Lesson Study as Professional Learning in Primary Physical Education

Teachers’ professional learning within physical education has increasingly become a topic of interest across the academic and professional literature (e.g. Petrie & llisahunter, 2011). However, a concern has consistently... [ view full abstract ]

Teachers’ professional learning within physical education has increasingly become a topic of interest across the academic and professional literature (e.g. Petrie & llisahunter, 2011). However, a concern has consistently been voiced about the limitations of the short, off-site CPD courses that have long been dominant as the main source of teachers’ professional development.   With calls for more on-site and long term professional learning opportunities for teachers becoming more common, this symposium focusses on the potential that lesson study may hold as a key feature of teachers’ physical education professional learning in the future.  Initially developed in Japan in the late nineteenth century, lesson study has recently become a more prominent feature of teacher’s professional learning across the world.  This symposium consequently explores recent examples of lesson study in primary and secondary physical education in four different settings.  Following a short introduction to lesson study, the first two presentations will focus on developments within Japan and China, where lesson study has long been a feature of the physical education landscape.  As such, both papers will consider how lesson study has been used as a catalyst to support teachers’ reflective practices within primary physical education.  The third presentation investigates the impact of initial Lesson Study experiences on student teachers in Norway, while the final paper will consider how lesson study has recently been introduced as part of initial teacher education and in-service teacher education within Scotland.   The symposium will conclude by considering how these recent developments in lesson study may act as a foundation for future developments across a wider range of contexts.

Petrie, K., & lisahunter. (2011). Primary teachers, policy, and physical education. European Physical Education Review, 17, 325–329.