Using design-based research to improve the lesson study approach to professional development in Camden (London)

The Haverstock Primary to SecondaryTransition Project was designed to improve the experienceoftransitiontosecondaryschoolforvulnerablepupilsinCamden(London).Theprojectusedlessonstudytohelpprimaryandsecondarypractitionersworkcollaboratively,todevelopeffectivecross-phasepedagogicalapproachestoteaching

Whileinlessonstudy,teacherstakeanactiveroleas'researchers'toexploreandrefine lessons (Cheung andWong, 2014). Lesson study itself can be considered a form of JPD; that is, a process that comprises practitioners developing ways of working through collaborative engagementthatasaresult,leadstotheopeningandsharingofpracticeswithothers (Fielding et al., 2005).And although lesson study does have a number of distinctive characteristics, its underpinningmechanism,aswithotherJPDapproaches,involvesaprocessviewedaseffective because it is truly mutual, rather than one-way, with the practice concerned being improved rather than simply moved from one person or place to another (ibid.; Dudley, 2011).This underpinningapproachalsoservesasthemaincritiqueoflessonstudy,however;thatis,intrying toengageinlessonstudy,busyandunder-pressureteacherscanoftenstrugglewiththedemands of collaboration. Likewise, unless in trusting environments, it can be off-putting for teachers knowingthattheirlessonsandteachingwillobservedandcritiqued(e.g.seeTschannen- Moran, 2004;Gero,2015).Aswenotelater,thiscritiquewassubstantiatedinthisstudy.

Developing a theory of action for lesson study
A key aspect of employing a DBR approach was the establishment of a theory of action for lesson study; that is, to determine which aspects of lesson study were an integral part of a logicalchainleadingtoimprovedstudentoutcomes,andwhichweremoreopentocontextual manipulation (ArgyrisandSchön,1996).Amutuallydevelopedtheoryofactionhasbeenshown tohavesignificantlypositiveimpactsontheeffectivenessofinterventionstheyrelateto,andso isavitalaspectofDBR.Asnotedabove,itisarguedthat,asaformofJPD,lessonstudyinvolves collaborativeengagementthatservestoopenupandsharepractices (Cohen-Vogelet al.,2015). Assuch,thedevelopmentofourtheoryofactionforlessonstudycentredonhowadultscan learnfromandbuilduponthebestpracticeoftheirpeersthroughinteraction. Inordertofacilitatethetypeofinteractivelearningweenvisaged,weturnedtotheliterature on professional learning communities. In particular, we looked at the nature and structure of the'learningconversations'thattakeplaceaspartofprofessionallearningcommunityactivity. Described as'the way that educators make meaning together and jointly come up with new insightsandknowledgethatleadtointentionalchangetoenhancetheirpracticeandstudent learning' (Stoll, 2012: 6), learning conversations comprise considered, thoughtful (rather than superficial)discussionandchallenge,focusedonmattersofteachingpractice,whichconsider evidence of actual and potential forms of practice, and which are undertaken with a view to developingbothimprovedpracticeand,asaresult,outcomesforstudents.
A final workshop was then held to enable trios to bring together the endline data for the project, and so establish a firm impact picture specifically in relation to the aims of the project.Here,protocolsweredevelopedbytheprojectteamtocapturedatathatemergedfrom thelearningconversationsheldwithintheworkshops.Specifically,proformaswerecreatedto helpparticipantsrecordtheirresponsestothefollowingquestions:(1)Howhasyourpractice changedasaresultofthisproject?and(2)Whathaveyoulearnedaboutlessonstudyandhow touseittodevelopteachingpractice?Wealsodevelopedaproformatorecordtheperceived differencesinpupiloutcomesbetweenthestartandendoftheproject(alongwithevidence fromthetriadastowhytheseassessmentsweremade).
To understand how successful we had been in relation to each of these, in the final impact workshopweworkedwithparticipantstoaddressthefollowingthreequestions: • Howhasyourpracticechangedasaresultofthisproject? • Whatimpacthasthischangedpracticehadonpupils?
• What have you learned about lesson study and how to use it to develop teaching practice?

Notes on the contributors
ChrisBrown isaSeniorLectureratUCLInstituteofEducation,UniversityCollegeLondon(Department forLearningandLeadership). Chrishasextensiveexperienceofleadingarangeoffundedprojects,many of which seek to help practitioners to identify and scale up best practice, and was recently awarded a significant grant by the Education Endowment Foundation to work with over 100 primary schools in Englandtoincreasetheiruseofresearch.