06 June 2011

Lesson Study: A Collaborative Approach to Professional Development

One of the primary complaints of teachers is the lack of meaningful and useful professional development. Many formats are quick fly-by-night lectures intended to inundate teachers with valuable information and leave them struggling to make use of it. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten some really good ideas from a 30 min lesson, particularly a well presented one. Nevertheless, true and meaningful professional development is gradual, experiential, self-motivated and collaboratively supported. Most Japanese schools use a tried and tested lean manufacturing model of process improvement known as "Kaizen". Kaizen basically means, "change" or "change for the better". The purpose of Kaizen, or "lesson study" as it is known in the field of education, is to collaborate across departments and levels of experience, to brainstorm, test, and evaluate new methodologies and measure improvement. Methodologies and lessons that are proven to work well among a group of teachers, are adopted and new ideas are incorporated. Some American schools, particularly in California, Virginia, and North Carolina, have begun using Lesson Study, or variations of it, with a great deal of success. If you are interested in learning more about Lesson Study, I ecnourage you to look into Kaizen Lean Management and Japanese Lesson Study methodologies and bring it up with your administrator. With support, Lesson Study can be an excellent tool for professional development, and the answer to the long-standing complaint that educator development is spotty and haphazard.


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My Philosophy of Teaching

My Philosophy of Teaching:

I just finished my masters in Curriculum and Instruction. I have a firm commitment to my continuing education and strong love of teaching. My greatest draw to education is the opportunity to work daily with students, particularly students for whom success has been elusive or who struggle in the academic setting. I strongly believe in preventative behavior management and, as a student teacher, I have turned the success of lower performing students around using differentiated instructional techniques including collaborative learning, project-based learning and service learning. I do not accept the notion that some students fit a profile of failure and should be side-tracked. I am committed to the success of each and every one of my students. I believe no student should be given up on. I love that none of my students are the same and I value their diversity, linguistic, behavioral, cognitive or otherwise. I do not accept the notion that a student's difference is, necessarily, a hindrance towards their learning and hold the onus upon myself to find ways to facilitate learning for all of my students. Finally, I am aware of the importance of collaboration between faculty and staff. Cross-content instruction is not only important for the student's cognition, but is also important for a teacher's professional development. I believe strongly that a teacher's classroom is a place of constant innovation and improvement, and the sharing of ideas between faculty and staff, as well as the close cross-content collaboration of teachers, is important in improving the overall success of teachers, and, by proxy, our students. We are all responsible for the success of every student in the school, not just those who are in our classroom.