Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted a drastic change in the educational landscape across the world, which force education leaders to come up with teacher professional development (TPD) activities to provide support for teachers to overcome the sudden learning modality change and to ensure that quality education is not compromised. Hence, this descriptive research was undertaken to explore the teachers’ lived experiences, challenges and perception on the newly introduced Online Lesson Study (O-LS) as a TPD. The five (5) English teachers took part of the O-LS as TPD. There were 2 research instruments used, the structured guide questionnaires for the FGD, and the self-test checklist for the teachers’ perception on O-LS as TPD. Thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data gathered and percentages for the qualitative responses on the teachers’ perceptions of the O-LS as a TPD. Results showed that teachers highly appreciated and well accepted O-LS as a TPD. Teachers find the O-LS TPD as an opportunity for intrapersonal and professional growth. There were few challenges in the implementation of O-LS, however it can be worked out. Thus, it is forwarded that administrators to organize an online lesson study through in-service trainings. Further, similar studies may be conducted in other subjects and may consider other factors such as coordination of work assignment, gathering of students’ responses as bases for lesson design, teachers’ preparation for discussion and internet signal which are found as challenges in the implementation of O-LS.

1. Introduction

The Department of Education introduced aggressive reforms to globalize the quality of basic education in the Philippines through the launching of “Sulong EduKalidad” ¹ initiative which focuses on four key reform areas: (1) K to 12 Curriculum review and update; (2) Improvement of learning environment (3) Teachers’ upskilling and reskilling; and (4) Engagement of stakeholders for support and collaboration (KITE). The initiative is in response to the rapidly changing learning environment of present and future learners and will introduce aggressive reforms to globalize the quality of basic education in the Philippines. One of these reforms of the Department of Education is to develop the quality of learning by improving teachers’ professionalism. It is imperative because teachers have a crucial factor to determine the quality of education system. Teachers should have the competencies affecting the students’ achievements and performances. To meet the demand, teachers should also be able to answer the students’ need in their learning.

Further, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted a drastic change in the educational landscape across the world. In the Philippines, the Department of Education (DepEd) allowed the continuation of education through different alternative learning delivery modalities for various types of learners across the country, including modular, television-based, radio-based instruction, blended, and online. However, the implementation of modular instruction fostered various challenges to teachers ². Among these concerns were the modules used for instructions, its distribution and management of distance learning. Identified teaching personnel together with the Education Program Supervisors were tasked to prepare the modules in all subjects for all grade/year level across four quarters ³. The production started in May 2020 which were distributed and used in the opening of classes in August 2020, merely three months preparation only. Consequently, issues on proofreading, editing, content alignment and validity arose later on during the implementation. In a report, DepEd received a total of 56 module mishaps through the department’s DepEd Error Watch during the first quarter of 2020-2021. Another is that majority of the in-service teachers were trained and exposed to the conventional face-to-face learning modality. Hence, teachers were faced with challenges in relation to interaction towards their students, which affected the formative feedbacking and performance assessment process. Teaching pedagogies seem difficult to implement in a distance learning, and teachers do not feel adequately able and prepared to teach the subject remotely ⁴. Also, the integration of technology is another concern, aside from the problem on the access to the internet and other digital resources. Further, the collaboration and interaction among teachers were limited because most of them work from home and in isolation. This then opposed to the claim of Lansangan ⁵ that the value of collaborative actions among teachers, such as sharing of practices and gaining insights from colleagues’ experiences, can motivate them to deliver quality education by maximizing the available resources in times of emergency remote teaching. Hence, managing distance learning collaboratively was really a challenge to them.

Given with these current issues accompanying the change of learning modality, school heads must lead and introduce appropriate interventions to capacitate teachers to facilitate student learning for them to master the required most essential learning competencies (MELCs). The upskilling and reskilling of teachers which would be relevant to the present situation, and in the upholding to the DepEd’s Sulong Edukalidad initiative, requires significant modification in the current teachers’ professional development programs.

Lesson Study is a professional development activity that best attempts to overcome this challenge of school leaders by organizing an extensive training of teachers that can develop all of the teachers’ competencies in creating or refining modules and instructional materials and managing modular distance learning. This aims at improving the quality of teaching through a collaborative teaching paradigm. Through collaborative teaching, four to five teachers cooperate to prepare a lesson plan, learning materials, implement, and observe modular class management, and reflect on the teaching or consultation. The role of teachers here is to prepare learning activities collaboratively. The process aims to promote effective learning activities through collaborative planning, implementation, observation, and reflection, and improve student’s achievement. Hence this study, explored the online lesson study (O-LS) as a teacher professional development program to capacitate a group of English teachers in the designing and development of instructional modules that can be utilized for distance learning modality. Particularly, this study explored on the experiences, challenges, and perceptions of the teacher-participants’ in the implementation of O-LS as a TPD program.

2. Theoretical Framework

The teacher’s academic advancement and professional upgrading activities contribute to an enjoyable and productive teaching ^{6, 7}. Grounded on this proposition, it is vital for school leaders and teachers to assist students in understanding the learning modality used. Teachers should have the ability to manage, and run the process of teaching and learning. The flow of interaction, teachers’ performance, the ability to design a lesson plan, and instructional materials, the appropriateness in choosing the method and media of learning become the indicators of teachers’ pedagogical competence. According to Ryegard, et. al ⁸, pedagogical competence refers to educational and teaching qualifications. Hence, there should be an intensive, ongoing professional development model connecting teaching practices focused on students learning and which also build strong working relationships among teachers ^{7, 9} to be provided to teachers.

Henceforth, this study was anchored on the Lesson Study framework originated in Japan ^{10, 11}. LS has the characteristics of effective professional development: teachers are actively involved in both the process as the products, the focus is on content and specifically on students learning this content, it takes place over a longer time span, and there is coherence between the activities ^{12, 13}. In LS, teachers in collaboration select a topic, and plan, and prepare a lesson (called a research lesson), one teacher enacts the research lesson, and the others observe the students in class, and finally teachers discuss their observations. During lesson preparation teachers predict how students will react to specific activities and this requires the teachers to reflect on, and reassess their teaching approaches. Class enactment, during which the students are observed, of collaborative prepared lessons leads to changing insights and practices ¹⁴. After class the observations are discussed in the light of the predicted outcome ¹⁵. These discussions and the reflection on classroom practices and student learning further stimulate teachers’ professional development. In this present study, LS sessions were conducted among teacher-participants through online platform, hence called Online-Lesson Study (O-LS). However, instead of designing and developing research lessons or lesson plans, the teacher-participants of this study developed modules as supplementary instructional materials for distance learning modality. The design and development stage of the modules was conducted with the guidance of an expert in the field. This is one of the unique features of LS, because the teacher-participants have direct guidance and access from a knowledgeable other (KO) or expert in every stages of the LS cycle. Unlike the usual top-down one-shot model of in-service training, and seminars, in which the teachers have only one-time opportunity to interact with the expert. In this kind of TPD, the teacher-participants in the school and division level acted as audience for the talks and demonstrations of the speakers or resource person.

This LS practice is based on sociocultural theory of Vygotsky ¹⁶, which seeks to explain that a person’s knowledge and the process of concept formation are in terms of the guidance, support, and structure provided by the elders and the society. In the learning process, knowledge or skill is found initially in the collaboration of teachers. In the LS framework particularly in the second stage of the cycle which is the planning stage, this theory can be applied.

The concept of O-LS also aligned with the Cognitive Apprenticeship theory ¹⁷. It assumed that people learn from one another through observation, imitation and modeling. Reflection allows teachers to compare their own teaching processes with those of an expert, or with another teacher, and ultimately leads to an internal cognitive model of expertise. This theory focuses on having teachers discover good teaching practices while realizing what they need to improve in their teaching practices.

With the aforementioned theories, and framework, this study proposed to integrate online conferencing and consultations into the LS framework as a TPD model.

3. Review of Related Literature

Teacher professional development has been a constant priority of the education sector. It is believed that effectiveness of teachers can be achieved by the grounding professional development in actual classroom practice. However, the commonly used model implemented for teacher professional development is the top-down one-shot trainings, workshops, seminars and nowadays webinars. These training models were conducted for a day or may extend to utmost a week with a resource speaker facilitating the activity. Since the training was one-shot design, seldom were follow-up and monitoring activities to assess the impact of the training were conducted.

On the one hand, LS is gaining its popularity as a TPD framework. It has been extensively used in Japan. Recently, there has been a rapid proliferation of Lesson Studies in the United States of America. Since 1999, the lesson study approach has spread rapidly and extensively in the United States and is regarded as a system for producing professional knowledge about teaching ¹⁸. According to the website of Lesson Study Research Group (2008), there were more than 3,610 teachers in 647 schools, and 105 universities that were involved in Lesson Study in the USA in 2008 ¹⁹. Cheung and Wong ¹⁹ reviewed studies from 2000 to 2010 on Lesson Study to unravel its benefits on teachers and students. They screened and extracted on available electronic databases to evaluate outcome of Lesson Study and they found out that all reviews identified positive evidence supporting the benefits of Lesson Study as powerful tool to help teachers examine their practices and enhance student learning.

According to Boss ²⁰, lesson study is a long-term professional development process, which improves teaching, that is centered in the classroom and focused on student learning. In addition Lewis and Tsuchida ²¹, explained that in Japan, lesson study is generally shared with the following procedure: design and plan a research lesson together, teach the lesson with teachers from the group, observing and recording the lesson, and then discuss the lesson with the teachers in the lesson study group, and make revisions of the lesson; then another teacher from the group teaches the lesson to his/her class and the cycle repeats. The main feature, however, is to enhance teachers’ professional development through a cyclical process that comprises curriculum study and goals formulation, planning, conducting research, and reflecting on the research lessons. This leads to developing the capacity of teachers to enhance teaching, and increase knowledge of the lesson delivery through peer learning and environment that is necessary to improve Pedagogical Content Knowledge. The most common form of lesson study takes place within a single school as a school-based professional development program ²². He added that the forms of lesson study vary depending upon its purpose. In this particular study, LS was implemented through online platform and for the purpose of capacitating grade 9 English teachers by working collaboratively in designing modules and learning activity sheets appropriate for distance learning modality.

Lesson study has been initiated in the Philippines by UP NISMED ²³. UP NISMED adapted lesson study because it is a practical, economical, and effective school-based method for continuous professional development of teachers done in a collegial atmosphere. It strongly suggested that teachers during the lesson study process must be aware of their responsibility to teach students correctly and the group should include a subject expert or a teacher who is a major in the subject.

Most researches on lesson study reported positive development of teachers’ competence, its sustainability is dependent upon building leaders generating a shared vision with professional development as a priority. According to Vermunt, Vikki, van Halem, Warwick, & Mercer ²⁴, the positive effects are associated on the quality of teacher learning particular on teachers' "meaning-oriented learning" that is, reflecting about why their practice worked. Teachers participate in the job with their colleagues, actively engaged in discourse, and plan and reflect on lessons that are content focused which lead to positive change in teacher knowledge and practice and an improvement in student learning. However, scholars have argued that lesson study needs to be adapted for participant’s particular cultural contexts and does not work as a one-size-fits-all model ²⁴.

Many studies have indicated that teachers working together with other teachers is beneficial in increasing teacher effectiveness ^{25, 26, 27, 28, 29}.

The current educational paradigm views teaching competence as a product of the integrated knowledge on technology, pedagogy, and content ^{30, 31}. Engaging in a collaborative instructional approach such as the Lesson Study promises great potential in developing teachers’ pedagogies ^{32, 33, 34}.

Scholars have revealed successes of the adaptation of the Lesson Study framework in various fields of the educational milieu, ^{32, 33, 34, 35}. In the pre-service teaching program, Elipane ³⁵, and Gurl ³⁶ have reported desirable effects of the Lesson Study in the formation of teachers’ pedagogical capabilities, practices, and skills.

Richardson ³⁷ also described lesson study as a culture of professional development activity that shows teachers the value of working together while sharing with and observing each other while teaching. Dudley ³⁸ reported how, through lesson study, teachers discover new pedagogical content knowledge, but also new information about their students as learners that dramatically improves their ability to match subsequent teaching to their needs. He also identified how deeply-rooted, long-held beliefs about pedagogical practices are gradually transformed by changes in pupil’s learning, revealed in response to methods trialed in research lessons. Littleton & Mercer ³⁹ pointed out that to co-create new knowledge by discursively planning and analyzing research lessons together, also gives the students the opportunity to be heard. Through such processes, they elicit elusive, invisible, tacit pedagogical content knowledge from among members of the lesson study group.

A research review of lesson study identified that many studies revealed the positive effects of lesson study on (1) active engagement and teachers’ beliefs ^{40, 41}, (2) teacher’s attitudes ⁴¹, (3) teachers’ and students’ awareness of technology and learners’ vocabulary scores ⁴², (4) professional teacher development ⁴³, and (5) English in young language learners’ interaction, collaborative agency and oral fluency ⁴⁴.

Further, LS was found to have a significant impact in improving the quality of instructional materials produced by teachers. Teachers are responsible for the preparation of the instructional environment to be used in instruction. Ono and Ferreira ⁴⁵ revealed in their study that the teachers who involved in lesson study improved their lessons and they were able to refine their instructional materials.

Studies also have shown that classroom management is on the many areas that can benefit from the lesson study. Lewis and Tsuchida ²¹, have mentioned that study transcends simply improving classroom practices. Lesson study guides teachers to address what students are doing and thinking during class thus creating a positive learning environment. According to Lewis ⁴⁶, lesson studies improve teachers’ thinking and practice as a result of (1) improved knowledge of subject matter; (2) improved knowledge of instruction; (3) improved ability to observe students; (4) stronger collegial networks; (5) stronger connection of daily practice to long-term goals; (6) stronger motivation and sense of efficacy; and (7) improved quality of available lesson plans. Puchner and Taylor ⁴⁷, also showed that the implementation of the lesson study model had successfully stimulated the dynamics and promise of teacher change and teacher efficacy.

Coşkun ⁴³ investigated the effectiveness of lesson study for a university-level class of an English preparatory program in Turkey. The participants included three English teachers and eighteen students. The research design included a qualitative open-ended survey to solicit students’ and teachers’ perceptions of lesson study implementation. The findings revealed that lesson study could enhance students’ research quality.

However, Chokshi and Fernandez ⁴⁸ highlighted one of the challenges for lesson studies in the United States. It is that some novice lesson study groups lack the critical elements that allow the approach to work, such as the development of tasks that reveal student thinking, and discussion protocols that maintain teachers’ focus on student learning. This is attributed to the lack of a common, explicit conceptual framework from which the group may draw when planning, implementing and reviewing the research lesson.

4. Methodology

A descriptive quantitative design was used to determine the teachers’ perceptions on O-LS as a TPD. While qualitative method was utilized to survey the teacher-participants’ experiences and challenges in the conduct of O-LS.

The five (5) Grade 9 English teachers of the Agusan National High School were the participants of this study. There were two (2) instruments used in the present study, namely: the structured guide questionnaires for the FGD; and the self-test checklist for the teachers’ perception on O-LS as a TPD.

A virtual Focus Group Discussion was conducted via google meet to generate teachers’ responses on their lived experiences and challenges met during the implementation of O-LS TPD. In getting the teachers’ perception on O-LS as a TPD program, a questionnaire constructed by the researcher guided by DepEd Memorandum DM-PHROD-2021-0010 of Results-based Performance Management System (RPMS) was administered. Each O-LS teacher was given hard copies of the questionnaire where they ticked the corresponding column of their answers. This was done on the last Friday of the fourth-quarter for 2020-2021. Focus group discussion and thematic analysis of the responses of the teacher participants were used to identify their lived experiences and challenges encountered in the implementation of O-LS. Teachers’ perception of the O-LS study was measured by getting the mean percentage on the group’s responses.

5. Results and Discussions

Figure 1 shows the teachers’ lived experiences and challenges on the conduct of O-LS. It further shows that the teachers find the O-LS TPD as an opportunity for intrapersonal and professional growth. There are six emerging themes for professional growth and one for intrapersonal growth. The highlighted boxes show the emerging themes while the boxes below are the formulated meanings from the teachers’ responses.

The result of the FGD revealed that O-LS guides teachers in lesson planning, improves teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogies and instructional materials production. O-LS also improves learners’ achievement, provides venue for open communication and improves teachers’ distance learning management Skills. Likewise, O-LS also develops teachers’ intrapersonal skills. Teachers develop confidence, positive attitude and learn to value time. The result of the FGD is in consonance with the of the study of Ono and Ferreira ⁴⁵, which revealed that the teachers involved in lesson study improve their lessons. This further implies that collaboration of teachers through an online lesson study builds their trust and confidence. The result further agrees with the study of Richardson ³⁷, that lesson study is a culture of professional development activity that shows teachers the value of working together while sharing with, and observing each other while teaching and this is reported by Dudley ³⁸, that through lesson study, teachers discover new pedagogical content knowledge, and new information about their students as learners that dramatically improve their ability to match subsequent teaching to their needs. Likewise, this supports successes of the adaptation of the Lesson Study framework in various fields of the educational milieu, which Elipane ³⁵, and Gurl ³⁶ that reported desirable effects of the Lesson Study in the formation of teachers’ pedagogical capabilities, practices, and skills and also the study of Littleton & Mercer ³⁹, which pointed out that to co-create new knowledge by discursively planning and analyzing research lessons together, also gives the students the opportunity to be heard. Through such processes, they elicit elusive, invisible, tacit pedagogical content knowledge from among members of the lesson study group. However, the result also shows the challenges faced by teachers in the conduct of the O-LS. Teacher-participants considered coordination, preparation and internet signals as challenges.

Table 1 shows the percentage distribution of the teachers’ responses to each of the 25 statements on their perception about the use of O-LS. Generally, teachers had positive response on the statement posed to them with regards to the use of online lesson study in their respective lessons. In particular, there were 73.6% of the participants who strongly agreed, and 26.4% who agreed that online lesson study enhanced their content knowledge and pedagogical skills, Module Refinement/Instructional Materials Development and Production, and Modular Learning Management. Nobody disagreed or strongly disagreed on the statement posed to them. This means that teachers welcomed new strategies in teaching such as the use of online study. This means further that they had the desire to continue to learn and embrace changes for the welfare of the learners and to their professional development as well. The O-LS process enhanced the teachers’ in-depth and higher meaningful understanding of concepts. Teachers were able to accommodate in their mind relevant content and skills that help in their meaningful learning in the development of modules.

The result agrees with the findings of Akiba et al., ⁴⁰; Mayrhofer ⁴⁹, which revealed the positive effects of lesson study on the (1) active engagement and teachers’ beliefs; (2) teacher’s attitudes ^{40, 41}, (2) teacher’s attitudes ⁴¹, (3) teachers’ and students’ awareness of technology and learners’ vocabulary scores ⁴², (4) professional teacher development ⁴³, and (5) English in young language learners’ interaction, collaborative agency and oral fluency ⁴⁴. This also corroborated with the findings of the study conducted by Lewis ⁴⁶, that lesson studies improve teachers’ thinking and practice as a result of (1) improved knowledge of subject matter; (2) improved knowledge of instruction; (3) improved ability to observe students; (4) stronger collegial networks; (5) stronger connection of daily practice to long-term goals; (6) stronger motivation and sense of efficacy; and (7) improved quality of available lesson plans. This also supports the study of Puchner and Taylor ⁴⁷, that shows that the implementation of the lesson study model has successfully stimulated the dynamics and promise of teacher change and teacher efficacy.

In addition, this confirms the study of Khalid, Joyes, Ellison & Daud ⁵⁰ that the use of online collaboration of teachers for enhancing continuous improvement is not new. These online communities support the development of the teachers by providing an environment, in which they can learn together, enhancing their content knowledge and pedagogical skills ⁵¹.

6. Conclusion and Recommendation

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions are formulated regarding the influence of the O-LS as TPD: O-LS teacher-participants considered their experience as purposeful, valuable and substantial. O-LS provides teachers the opportunity for professional and intrapersonal growth. It guides teachers in lesson planning, improves their content knowledge and pedagogies, distance learning management and IMs’ production. It also provides them with a venue for open communication. Teacher respondents considered coordination of work assignment, gathering of students’ responses as bases for lesson design, teachers’ preparation for discussion and internet signal as challenges in the implementation of O-LS. The teacher respondents have positive perception on the use of online lesson study.

There are few challenges in the implementation of O-LS, however it can be worked out. Administrators may support teachers to apply online lesson study through in-service trainings on how to implement the O-LS TPD model. Mathematics and Science teachers may employ O-LS in their classes to improve students’ achievement. Similar studies may be conducted in other subjects and may consider other factors such as coordination of work assignment, gathering of students’ responses as bases for lesson design, teachers’ preparation for discussion and internet signal which are found as challenges in the implementation of O-LS.

References