A Case Study of a Lesson Study Aimed at Maturity and Autonomy of Individual Teachers and a Teachers' Group

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify the way and the meaning of a lesson study aimed at maturity and autonomy of individual teachers and a teachers' group through a case study of B Junior High School led by the Principal A. The term lesson study used here is in-service training based on "Jugyo Kenkyu" in Japanese. While recent studies of lesson studies have focused on teacher collaboration, this study would like to focus on its enhancement of self-governing improvement.

The Principal A was unsatisfied with the following points of traditional lesson studies which (1) provided a weak link with outcomes; (2) offered a vague definition of teacher collaboration; and (3) did not strongly encouraged individual teachers to autonomously improve their own ways of teaching. The Principal A aimed to encourage professional development by enhancing the quality of teacher collaboration. The lesson study conducted in B Junior High School consists of the following two factors: (1) to enhance the individual teachers' teaching ability to improve how to teach; and (2) the maturity model which showed autonomy level of individual teachers and a teachers' group.

In conclusion, the lesson study aimed at the maturity and autonomy of individual teachers and the teachers' group is characterized by: (1) teachers learning how to learn how to teach; (2) a setup of the time-axis to enhance the quality of the teachers' group; and (3) the link between learning of individual teachers and maturity of the teachers' group.