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LESSON STUDY QUOTES

• "We are attracted to the Japanese notion of lesson study because it lays out a model for teacher learning and a clear set of principles or hypotheses about how teachers learn. Lesson study embodies a set of concrete steps that teachers can take, over time, to improve teaching. These steps may need to be modified to work in the United States. But we believe it is better to start with an explicit model, even if it needs revising, than with no model at all." --Stigler & Hiebert, The Teaching Gap (1999)

• "Japanese teachers say that the most powerful part of lesson study is that you develop the eyes to see children." --Catherine Lewis, Mills College

• "Lesson study is a very powerful way to bring teachers together to structure and organize their thinking about classroom practices. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that lesson study in and of itself is an empty shell that will be filled according to the knowledge and skills brought to bear by the group of teachers conducting this activity." --Clea Fernandez, Promising Practices for Improving Instruction

• Like most good investments, we expect that the growth and dividends from the time we invest in lesson study will accrue gradually over a long period of time. Improving our teaching in depth is hard, time-consuming work, which needs to be done collaboratively and in a supportive setting." --Lynn Liptak, "It's a matter of time: Scheduling lesson study at Paterson, NJ School 2" (2002)

• "Lesson study helps teachers make the transition from being objects of research to actual researchers in the classroom." --Patsy Wang-Iverson, Research for Better Schools

• "Lesson study takes us beyond examining student work to students working."--Patsy Wang-Iverson, Research for Better Schools

• "Lesson study is easy to learn but difficult to master." --Sonal Chokshi, Lesson Study Research Group of Teachers College, Columbia University

• "Lesson study is really as much of a culture as it is a professional development practice, and there has to be some kind of a cultural shift in the culture of teachers in the U.S." --Tad Watanabe, Pennysylvania State University

• "I thought, how can teachers improve their teaching without doing lesson study?" --Akihiko Takahashi, De Paul University

• "Why do lesson study? Besides the deep experience of working on a lesson, I'm always inspired by lesson study--the other practitioners. Please open up your classrooms!"--Akihiko Takahashi, De Paul University

If you know of any informative or other appropriate quotes about lesson study, please contact us at lsrg@columbia.edu.