Three practices that school leaders can support as ways to encour-
age interdependent thinking and build learning communities among
staff members are (1) lesson study, (2) joint study of student work, and
(3) book study.
Lesson studyis a practice that has been adapted from Japanese edu-
cation (Langer, Colton, & Goff, 2003; Stigler & Hiebert, 1999). The
following example of lesson study comes from an elementary school that
uses the practice. Teachers followed this procedure:
- Teachers identify a curricular area that students have difficulty
understanding. (In this example, 5th and 6th grade teachers chose “gen-
erating questions and managing impulsivity in problem solving” as the
habits they were looking for; “place value” was the content.) - Teachers meet together at the grade level and develop a lesson
plan (in this case, to teach place value). They script the lesson and con-
sider all of the options. They consider the students, the need for differen-
tiated instruction, and some of the variables they can anticipate. They
make certain that the lesson is teaching for thinking, and they experiment
with some of the strategies presented in this book or in other readings and
research. - One of the teachers teaches the lesson, and as many teachers as
can observe the lesson do so. The observers take good notes on their obser-
vations. Because they all planned the lesson, they are able to focus more
easily on students than on the teacher. They are expected to observe stu-
dent learning. - Teachers come back to discuss their observations. Once again,
because they were all the lesson designers, critique is easier. They talk
about what worked and what did not work. They revise the lesson in light
of what they observed. - Another teacher tries the lesson with an additional observation.
- They reflect once again and enter the lesson in their database of
lessons that have been tried, honed, and successfully taught.
This highly focused and shared responsibility for designing, teach-
ing, and reflecting on student learning is a powerful tool for building col-
laboration and professionalism.
Creating a Culture of Mindfulness 281