For the first time, Lesson Study as a research approach was included in the in-service training programs for the pedagogic staff of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2013. Since then, this approach has been used in schools to improve classroom practice. According to the results of our research in 2020 about 94% of respondents conduct Lesson Study. This data was collected from 2701 schools of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which is 38.5% of the total number of schools (7014 schools).
In 2013, the implementation of the in-service training program for the head staff of the comprehensive schools of the Republic of Kazakhstan began. As a result this increased the number of schools which conduct Lesson Study. The data showed that the use of the approach doubled from 5% to 10%. In general, from 2013 to 2016 the dynamics of growth stands at 5% annually. The stable growth from 2017 to 2020 is about 2% per year. In 2017, the Lesson Study Kazakhstan project was launched by the Center of Excellence. We have developed measures of support for teachers who conduct Lesson Study, which would allow simply and effectively organize the professional development of teachers directly within the school. Teachers expressed the view that it would be useful for them to have a simple and understandable algorithm with a set of necessary resources.
The authors of the research are also coordinators of the website www.lessonstudy.kz. This is a platform aimed at accumulating all the resources of Lesson Study to support schools to be confident and successful in conducting pedagogic researches. It provides opportunities for Kazakhstani teachers to share their experience in conducting Lesson Study, gain access to methodological resources and up-to-date information. The website also helps to advance and develop effective teaching practice.
The present research shows the various methods of supporting teachers that have been studied and tested in practice: in-service training courses, the provision of resources for conducting Lesson Study through the Lesson Study box and the website, the organization of the Lesson Study hub (a resource center), the most effective ways of working with pedagogic staff were identified. Lesson Study Box is a set of tools for organizing effectively Lesson Study process at school. It gives step by step instructions for teachers how to conduct Lesson Study meaningfully and productively. Lesson Study Hub is a project which includes human, information and material resources focused on disseminating and developing Lesson Study in Kazakhstani schools.
The value of the research is that its results are integrated into the practical activity of the Center of Excellence, tested in Leading Schools, based on data received from schoolteachers in the city of Nur-Sultan. The main structural units of the research are implemented into the practice of teaching within the training of school research coordinators and in-service training courses for pedagogic staff and principals.
Key words: Lesson Study, networking, leadership, deep pedagogy, lifelong learning, Lesson Study box, Lesson Study Kazakhstan, Lesson Study hub