The document describes an adapted lesson study approach used with pre-service teachers in initial teacher education. Over three cycles, groups of pre-service teachers planned and taught lessons in local schools while observing each other and receiving feedback. Questionnaires and reflections showed this approach improved the pre-service teachers' confidence in areas like lesson planning, teaching, observing pupils, collaboration and reflection. Suggested improvements included reducing group sizes and roles to focus more on pupil learning and the teacher's role.

1. Adapted Lesson Study in the
First Weeks of Initial Teacher
Education
Maarten Tas (mt317@le.ac.uk)
School of Education
www.le.ac.uk ECER 2014

2. Overview
• Background: critical partnerships
• Lesson Study
• Preparation for adapted lesson study for pre-service
teachers
• Adapted lesson study for pre-service teachers
• Methodology and methods
• Results
• Improvements suggested
• Conclusions & suggested changes
• Cycle 2 – some notes ECER 2014

3. Critical partnerships
• Self/peer support
• Self/peer assessment
• Effective collaboration
• Collaborative presentations
• Collaborative microteaching
• Issue: all in University Sessions
ECER 2014

4. Lesson Study
• Originated in Japan in the 1870’s
• Group of teachers improving their
teaching and learning practice
collaboratively
• Research and discuss approaches which
could possibly make a difference
• A sequence of jointly planned lessons
• One teacher teaches, the others observe
the pupils (not the teacher)
• Joint reflection and readjustments for
next lesson ECER 2014

5. Preparation for adapted lesson
study for pre-service teachers
• Day 1: homework for next day – explanation
• Day 2: explanation – self and peer
assessment (+ input from tutor)
• Day 3: preparation for practical
demonstration (groups of 2)
• Day 4: practical demonstration – self and
peer assessment (+ input from tutor)
• Day 4: formation of critical partnerships (4
per group)
ECER 2014

6. Adapted lesson study for PGCE
students 1
• Day 4: 2 Critical partnership groups plan
lesson with teacher from a local school
• Day 5: The lesson
– Starter: 2 teaching – 2 function as teaching
assistant (TA) - 2 observing particular pupils as
suggested by the teacher – 2 observing the
teachers and TAs
- Main activity 1: same as above but rotation –
teachers become TAs, etc.
- Main activity 2
- Plenary ECER 2014

7. Adapted lesson study for PGCE
students 2
• Day 4 Week 2
– Group reflection of the lesson from Week 1
– Teacher gives the groups of 8 students all the
resources for the lesson, including intended
learning outcomes. They then need to
prepare the lesson
• Day 5 Week 2
– Teach and observe the lesson as Week 1
ECER 2014

8. Adapted lesson study for PGCE
students 3
• Day 4 Week 3
– Group reflection of the lesson from Week 2
– Teacher gives the groups of 8 students the
intended learning outcomes and some ideas
for practicals
• Day 5 Week 3
– Teach and observe the lesson as Week 1 and
Week 2
ECER 2014

9. Methodology & methods
• Social interactionist approach (Blumer, 1969;
Strauss, 1993) – the pre-service teachers(female n
= 12; male n = 5) develop their understanding of
the classroom environment through collaboration
with each other, tutors and teachers
• Action Research approach – two cycles of
developing Adapted lesson study
• Mixed methods:
– Questionnaires (Likert Scale and Open questions);
– Reflective journals;
– Videos
T-test, power analysis, descriptive statistics and
theme analysis of qualitative data ECER 2014

10. Questionnaires - stats
T Test
Test Value = 0
t df
Sig. (2-
tailed)
Mean
Difference
95% Confidence Interval
of the Difference
Lower Upper
Average 1 25.621 16 0.000 3.0703576 2.816315 3.324400
Average 2 39.887 16 0.000 3.5778547 3.387702 3.768008
Power analysis
Cohen's d 1.16288
Effect size 0.50264
< 0.1 = trivial effect
0.1 - 0.3 = small effect
0.3 - 0.5 = moderate effect
> 0.5 = large difference effect
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
0.923 17
ECER 2014

11. Results 1 Lesson Planning
Mean level of confidence (maximum = 5)
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
Use a pro-forma
for
lesson
planning
Plan for a
starter
Plan for a
pupil
learning
activity
Plan for a
plenary
Plan for
good
behaviour
Before
After
‘Makes you aware of what you need to work on before you go into the classroom’
‘I found it helped me a lot with lesson planning and I went into school knowing
some key areas I need to focus on’
ECER 2014

12. Results 2 Teaching
Mean level of confidence (maximum = 5)
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
Before
After
‘Quite a few of us had not had the chance to actively plan and teach a lesson, and
lead a class in a school environment before the course, even though we had
observed in classroom environments. The Adapted Lesson Study allowed us to
gain this valuable experience before our placements began, in a relatively low-risk,
collaborative environment, well-supported by an experienced and helpful
teacher’.
ECER 2014

13. Results 3 Pupil focus
Mean level of confidence (maximum = 5)
4.30
4.20
4.10
4.00
3.90
3.80
3.70
3.60
3.50
Helping pupils as
TA
Observing pupils
with focus
Before
After
‘Showed how pupils react to having a new teacher’
‘On reflection I think I should have gotten involved earlier on to
help the practical along’
ATSE 2014

14. Results 4 Observation,
Reflection and Collaboration
Mean level of confidence (maximum = 5)
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
Observing
teachers with
focus
Reflection on
teaching
Working with
another
teacher
Before
After
‘Able to see others teaching, and through this improve my practice’
‘You get to identify areas of the teaching standards which need improving, and
work towards these in the next lesson’
‘It is helpful to get feedback, to have an idea of strengths and weaknesses
before I began teaching’
‘Collaborative teaching with peers which led to the development of a
supportive network’
ECER 2014

15. Improvements suggested by
pre-service teachers
• Extra time to prepare for the lesson
• Less teachers in the classroom
• A little more of it – three sessions was
great, four would have been wonderful!
• I didn’t fully understand what we were
supposed to be doing as teaching
assistants
• I didn’t really understand the significance
or relevance of having to observe pupils
ECER 2014

16. Conclusions
• Adapted lesson study help pre-service
teachers to get a better idea about:
– Planning;
– Teaching;
– Observation;
– Working with peers and other teachers;
– Reflection
• Some don’t get the relevance of
observing pupils and the role of a
teaching assistant
ECER 2014

17. Suggested changes
• Groups of 3-4 rather than 6-8 in one class
• Less roles within one lesson:
– Focus on observing pupils
– Focus on role of teaching assistant
– Teaching with peer
• More focus on the learning of pupils
• Teacher will predict the learning of key
pupils
• Focus interview with key pupils after
lesson
ECER 2014

18. The increase of confidence after the Lesson Study cycles
3.7
3.6
3.5
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
3
2.9
2.8
2.7
Cycle 1 Cycle 2
Confidence (1-5)
Before After
The confidence of the group of the second cycle higher, even before intervention.
Experience of the tutors from the first cycle?
ECER 2014

19. Some ideas and conclusions
• Effect size high, but likely to be not just due to
the intervention
• Although the confidence seems rather high at
this stage in ITE they have still limited
understanding of what is needed in the
classroom
• Good experience to refer to in later reflections
• Lesson Study for assignments
• Third cycle more support from classroom
teacher and deeper reflection at UoL sessions
• Teachers involved seem to benefit a lot from
this collaboration
ECER 2014

20. Literature
• Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic Interactionism; Perspective and Method.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
• Chokski, S. & Fernandez, C. (2004). Challenges to importing Japanese lesson
study: Concerns, misconceptions and nuances. Phi Delta Kappan, 85(6), 520-
525.
• Lewis, C. (2002). Lesson study: A handbook of teacher-led instructional
change. Philadelphia: Research for Better Schools Inc.
• Lewis, C., & Tsuchida, I. (1997). Planned educational change in Japan: The
case of elementary science instruction. Journal of Educational Policy, 12(5),
313-331.
• Strauss A.L. (1993). Continual permutations of actions. Hawthorne, New York:
Aldine de Gruyter.
• Tas, M. & Forsythe, S. (2014). Critical Partnerships: Collaborative Reflection
and Commitment to Group Development in Teacher Training. Manuscript in
Preparation.
• Wiggins, G.& McTighe, J.(1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria: ASCD
ECER 2014