Research lesson as part of ‘Jugyokenkyu’ (Lesson Study) at the Japan School of Doha.

Japanese educational reformer and renowned mathematics educator at DePaul University (US), Prof Akihiko Takahashi, recently visited Doha along with his Japanese colleagues to initiate the first phase of a three-year educational project - Japanese Lesson Study Institute for Qatar leaders.

It is being implemented under an initiative of Qatar University (QU) and in collaboration with Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco), according to a statement issued by the Japanese embassy in Doha.

The embassy is supporting the efforts made by Prof Takahashi and his team.

Over the next three years, four Independent schools will participate in the project as model schools.

The main target of the Lesson Study programme is to address the common issues facing mathematics education in Qatar by examining students’ learning in terms of reasoning and problem-solving, the statement points out.

As part of this programme, a research lesson and a post-lesson discussion - the core of Lesson Study - were demonstrated at the Japan School of Doha in early September. Qatar’s leaders of mathematics education experienced a live lesson observation and an active post-lesson discussion by the Japanese teacher.

Project Impuls (International Math-teacher Professionalisation Using Lesson Study) at Tokyo Gakugei University and QU’s College of Education collaboratively proposed an innovative project aimed at establishing an organisational improvement model of professional development in Qatar’s schools.

In turn, the participating teachers will receive support in improving mathematics teaching in primary and preparatory schools. The ultimate goal of this project is to increase the number of Qatar students who are motivated to learn a higher level of mathematics in secondary schools while developing strong skills of reasoning and problem-solving, according to the statement.

“Jugyokenkyu” in the Japanese language translates literally into “Lesson Study”. It refers to a series of practices that Japanese teachers use to hone their craft.

The programme was initiated by Project Impuls (http://www.impuls-tgu.org/), aiming to enable Qatari teachers to improve continuously through learning about “lesson study”, which will accordingly prepare them to create in their own country systems for long-term, independent educational improvement in mathematics teaching.

QU and Impuls held several meetings to discuss issues related to reasoning and problem-solving in order to promote a strong foundation in mathematics.