Katha 2014: Singapore Math and PSA

Minutes of the workshop transcribed. Speaker Ms. Pauline Mangulabnan.

KATHA 2014: Day 2: 

PSA Japan

Ms. Pauline Mangulabnan

De La Salle University Manila

July 26, 2014

Minutes of the Workshop

1. Introduction. The speaker first presented a photo of a classroom with students for the teacher-participants to interpret it in different ways. She explained that teaching plans should not produce monotonous teaching, but should be a one-to-one teaching with one-to-one assessment per student. This should end with a post-lesson discussion in class.

2. Lesson Study. Lesson Study is a professional development model where the teacher practice their research in Japan (called jugyou kenkyuu). This is a collaborative effort where research is put into practice and the lesson study is a partnership of theory and practice. It is also a collaborative effort and a systemized cycle in teaching.

2.1. Lesson Study Cycle. The lesson study cycle should start with a identifying a goal or a problem. This is a Japanese way of teaching students to achieve a motivation for each student for advancement in their learning. This is also a transition for primary to secondary learning which is a number one dilemma according to one of the teachers who raised the issue.

For Mathematics, the teachers should let the students enjoy the fun of discovering and achieving knowledge through their own unique methods. The speaker said it should be remembered that there are 6 years of elementary schooling and another 3 years of transition middle schooling and this should be addressed properly and in the most efficient way possible. The grade levels in Grade 1 for example, should be able to master addition, by Grade 4 arithmetic equations, by Grade 6 Division and Multiplication.

There should also be a collaboratively developing lesson time and teacher meeting for a prelesson preparation. That is, there should be a dryrun of the lesson study plan for the other teachers to be able to evaluate each others’ methods and further improve their lesson study. This also follows that the implementation of the lesson plan may include inviting other teachers for observation and assessment, which all results to collaborative effort.

2.2. Research Lesson. Research lesson involves a very specific and detailed lesson study where students must be very engaged in the lesson of the day. Students must also be assessed and there is an importance of teacher intervention. Teachers must devise activities and lesson for the students and let them discover the solution. 

3. Implementation. Implementation of the PSA and Lesson study plan include post-lesson plans and collaborative efforts on school-based institutions.

3.1.Postlesson Plan. There should be a debriefing of the lesson discussion and revising the traditional cycle. There should also be future directions and research trajectories. There must also be detailed lesson plan with collaborative efforts, where teachers also become researchers to be able to create a formative assessment for the students.

3.2. Process of Lesson Study. Training teachers is a number one must in the process of the new lesson study. Research should also be developed in educational institutions and demonstration of extra-curricular studies for the students. Steps on the lesson study include analogies on experiment, practice, observation, seminars and research. The teachers should also look into the context of classroom and society development. The hierarchy includes the lesson study which is deeply ingrained in classroom performance. Teachers should be in full power on knowledge (bottom to top model) and initiatives must come from the teachers themselves. 

Research also informs lesson studies, where the lesson study plan for the day should also be considered as part of the teachers’ research. Questions were raised on the collaborative efforts and multiple or integrated topics and how to write the study plan. The speaker explained that this should be the way to go because the monotonously traditional lesson study that has been imbibed in the cultural education in the Philippines for many years has been the core problem in the first place.

3.3. Replicability of LS in the Philippines. A video on Japanese teaching was shown to the teachers where the there is an induction teaching for the teachers. In Japan, there is teacher collaboration for 10 years. There is mandatory training and voluntary leadership trainings for lesson studies in Japan to achieve the advocacy of practical learning in the country. Constructive criticisms are required for teacher observation for improvement of the lesson study.

3.4. Lesson Study Steps. First is the lesson study planning, that is, how the lesson is presented in class and how students can learn in par with the objectives of the teacher for the day. There should be a set selection of subjects and appropriate test materials which may be unique. There should also be specific steps for lesson plans and questions should be raised for the students to answer. Teachers may seek advice from their principals and other teachers.

Lesson study is also observed by other teachers and students themselves. It is a fact that the student’s mind is unpredictable and reveals that collaborative interaction between the teacher and the student is a must.

Reflections of the lesson study include overview of the lessons, constructive criticisms from other teachers and suggestions of concrete opinions for lesson improvement. This develops a keen eye on the part of the teacher to improve his lesson study in classrooms.

4. Implementation Structure. The speaker presented the participants with a math activity on filling in the blanks on a problem set by pairs. This is to make math more enjoyable both for them and for the students themselves. The teachers should also be more open to others’ opinions and suggestions. They should also explore new methods on how to approach the lesson to engage as many students as possible. This should result to the enjoyment of both the students and the teachers. Again, lesson study is equivalent to research study for the teachers.

5. Problem Solving in Mathematics. Assessment practices should be implemented to develop a conceptual understanding of the topic in math. There are stages of the Structured Problem Solving: 1) posing the problem; 2) autonomous problem solving 3) whole class participation 4) summing up 5) exercises and finally 6) evaluation that there are no perfect solutions.

6. Final Activity. The speaker gave a final activity for the participants by pair on how to assess a problem set. There are theories on learning: 1) behaviorism, or assessing learning via change of behavior, that is, the knowledge is incremented; 2) cognitivism or assessing the order of thinking and takes time to assess the knowledge of the student and 3) social, or the change in participation. The speaker also gave the participants homework on dividing fractions and how to come up with different explanations and solutions.