Research Lesson Study

Lesson Study is a powerful, professional learning approach that dramatically improves learning and teaching and the practice and subject knowledge of teachers. 


It not only produces dramatic improvements in pupil achievement and professional learning, but it is also very popular with all who experience it.


Research Lesson Study: Dialogic and Iterative

What is Lesson Study?

Lesson Study (LS) is a highly specified form of collaborative, classroom, teacher action research focusing on the development of learning, teaching, curriculum and school. It has been in use in Japan since the 1870s.
The key features that distinguish Research Lesson Study (RLS) from Japanese Lesson Study (JLS) are:
  • A dialogic focus: teachers (and pupils) use talk to think, learn and create knowledge together in research lessons
  • The use of pupil interviews to help gain insights on the pupils’ perspective on their learning in the research lessons
  • Iterative development of sequences of two or three research lessons so teachers can build on and test their findings
  • Only the RLS group observe their research lessons, and they only share their discoveries after the research ends.
Lesson Study UK (https://lessonstudy.co.uk/) was set up by Dr. Pete Dudley as a way of sharing resources and knowledge about Research Lesson Study across the UK.  It is a group of education professionals who have extensive experience of promoting and developing Lesson Study in the UK.
A key resource is the Research Lesson Study Handbook, now in its sixth edition. You can download the handbook here (requires free registration with Camtree).  

Research Lesson Study and Camtree

Camtree supports Research Lesson Study, both as part of programmes of inquiry led professional development, and by groups of teachers working independently.

Camtree also works closely with Oracy Cambridge, the Hughes Hall Centre for Effective Spoken Communication

Research Lesson Study: focussed, collaborative inquiry to create and share teachers' practice-knowledge

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Camtree Partnership Programmes and Projects using RLS

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The NIS Centre of Excellence, Kazakhstan: supporting teachers in schools across Kazakhstan to carry out and publish lesson studies.
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Camtree worked with ISP schools to use RLS to explore how to integrate life competencies across the curriculum.
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Camtree and Twinkl are supporting schools develop exploratory talk through research lesson study. 
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Teachers at Haileybury School explored oracy across the curriculum through research lesson studies.
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The Camden Learning digital library collection includes many reports based research lesson studies in Camden schools.
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Teachers in Sandnes Kommune in Norway have used Research Lesson Study to explore oracy and formative assessment.

Other Useful Links