Lesson Study Is Structured, Focused Professional Development

How many times have you said, "If only I had one more hour in the day I could…"? When schools and districts consider implementing Lesson Study, the issue of time becomes nearly as heated a discussion as funding. In my last blog I compared and contrasted two different ways to find time for Lesson Study  Finding time can be as challenging as creating a 25 hour day—impossible in some educators minds!

[You can read more on the lesson study process and DSC's work in this Learning Forward article made available from Education Week]

When I taught 3rd grade, I found my body and brain moving and multitasking in ways like no other job I had done before. No doubt you have experienced a professional development meeting with your laptop open in front of you showing tomorrow's lesson plan, your iPhone buzzing with information on music class being pre-empted for an assembly, and a pile of written literature from the meeting with pages of additional information that is not covered in the lecture. How much professional growth is really taking place in this scenario?

So often we take time to create a workshop atmosphere with our students where they not only work through new challenges but they share experiences, question theories, and have time to try out a new skill and possibly share the new skill with a student partner. When was the last time you did this with a fellow educator without interruption?

As with any professional development activity, Lesson Study requires educators to carve out sacred time to learn the process and experience lesson development with their colleagues. You cannot grab 5 minutes here and there and label it collaboration. Talking on the way to lunch or zipping quick emails back and forth do not constitute reflection and understanding. But we all know this already; the question is how do we find the sacred time.

In many schools it is simply redefining time that already exists. All school districts host staff meetings, PD days, and staff training. Why not overlay Lesson Study with the existing framework so that the overall discourse at meetings and staff development takes on a new tone? Team norms can be set and used in a wide array of situations. Hearing all sides of the issue and teasing out areas of possible challenge can occur in every meeting.

The time exists somewhere but it cannot be cobbled together piecemeal. Where have you found the time? How much time is enough time to tune out the rest of the world and focus on quality learning and lesson discussion with colleagues?

In Fairfax County Public Schools we already have half-day Mondays and Collaborative Learning Time (CLT) blocks built into the day. The challenge is to take back the time that many use to run copies, call parents, etc. How will we know that the process is not about the lesson? When will the conversation that evolves through studying the lesson be enough?

Christine Paul holds a M. Ed in Curriculum and Instruction. She has been an educator for 11 years and currently works as the lead Lesson Study facilitator at Sunrise Valley Elementary School in Fairfax County, VA. In an effort to expand the Lesson Study program in Fairfax County, she partners with DSC to develop the Lesson Study facilitator’s role at the school, county, and state level.