Top Research
Lesson Study as an Innovation for Teacher Professional Development: A Decade of Thailand Experience
During the 1970’s and 1980’s an open-ended approach emerged as a method to reform mathematics teaching in Japanese classrooms. Since then this method has been spreading around the world. In the 1990’s lesson study, a Japanese style of professional development, became known in other countries. Since that time, Thailand has been undergoing an educational reform movement that began in 1999. Unfortunately, in the opinion of the author, it was not until the introduction of the LS process and the Open Approach into schools, that evidence of a major change appeared in the teacher classroom response to this educational reform. The introduction of Lesson Study into Thai schools has influenced not only the improvement of teaching practice, but has also improved the system of teacher education. A number of major changes have occurred during the last nine years since the introduction of Lesson Study and the Open Approach in 2002. It has made a great contribution to the model of improving mathematics education in Thailand.
In 2002, the author introduced the ‘Open Approach’ using open-ended problems in mathematical activities with fifteen student teachers teaching in seven secondary schools in the city of Khon Kaen. The Lesson Study process was implemented implicitly without using the term ‘Lesson Study.’
In 2004 and 2005, the Open Approach was expanded to two districts in Khon Kaen Province. More than 800 teachers were trained to use open-ended problems in order to create rich mathematical activities in their classrooms.
From 2006-2008, the Center for Research in Mathematics Education started a long-term collaborative project with the Ministry of Education entitled “Improving Mathematical Thinking using Open Approach through Lesson Study Approach.”
In 2009, Lesson Study and Open Approach were implemented in 22 schools in Northeastern Thailand and in parts of Northern Thailand. This was a collaborative project with the Office of Basic Education and the Office of Higher Education, Ministry of Education.
In 2010, sixty Mathematics Student Teachers on internships from Khon Kaen University and six Mathematics Student Teachers on internships from Chiang Mai University did practice teaching at 22 project schools.