Educators' Learning from Lesson Study

Offering voices from the field – the first of its kind outside of Japan – this guide to teaching and learning elementary mathematics highlights real case examples from teachers and educators who share what they have learned through Lesson Study.

The teachers’ reports provide vivid examples of new insights and ideas about mathematics, about pedagogy and lesson design, about student learning, and about professional collaboration gained through Lesson Study. Each report includes an abbreviated plan of the specific research lesson that led to the new insights, which readers can draw from to replicate the powerful learning in their own community. The case examples of this book are from Lesson Study in mathematics, elementary to lower secondary grade levels, focused on what teachers and educators have learned about improving mathematics teaching and learning; but many ideas from each report can be applied to other subjects and different grade levels.

This unique book will be an excellent resource for mathematics teachers in training and practice who seek to improve mathematics teaching and learning in their own and others’ classrooms, including researchers and school administrators who lead professional development.

Akihiko Takahashi is Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at DePaul University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has published over 80 journal articles and book chapters in English and Japanese. He has given over 50 presentations and keynotes at conferences and workshops in 18 countries.

Thomas McDougal is Founder & Executive Director of Lesson Study Alliance in Chicago. He has worked previously as a high school math teacher and as an elementary (grades K-8) mathematics specialist in the Chicago Public Schools. In 2016, he co-authored the paper, “Collaborative Lesson Research: Maximizing the Impact of Lesson Study.”

Shelley Friedkin is Senior Research Associate for the Lesson Study Group at Mills College. Her research interests include teachers’ learning from practice and practice-based artifacts, and developing school-wide Lesson Study.

Tad Watanabe is Professor of Mathematics Education and an associate chair of the Department of Mathematics at Kennesaw State University. His research interests include teaching and learning of multiplicative concepts and Lesson Study.