities, manipulatives,etc to help students to achieve the goals

We need to look at where the topic fit within a content standard and how it is related to other topics within the content standard. We need also to look across the different levels and the activities , knowledge and skills required.

A coherent and focused curriulum must not be "a mile wide, an inch deep"

Unfocused, repetitive, unchallenging and incoherent curriculum does not help.

I will be making use of what I learnt in this conference to enhance my POST-IT sessions in school. More information will be provided and more sharing by the level teachers would help with Kyozaikenkyu. The teachers can then suggest possible lessons. We can then discuss the outcomes and impovement after carrying out the suggested lessons. In this way, more professional development will take place rather than just one-way sharing of background knowledge, pedagogy and resources. These will be modified Research Lessons besides at least one actual Research Lesson per level.

Michelle Lim_SKPS

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Reflection on WALS 08 conference

2008-12-22T04:27:00.001-08:00

I had little understanding of lesson study (LS) before attending the WALS conference. All I knew about LS was that it is a system that can be used for professional development of the teacher and it is used widely in the teaching of Mathematics, at least in the school where I teach. The WALS 08 conference provided me with a deeper understanding of the fundamentals underlying LS and the rationale for such a strategy. It also showed me the versatility of LS as the concurrent sessions provided inputs from several schools that applied LS to other subjects such as the teaching of languages.

I am particularly enlightened and inspired by the keynote speaker, Dr Makoto Yoshida, who succinctly delivered the principles and key components of LS which include a well planned lesson made possible through close collaboration among teachers, peer observation by teachers / subject specialists when a research lesson is carried out and post lesson reflection, carried out in an objective and supportive atmosphere, targeted to improve the quality of the lesson and its delivery in the future. Dr Yoshida also shared his vision for LS which I feel should be the long term goal of all LS practitioners – to develop a community of reflective educators, beyond individual schools, through the use of LS as a platform for professional development. In this manner, good teaching practices can be shared so that more students will be able to benefit from LS.

The important lesson that I took home at the end of the WALS conference is that LS is a systematic tool that can be used across disciplines to help teachers plan effective lessons through collaborative efforts. It is a powerful tool for professional development of the teacher as it deals with lesson planning and delivery in a cyclical manner and this encourages teachers to become reflective practitioners who are then consciously aware of the strengths and areas for improvement of a lesson. LS is also a tool that is sufficiently versatile to allow lessons to be customised in such ways that will effect optimal learning by planning lessons that suit different student profiles. I am eager to try out LS in the teaching of both Science and English language should the opportunity arise.

Dorothy Lim

Bowen Secondary School

Reflections on WALS

2008-12-21T08:54:00.001-08:00

Hi Mun Wai,

My reflections for both school visits and WALS is attached. WALS part a bit long. It's like a combination and notes and reflection. Need to modify?

Michelle

Wals 2008 Reflection

2008-12-18T07:02:00.001-08:00

WALS CONFERENCE 2008

After attended all the parallel sessions and key note speeches, it provides me with a clearer and deeper insights of what lesson study is about. Be it Japan, Hong Kong, Sweden, Singapore, I believed that there are no fix and fuss rules for lesson studies in terms how it is being carried out. Personally, I think that there is a need to tweak the procedures as and when the need arises to cater to the needs of the lesson.

The presentations did provide opportunities for me to reflect and rethink on the lesson studies lessons which were conducted in my school. It also provides me some ideas on how I could refine on the lesson studies that were conducted. As such, this would better equip me with a set of knowledge that could be applied in future lesson studies.

Apart from this, what actually captured my attention was the Variation Theory that was highlighted by Professor Marton. Base on this theory, learning is dependent on students' prior experience. The teacher needs to deliver the lesson content carefully keeping in mind of their learning experience. It would be interesting to know how this theory could be applied in the design of lesson for lesson study in different subjects to perfect our lesson.

The pursuit of perfection as what Mun Wai had highlighted=p

On the whole, the standards of the presentations were relatively high. It was definitely an enriching and enlightening experience for an amateur like me in lesson studies.

Wee Liam

Seng Kang Primary School

WALS 08 Conference

2008-12-16T17:00:00.000-08:00

This was the first time I have encountered so many LS enthusiasts and advocates.

The quality of presentations were generally high.

I particularly enjoyed the keynotes by Dr Marton and Dr Yoshida.
I was intrigued by Dr Lo's sharing on variation theory; but the pragmatist in me is still cynical of the full implementation of the Variation Theory.

Already, skeptics of LS are already wary of the micro-study of lesson for professional development; the Variation Theory might just push them over the wall. It also does not help to have the Variation Theory, filled with bursting, a lot of academic jargon; again, that seems to limit access to understanding and appreciation by teachers.

Having said that, I am still interested in the Variation Theory (VT); my own personal take is to understand the intent and big picture of VT and infuse the thinking into lesson design for Lesson Study. As it is, I am still not ready for Learning Study.

More when I have more brainstorm...time to go for breakfast now...the Wife is calling...

Ciao
Mun Wai

2008-12-13T07:18:00.001-08:00

Implementation of lesson study in different countries, namely US and HK

It is interesting to listen to a first person account of the challenges faced by different countries in the implementation of lesson study.

In the US, it seems that the main challenges are inadequate teacher training, finding the appropriate resources and the improper implementation of lesson study.

In HK, the main complaint is the increased workload and the lack of time. On a positive note, students were more motivated, engaged, able to better apply what they learnt to everyday life.

It is also interesting to note that teachers in both countries share a common fear that the students' academic results will drop if they carry out lesson study.

Variation Theory of Learning

One of the desired outcomes of the above theory is that students are able to apply what they learnt in "novel situation". To achieve this aim, the teacher needs to craft the learning based on students' prior experiences and deliver the content in a very meticulous and mindful manner.

Professor MARTON gave many useful examples to illustrate the Variation Theory of Learning in the teaching of Mathematics. I would like to explore how it can be used in the teaching of Physics as students often have difficulty applying the appropriate concepts in problem solving.

Lee Lee

reflections on the WALS 08

2008-12-12T09:12:00.001-08:00

The main purpose of lesson study is to make teacher a life-long learner. According to Dr Makoto Yoshida, there are three essential components of lesson study: 1) well researched and planned lessons with a clear hypothesis, 2) live observation of the lesson with various participants, 3) focused post –lesson discussion based on participants' observation.

Lesson study is a group effort and through collaborating with colleagues, we are able to learn from one another. I perceive lesson study as a professional development to keep on improving my teaching and also indirectly improve my relationship with the colleagues that I am working with.

The principal in HKMA KS LO Collage see lesson study as a Win-Win-Win situation. First, the teachers get a chance to improve on their teaching making them more competitive than other teachers. Second, the students will be able to understand the lesson better. Third, through the help of lesson study, the school will be able to maintain its competitiveness and market position. During his presentation, he has shown us figures and evidence on before lesson study was conducted and after lesson study was conducted. It is clear that lesson study works for his school. It is indeed a win-win-win situation.

I must say that the conference has given me more ideas and ways on how to improve myself. I see lesson study as a professional development to keep on improving my teaching.

I would like to thank Mr Yeo and Mrs Cheng for giving me the opportunity, Mun Wai for coordinating.

Angela Tan

Lesson Study Conference

2008-12-10T20:58:00.000-08:00

It was a good experience for me as we have not started lesson study in our school yet. It was heartening to see that many people believe in and have done lesson study in their schools. I agree with Seow Koon that lesson study can start small. The most important thing is to get buy-in from a core group of people and to start!

The conference especially Keynote speaker Dr Yoshida corrected my many misconceptions about lesson study. I learnt that lesson study is not about developing a library of "perfect" lessons but is focussed mainly on the professional development of teachers. This certainly put things in perspective and now I know how to pitch the idea of lesson study to the teachers in my school.

Going forward, we will be using lesson study as a tool to test our curriculum design as we have designed some of our units using UBD. We are also interested to integrate the PETALs framework into this.

I also want to thank everyone who so generously shared their knowledge with this LS noob (i.e. me :))and I hope I will have the opportunity to share with you guys about our experiences in North Vista with regards to LS next year.

WALS 09 reflection

2008-12-09T06:01:00.001-08:00

Keynote Speech 1: Building on your strengths - Chinese Pegagogy and the necessary conditions of learning

Hearing from the keynote speaker Prof Ference Marton from Sweden, I realised that in General, WALS 09 have in mind the idea of learning study instead of lesson study which is the combination of lesson study together with variation strategies.

Have come across this learning study in readings before but Bowen did not take it up for our project as variation theory might not work for every topic. It would be beneficial to find a more fitting pedagogy/theory for your own topic.

Also, keynote speaker Professor Manabu Sato from Japan brought insight to Japanese lesson study and it's history. How the development of lesson study came about from such a long time ago. I was really intriqued by Dr Makoto Yoshida from USA as I have read his paper when doing my own research and wanted to hear him speak. It's a great privilege to hear what he has to say and his mindset towards lesson study. It brings great encouragement and determination to me towards the current lesson study project we are undergoing in Bowen.

Prof John Elliot on the other hand gave a critical examination of lesson study but concluded with a high end note that teachers felt it was beneficial. I believe criticism are necessary for improvement and I'm glad someone actually laid out the fears and doubts instead of covering up all the negatives and laying out only the positives of lesson study.

Have learnt a great deal from the WALS and through the parallel sessions. Many schools are engaged in meaningful professional development and it's encouraging to see how educationers seek to work together even on international scale. It's an eye opener to see how other countries work in their schools and benefit from lesson study as well.

Thank you Mun Wai for coordinating and thanks to the school for the opportunity.

Suping :)

WALS conference

2008-12-08T05:19:00.001-08:00

Dear Mun Wai,

I learnt that we don't have to start doing a lesson in a big scale. It can start from something small. The main purpose is teachers learning from each others and improve the learning process, both for teachers and pupils.

:)
Seow Koon
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Reflection_WALS 08

2008-12-08T01:08:00.001-08:00

N1 Cluster Hong Kong Learning Journey cum WALS International Conference

30^th Nov to 4^th Dec 2008

Case Study – The HKMA K S Lo College Experience (Parallel Session 3)

The school began its LS journey in 2001 by establishing a sense of urgency when it looks hard at the college's competitiveness and market position. There was a risk of school closure due to decline in student population. This was then followed by creating and communicating a Vision to the staff in the following years.

The Principal presented the Win-Win-Win situation where

Teachers would acquire new knowledge and skills and became better employability and more competitive in job market. Students would also better in learning performance with value-added education. Eventually, school would continue and no closure!

Learning Points from the college's journey of change:

Starts small and assemble a group with enough power to lead the change effort.
Provides support in terms of common time teaching slots; deduction of teaching load and collective decision making.
Good and healthy departmental culture with strong sense of security is the key to success LS journey.
Project Empowerment and Delegation.
Bringing in external / expert support from HKIEd.
Fully autonomous by encouraging risk taking and new ideas from teachers.
Create short-term Wins:

Emphasis on Team Spirit.
Sensitive to students' learning through student interview.
Teaching becomes more reflective.

Experience-sharing with whole school on a Staff-Development Day.
Consolidating improvements and institutionalize LS as a key component of the corporate culture.

We hope to continue LS as an effective Professional Development tool as it allows teachers to:

Put equal emphasis on different stages of planning, teaching and evaluating of a lesson.
Get constant feedback from students
Find out real cause of learning difficulties
Reflect on our own teaching

Jane Cheng
HOD Maths
Bowen Sec School
Tel: 63851041
Fax: 63856559

WALS 08 Conference Reflections

2008-12-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

Please park your reflections about the WALS 08 Conference in this blog.

You may want to take out your notes and related materials to refresh your memories (sweet ones I hope).

Please leave your name and school name behind so that we can acknowledge your contributions.

"Mmm G-Oil" (think cantonese!)
Mun Wai