Philippine E-Journals

Development of Lesson Study Approach in Three Rural Elementary Schools of Taiwan

Shih-hsiung Liu

 

Abstract:

In rural schools, teachers feel particularly disadvantaged for teaching professional development. Implementing lesson study projects could promote teaching quality. The study investigated the development of lesson study approach in three rural elementary schools of Taiwan. A qualitative method was employed to collect and analyze data obtained from interviews with individual school principals, various observations, and focus group interviews for teacher collaboration. Through a year of lesson study processes, the schools of this study developed feasible examples for lesson study. School leaders’ teaching demonstrations and a focus on student performance promoted teachers’ participation in open classroom observations and collective discussions. Establishing alliances between schools resolved the problem of a limited number of teachers with the same specialty during collaborative lesson planning. However, because of a lack of experience and insufficient collaboration in lesson planning, the participating teachers did not completely establish the model of jump learning for improving students’ thinking skills.