National Open Class Lesson Study 2011

Looks like I can't wait for 2012 to start blogging again :) Too long a rest is numbing my brains to be honest. First,  I want to share this national convention on Lesson Study, a Teacher Division Programme under the NKRA initiative to improve teacher quality.

 

(courtesy: The Star Online)

Sunday December 18, 2011

Boost for 289 schools under programme

Dr Azian with (from right) Prof Isoda, Prof Insprasitha and Prof Kuno at the seminar.

THE Education Ministry has asked 289 secondary schools (under Band 6 and 7 of the school ranking system) to adopt the “Lesson Study” programme in an effort to improve teaching practises.

The programme under the Professional Learning Community (PLC) concept, is a new initiative under the Ministry’s New Key Result Area (NKRA), which is 

aimed at improving the education system in the schools.

Band 6 and Band 7 is reserved for the lowest-performing schools in the school ranking system.

Dr Azian Abdullah, director of Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation - Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (Seameo-Recsam) said the programme initiated by the Teacher Training Division (TTD) was aimed at improving the educators’ teaching methods and brought about a better learning experience among students.

“The programme has been adopted in Japan for over a century and is now being applied by teachers in schools here,” she said when opening the two-day ‘National Open Class Lesson Study 2011’ seminar at the Seameo-Recsam premises in Penang.

The programme involves three stages of implementation where a participating teacher would be selected to prepare the learning tools to teach the students. The teacher would then instruct and coach the students under the close observation of her colleague. Professional Development Sector (PDS) deputy director Sukeman Suradi said four core subjects, English, Mathematics, Science and History were chosen for the programme. PDS is a sector under TTD.

Prof Hiroyuki Kuno from Aichi University of Education in Japan and Prof Maitree Insprasitha from Khon Kaen University in Thailand were invited to deliver talks during the two-day seminar. Also present was Prof Masami Isoda from University of Tsukuba in Japan who is an expert in Lesson Study.

The Thinking Teacher