58 Differences between the open lesson in Kazakhstan and Japanese Lesson Study In this handbook, I will introduce you how to conduct Lesson Study in your school.
But you have already conducted similar program; open lesson.
In Kazakhstan, teachers are obliged to open their lessons for observation once or
twice a year. Teachers in the same school or other schools who don’t have a lesson at the
time will observe the open lesson. After the lesson the observers give their feedback to the
teacher who conducted the lesson.
This open lesson is similar to Japanese Lesson Study. In Lesson Study, a volunteer
teacher will open the lesson and his/her colleague will observe it. This is the research les-
son. There are some differences between the open lesson in Kazakhstan and Japanese Les-
son Study.
One of difference is the forming of a committee and the making of a schedule.
In Lesson Study, not volunteer teacher but all teachers have an obligation to observe
the research lesson and to join the meeting following the research lesson.
The committee of Lesson Study will decide the theme for Lesson Study and the
schedule.
In the Lesson Study schedule, when they have research lessons, only students of
the research lesson stay in school and other students will go home early. This means
that all teachers in the school can join observation of research lesson and post-lesson
discussion.
During the open lesson in Kazakhstan, observers try to assess the lesson, and give
feedback to the teacher who opened the lesson. In Japanese Lesson Study, observers can
give feedback to teachers, but rather use the opportunity to improve their observation skills
or their teaching skills. In Japanese post-lesson discussion, participant teachers try to un-
derstand the ideas of other teachers.