Reviews of Stepping up Lesson Study: An Educator’s Guide to Deeper Learning edited by Aki Murata and Christine Kim-Eng Lee

WALS would like to thank Laura Formosa from Malta and Aimee Myers from the US for agreeing to write reviews of one of the first WALS Routledge Lesson Study Series books to be published: ‘Stepping up Lesson Study: An Educator’s Guide to Deeper Learning’. We hope you find their reviews interesting.




Laura Formosa is assistant headteacher at St Joseph Junior School in Sliema, Malta.
‘Stepping up Lesson Study: An Educator’s Guide to Deeper Learning’ is the perfect book for teachers and school leaders who are interested in and want to learn more about lesson study as a professional development model. I have found this book very relevant and applicable to me on two dimensions: 1. as a teacher who experienced lesson study in the past year and now seeks to step up my knowledge on lesson study; and 2: as a newly-appointed school middle leader developing school-based teacher professional development opportunities. The book presents a wide selection of chapters written by various lesson study researchers and practitioners who enacted lesson study in their different education contexts. These give the reader practical knowledge, ideas, tips and guidance on how to deepen their learning on lesson study. Indeed, they gave me the opportunity to reflect on my current practices, to make connections with my own lesson study experience and to deliberate on the practical knowledge shared that could eventually be applied in my professional development planning and design for teachers in my school. The collaborative element of lesson study is brought forward incessantly in this book, whereby every individual who forms part of the lesson study community (being the teacher/s or the lesson study facilitator/s or the knowledgeable others or the pupils) has a vital role to play in the lesson study process. I believe that this book is a valuable resource for educators who have lesson study at heart and who would like to ‘step up’ their current knowledge and understanding on lesson study and take it up to the next level.


Aimee Myers is an instructional coach in Arlington, Texas.
I attended the WALS international conference in 2019 and for the first time was introduced to adaptations of lesson study. I had been in a lesson study bubble of sorts. We were designing and facilitating lesson study on my single campus for four years without all the wonderful influences that have become an important part of my learning through my involvement with WALS. Reading Stepping Up Lesson Study: An Educator’s Guide to Deeper Learning, has once again opened my eyes to new tools and adaptations to lesson study. I have been particularly engrossed in the chapters on facilitation. I have found useful tips, such as the value of helping teachers adopt an inquiry mindset as a successful ingredient to creating a culture and climate so that the learning potential from lesson study will be magnified. The tips for facilitators in chapter 9, provide a unique opportunity for newer facilitators to get a head start on knowledge that may otherwise come much more slowly, only through my trial and error type experience. This chapter has me thinking forward as well. As one of only two schools now that use lesson study as their main form of professional development in my district, I often think about how this powerful, incredibly relevant form of teacher PD could successfully take root district-wide. I can see that this book will be an important tool for many years to come as I continue to learn, improve, and grow lesson study in my area.

You can purchase a copy of this book by following this link.
Find out more about other books in the series here.


Bookclub

Aimee and Laura would love to chat to others about this book and others. We are planning to start an online WALS book club. If you are interested in joining please email support@walsnet.org