The article Using Japanese Lesson Design to ANTicipate an Invasion on Maui caught my attention, not as much because of the topic of fire ants as an introduced species, but for the description of “Lesson Study.” What I found interesting was how this Japanese approach is very different from the way lesson planning is conducted in American schools.
I’ve worked with schools that have “common planning time” in the teachers’ schedules, but in many cases, the “planning” session quickly degenerates into a gripe session or to another individual prep period. I suspect that this is because teaching in American schools is often seen as a solitary profession. There seems to be some sort of unwritten law that we have to do it all ourselves, and that somehow we are “cheating” if we work together or share lessons and other resources. Even when two or more teachers teach the same subjects, there is often little or no consistency in what is taught, in assessments, or in grading systems.
“I’m starting a unit next week on XYZ, and I need some ideas for activities.” This plea is often seen in listserves or teacher bulletin boards. I wonder what it would be like to work with a group of teachers to create, test, and refine curriculum-related lessons. What if these were then published so that others would not have to re-invent the wheel? What if eventually teachers would have their entire course mapped out with tried and true lessons, ready to be used, rather than scrambling on a daily/weekly basis to plan? I realize that for different groups of students, the lessons may have to be modified or extended, but that is certainly better than starting from scratch at the start of each unit.
I’d like to learn more about Lesson Study. I’ve started with a few websites:

• Lesson Study
• Lesson Study Resources
• Tools for Conducting Lesson Study

But I’d like to know more about what this actually looks like in real schools. Japanese Lesson Study, Staff Development, and Science Education Reform describes the efforts of the the Neshaminy School District in Pennsylvania.
Many of the secondary schools I work with are very small, with only 1-2 science teachers in each subject. How would Lesson Study be conducted in these small schools? What kind of professional development (and administrative support) is necessary for Lesson Study to be effective? It would be interesting to hear from other teachers who have been involved in this form of action research/professional development.