2017 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Cutting Edge Reflective Practice to Promote Teacher Development on an International Scale
| Project/Area Number |
17H02676
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| Research Institution | Iwate University |
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Principal Investigator |
Hall James 岩手大学, 教育学部, 准教授 (80361038)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
山崎 友子 岩手大学, 教育学部, 教授 (00322959)
田代 高章 岩手大学, 教育学部, 教授 (70294486)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
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| Keywords | lesson study app / classroom observation / reflective practice / teacher development / critical incident / eportfolio |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The overall purpose of this project is to develop a lesson study application which will encourage student-teachers to develop into reflective practitioners. That is teachers who can synthesize their academic knowledge and practical teaching skills to conduct instruction appropriate for a given context. This lesson study application will be used to encourage teacher development in both Japan and Thailand. In year 1, we set out to 1) refine the concept of critical incident as a means for student-teachers to develop professional knowledge and skills from classroom experiences; 2) develop a smartphone/tablet application (app) to employ in classroom observation; 3) refine the lesson study process using the app to encourage data-based reflective practice. We were able to accomplish the following. First, analyzing previous students' critical incidents writing on their ePortfolios we developed criteria for defining critical incidents. Second, two variations of the app were developed and piloted at two schools in Japan and three schools in Thailand. We are currently working on the third version of the app. Third, lesson study was conducted using the app to encourage data-based reflective practice in both math and English classes in Thailand and Japan. Student-learning from the lesson-study process will be presented about in June, 2018.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
We have been able to accomplish what we have set out to do: refine the concept of critical incident, develop and pilot the app, and engage in a new form of data-based lesson study with cooperating schools. However, there are some areas which need more attention. First, we are experiencing some technical issues with the app. Namely, we are having difficulty developing an app function that enables observers to categorize the classroom observations they input in a user-friendly manner. Secondly, we wish to conduct lesson study on a larger scale with more school involvement, not only a handful of teachers, to maximize the impact of the lesson study app and process. Thirdly, we now have a backlog of academic papers we need to write about our app development and research findings.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
First, we plan to disseminate last year's achievements: we will report on student development in year 1 in June, 2018 at the J-CLIL Conference in Sendai. Furthermore, we plan on presenting about the customizing WordPress as a lesson study app in August, 2018 at the LET conference. We will further refine the app and lesson study process in June, July, November, and January of FY, 2018. Our objective is to develop a more user-friendly app with the functions of tagging and categorizing. Teachers from the cooperating school in Thailand will visit the Iwate University Affiliated Junior High School on June 1 for a lesson study conference. It is hoped that this will enable us to conduct lesson studies at the Thai schools on a larger scale.
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| Remarks |
The first website contains the ePortfolios of student-teachers who engaged in the Lesson Study Process in Thailand. The second site is a browser version of the app. A password is necessary for it.
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