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February 11, 2008
WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY TO SPONSOR CONFERENCE ON LESSON STUDY IN MARCH
A conference for educators designed to teach the discipline of lesson study, a professional learning process for teachers to examine and improve their instructional methods and enhance the quality of education in the classroom, will be held at William Paterson University from March 5 to 7.
“The 2008 Annual Lesson Study Conference: Building a Professional Learning Community Through Lesson Study,” will be held at the University’s building at 1600 Valley Road in Wayne. The fee is $325 for the pre-conference session and the full conference; $250 for March 6 and 7; $125 for a one-day registration; and $75 for the pre-conference session only.
“Lesson study, called jyugyokenkyu in Japanese, is a professional learning process that Japanese teachers engage in continuously throughout their career to systematically examine their instructional methods, teaching content and curriculum, as well as the student learning and understanding processes, in order to achieve their educational goals,” says Makoto Yoshida, a William Paterson University adjunct professor, and director of the University’s Center for Lesson Study. “One of the key features of lesson study is that teachers collaboratively study instructional materials and develop a small number of research lessons that are implemented in actual classrooms with students. Those research lessons are observed and discussed with colleague teachers and other educators to determine the effects of the lessons on student learning and understanding. The practice of lesson study has a long history in Japan.”
Yoshida will hold a pre-conference session to explain the fundamentals of lesson study on March 5 from 4 to 7 p.m.
A public research session, a keynote address and strategy sessions will be held on Thursday, March 6. The research session will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Catherine Lewis, a senior research scientist at Mills College, will deliver the keynote address at 1 p.m. She has conducted research in Japanese and American schools for more than 20 years and has written and lectured extensively on the concept of lesson study. She is a graduate of Harvard University and earned a doctorate from Stanford University. Lewis is the director of a National Science Foundation-funded project on lesson study.
The afternoon will feature concurrent sessions from 2:45 to 4 p.m. on several topics including an introduction to lesson study, improving lesson study, lesson study in science, and forming networks in lesson study.
The conference continues on March 7 with visits to local schools for public research lessons in the morning and concludes with a roundtable discussion from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
The conference is sponsored by William Paterson’s Institute for Teaching, Learning and Leadership. To register for the conference, contact the University’s Center for Continuing and Professional Education at 973-720-2354.
NOTE: High resolution, downloadable photographs are available at http://ww2.wpunj.edu/publicityphotos/Jazz/JazzRoomSeries
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