LJMU CERES Seminar: Dr David Allan (Edge Hill University)

Talk Title: What can Lesson Study offer teacher education?

Abstract: Lesson Study is a model of teacher development that originated in Japan. It involves a triad of teachers who work collaboratively to plan, observe, analyse and evaluate a lesson. Although it is said to have been in existence since the 1870s (Dudley, 2013), it is only in the last two decades where we have seen its emergence in the UK. In particular, its use in teacher education is still in its infancy, albeit its popularity has grown recently. In this seminar, I argue that Lesson Study proffers a challenge to the existing silo model of initial teacher education, where student teachers formerly grappled with personal reflection and conceptualised ongoing professional development as an immanent process of individual engagement with teaching practices. Using the Lesson Study model, student teachers are encouraged to participate in a model of profound collaboration with peers, wherein they challenge and synthesise pedagogical knowledge and teaching experiences, and subsequently learn to co-construct knowledge.

Speaker bio: Dr David Allan is Reader in Further Education and Training at Edge Hill University where he teaches on the PGDE in Post-14 Education. His research interests lie in the field of education and include Lesson Study, pedagogical knowledge development, disaffection with learning, and teacher resilience. He is currently leading two collaborative projects of knowledge exchange for Edge Hill University with partner institutions in Germany, Greece, Kazakhstan, Laos, Romania, Russia, and Vietnam.