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.
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