Translating practices for reflecting on ourselves: Lesson Study

Lesson Study (LS) is a collaborative methodology for teachers’ professional development (TPD) rooted in Japan. In LS, a group of teachers and experts collaborates to the detailed planning of a one-hour lesson. The difference between LS and other methodologies is the collaborative foundation of the experience, there is no evaluation on the performance of a single member of the group. We believe that, in the Italian context, LS can be an appropriate tool to answer in an efficient way the Ministry’s demands for a “mandatory, permanent and strategic” TPD and for the “establishment of adequate networks for professional collaboration”, while maintaining the focus on teachers’ needs. Discussing, observing and reflecting on your own and others’ practices can help in re-thinking your own professionalism while relating to a community of peers. In the workshop we will work on one of the main tools in LS, the Lesson Plan, and discuss how the encounter of such a foreign tool can lead to self-reflection on one’s own practices.