ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
THROUGH LESSON STUDY
A THESIS
Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
to Obtain the
Magister Humaniora (M.Hum.)
Degree in
English Language Studies
S. TRI BUDIYATI
09 6332 007
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
THROUGH LESSON STUDY
ATHESIS
Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of theRequireents
to Obtain the
Magister Humaniora(M.Hum.)
Degree in English Language Studies
S. TRI BUDIYATI
09 6332007
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
STUDIES SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii
ATHESIS
ENGLISH TEACHERS
’PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
THROUGH LESSON STUDY
by
S. TRI BUDIYATI
Student number 09 6332 007
Approved by
Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A
iii
ATHESIS
ENGLISH TEACHERS
’PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
THROUGH LESSON STUDY
by
S. TRI BUDIYATI
Student number 09 6332 007
Defended before the Thesis Committee
and Declared Acceptable
THESIS COMMITTEE
Chair person : ………….. _______________
Secretary : ………….. _______________
Members : 1. ………. _______________
2. ………_______________
Yogyakarta, August 15, 2012 The Graduate Program Director
Sanata Dharma University
iv
DEDICATION
This work is dedicated
to God The Almighty,
in His hands, my path was clear and smooth,
to M Silalahi,
a man, who God created me for,
to Joshua,
who unfailingly encouraged me with his laughter and love since you were born,
to my students,
v
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
This is to certify that all ideas, phrases, sentences, unless otherwise stated,
are the ideas, phrases, and sentences of the thesis writer. The writer understands
the full concequences including degree cancellation if she took other somebody’s
ideas, phrases, or sentences without proper references.
Yogyakarta, August 15, 2012
vi
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswi Universitas Sanata dharma :
Nama : S. Tri Budiyati
No mahasiswa : 09 6332 007
Demi perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH LESSONSTUDY
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan data dalam bentuk lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data,
mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media
lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa meminta ijin dari saya maupun
memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai
penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Yogyakarta, August 15,2012
Yang menyatakan
vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I bend my knees down deeply on the ground and look up to the highest
peak of the sky to offer a very great gratitude to my Lord, Jesus Christ, for
without His participation everything is nothing, without His hands I could not
finish this study.
I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko,
M.A. as my advisor who helped me very much on planting the seed for this initial
idea of this study and played a very big role on bringing it to fruition. Thank you
very much for your guidance, patience, valuable suggestions and wisdom.
My deepest gratitude also goes to the participants of the research, the
group of Junior High School English teachers of the Lesson Study, for their
kindness and permission for me to conduct the research. I am so grateful to have
them for their willingness to share their personal experience.
I would also like to express my deep gratitude to F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D.for
his wonderful class on SLA. It always reminds me on the way a language is
acquired.
My deep appreciation also goes to Dr. J. Bismoko for his philosophycal
words such as “How to be more meaningful for others”. I always remember the
words.
This following gratitude goes to my beloved lecturer, Dr. Novita Dewi,
M.S., M.A. (Hons). From her lecture I learnt that words have many colours and
must be seen from different angles. It energized and empowered me very much.
viii
In particular, I am very greatful for the help and guidance given by my
great fellows friends of evening class 2009; Bu Aris, Bu Yanti, Bu Dian, Bu
Woro, Pak Kongko and Dik Iwan who have been directly involved in the
development of my knowledge and skills during I attended the lectures.
Last but not the least, my greatest gratitude is offered to my beloved
husband, M Silalahi, and son, Joshua, for their great love and endless prayer.
ix
TABLEOFCONTENTS
TITLE PAGE………..……..…..i
APPROVAL PAGE ……….…..…ii
THESIS DEFENSE APPROVAL PAGE ……….…....iii
DEDICATION……….….……...iv
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ……….……..…v
PERNYATAANPERSETUJUANPUBLIKASI ……….……..vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ………...………vii
TABLEOFCONTENTS………...………....ix
LIST OF TABLES ………...xii
LIST OF FIGURES………...………..xiii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND CODES ……….……….……..xiv
ABSTRACT ……….………xv
ABSTRAK ……….……….xvi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the research……….………..1
B. ProblemIdentification …………...5
C. Problemformulation…..………...6
D. Research Objectives………...6
E. Research Benefits ……….……….7
CHAPTERII LITERATURE REVIEW A. Theoretical Review……….………...…..8
1. Professional Development………...……….…………..8
. 2. Professional Teachers………...…..11
a. Teachers’ Competence………..…….….11
b. The Implementation of Teachers’ Competence………...…...15
3. An Overview of Lesson Study……….……….……….19
4. The Implementation of Lesson Study………….……….………..20
x
B. Review of Related Study………,,……,.…..28
C. Theoretical Framework………,……….…..30
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Research Method……….36
B. Nature and Sources of Data……….37
C. Instruments………...…………...39
D. Data Gathering Techniques……….44
E. Research Procedure ………...……….46
F. Data Processing………...………48
CHAPTER IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS A. Results of Data Analysis……….…….……..51
1. The Cycles of Lesson Study………..51
a. The First Cycle ………52
b. The Second Cycle ………53
2. Teachers’ Activities and Actions………53
a. Working All Together on a Lesson Preparation …….……….…...55
b. Teaching Practice ……….…...59
c. Observation ……….……62
d. Evaluation and Reflection.……….…..63
3. Students’ Point of View………,……..65
B. The Distinctions from other Lesson Study……….…….68
C. Teacher’s Professional Development……….…….69
1. Planning………...……….…...70
2. Implementation……..………....…76
3. Observation ……..……….……80
4. Evaluation and Reflection.……….…...….81
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion……….……….85
xi
BIBLIOGRAPHY……….……..89
APPENDICES……….…...….92
A. The Process of the Lesson Study…….……….……..93
B. Observation Sheets in the Classroom……….…….…...104
C. Teachers’ Interview Guidelines ……….……….….110
D. Students’ Questionnaire ….……….……….111
E. Transcript of the interview……….…….,………..115
1. Transcript of the Interview with Mrs.Yunda ……….….…….…115
2. Transcript of the Interview with Mrs. Dinda ………...………123
xii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Blueprint Pre-figured Themes of Teachers’ Activities………...35
Table 3.1 Teacher’s Interview Guidelines ……….….40
Table 3.2 Observation Sheet in the Classroom ……….…..42
Table 3.3 Sample of Students’ Questionnaire ……….…44
Table 3.4 The Preocedure of the Research ……….…47
Table 3.5 Qualitative Table ………50
Table 4.1 Themes ………...54
Table 4.2 Observation sheet on the Lesson Plan ………56
Table 4.3 The Results of Students’ Questionnaire ……….……66
xiii
LIST OF FIGURES
xiv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
S K = Standar Kompetensi
K D = Kompetensi Dasar
BKOF = Building Knowledge of the Field
MOT = Modeling of Text
JCOT = Joint Construction of Text
ICOT = Independence Construction of Text
S K L = Standar Kompetensi lulusan
xv
ABSTRACT
S.Tri Budiyati. 2012. English Teachers’ Professional Development through Lesson Study. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program, English Language Studies, Sanata Dharma University.
Nowadays, teachers’ professionalism has become a hot issue. People blame teachers as the culprits behind the failure of education. For that reason, teachers need to always update their competence. It is not only to cover the goal of the curriculum but also to catch up with the development of science and technology. Lesson Study is a Japanese form of professional development that centers on collaborative study of live classroom lessons (Lewis 2006). In Indonesia, Lesson Study for mathematics has been applied in Malang, Yogyakarta, and Bandung. The purpose of this study was to describe how English teachers developed their professionalism through Lesson Study.
This study implemented a qualitative method. The qualitative method addresses the questions directed toward a deeper understanding of social phenomena (Creswell 2007). According to Creswell (2007) a phenomenological study describes the meaning for several individuals of their lived experiences of a phenomenon. The data of this study were gathered by actually seeing the teachers behave and act within the issue and talking directly to the participants experienced the issue under this study in the field. The instruments used in collecting the data were observation, in-depth interview, and questionnaire. A group of four junior high school English teachers participated in Lesson Study were as the participants of this research. The observation was done to the lesson study group on conducting a lesson study. The first interview was done to a Junior high school English teachers supervisor. The second interview was done to a teacher who implemented a lesson plan in a school where she did not teach. The questionnaires were given to the students where the teachers conducted the lesson study.
The findings shows some activities in the lesson study which develop teacher’s professionalism. The activities were planning a lesson, implementing the lesson plan, observing the lesson, and evaluating the lesson. On planning a lesson the teachers worked together and shared their knowledge to design a lesson plan. They decided the goal of the lesson, arranged the steps to achieve the goal, developed the instructional material, and decided the teaching media and evaluation instruments. On the implementation of the lesson plan the model teachers improved their teaching skills and their self-confidence. They built new interaction with different students. On being the observers to other teachers teaching, the teachers learnt from the way other teachers teaching. In the evaluation process the teachers evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson plan and its implementation. The process of lesson study built good communication and relationship among the members of the group.
xvi
ABSTRAK
S. Tri Budiyati. 2012. English Teachers’ Professional Development through Lesson Study. Yogyakarta: Program Pasca Sarjana, Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Saat ini, profesionalisme guru menjadi hal yang sedang hangat diperbincangkan. Kesalahan akan ditimpakan pada guru sebagai aktor utama jika terjadi kegagalan di dunia pendidikan. Untuk itu, guru perlu selalu memperbarui kompetensi mereka agar tidak tertinggal oleh perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi yang berkembang dengan pesat. Berdasarkan Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia, Nomor 16 Tahun 2007 tentang Kompetensi Guru dan Standar Kualifikasi Akademik, guru sebagai agen pendidikan harus memiliki empat kompetensi utama yaitu kompetensi pedagogi, kepribadian, sosial, dan akademik. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menggambarkan aktifitas yang dilakukan sekelompok guru Bahasa Inggris dalam mengembangkan profesionalisme mereka sebagai guru melalui kegiatan Lesson Study.
Metodologi yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif. Instrumen yang digunakan dalam pengumpulan data adalah observasi, wawancara, dan kuesioner. Sekelompok guru Bahasa Inggris SMP yang sedang melakukan kegiatan Lesson Study menjadi partisipan dari penelitian ini. Para guru tersebut diamati selama mereka melakukan kegiatan lesson study mereka dalam merencanakan pembelajaran (Plan), melaksanakan rencana pembelajaran dalam kelas (Do), dan mengevaluasi pelaksanaan pembelajaran (See). Wawancara pertama dilakukan pada seorang pengawas guru bahasa Inggris SMP yang juga merupakan anggota dari tim lesson study tersebut. Wawancara kedua dilakukan pada seorang guru yang menjadi guru model dalam melaksanakan lesson study di sekolah dimana ia tidak mengajar. Kuesioner diberikan pada siswa dimana kelompok guru tersebut melakukan lesson study.
Dalam melakukan lesson study mereka melakukan empat kegiatan pokok yaitu; perencanaan, pelaksanaan, obervasi, dan evaluasi. Kegiatan yang menunjang pengembangan profesional merekayang dilakukan di dalam tahap perencanaan adalah menyusun rencana pelaksanaan pembelajaran (RPP) secara bersama-sama. Pada tahap pelaksanaan, aktifitas yang menunjang pengembangan profesi mereka adalah dengan menjadi guru model dan menjadi pengamat pada proses kegiatan belajar mengajar dari RPP yang telah disusun mereka bersama sebelumnya. Pada tahap evaluasi mereka mengevaluasi pelaksanaan dari RPP mereka dan melakukan revisi atas kelemahan yang mereka temukan dalam proses belajar mengajar.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the background information related to the research
problem. Thepurpose is to provide a framework for the study so that readers know
the importance of the issue under study. The chapter contains six major sections,
namely (a) background, (b) problem identification, (c) problem formulation, (d)
research objectives, and (e) research benefits.
A. Background
In order to improve the quality of education our government released
Indonesian Government Regulation Number 74, 2008 about teachersin which it is
very important for teachers to see and understand their responsibilities as the main
characters on education.Stated in the regulation that teachers are educators with
the primary tasks of educating, teaching, guiding, directing, coaching, assessing
and evaluating learners (article 1). Teachers are the agents of learning who have
the function to improve the quality of national education (article 4). Teachers
should have four competences which include pedagogy, personality, social, and
academic competences (article10). In executing their duties they have to: (a) plan
the lesson, implement the lesson plan, and assess and evaluate the learning
outcomes; (b) enhance and develop academic qualifications and competence on an
ongoing basis in line with the development of science, technology, and art (article
20 a -b).
People see the main culprits behind the reason of why the quality of our education
is low are teachers.They judge that teachers are not qualified enough for teaching.
They have low competences. The reasons are that teachers are not motivated to
develop their professionalism; they are not encouraged to update their knowledge
and skills. Some of them are reluctant to join such kind of teachers‟ professional development programs; seminars, workshops or in-service training programs,
because most of the programs need money to join.
The government pays attention to this issue very much.Our government
thinksthat it is very important to always support and facilitate teachers to develop
their professionalism. One of the government‟s efforts is releasing certification program. A teacher who can fulfill certain qualification will be given an
educator-certificate. The educator-certificate is an indication that the teacher is a
professional person. As stated in Indonesian Government Regulation Number 74,
2008 about Teachers that there are 10 components should be completed by
teachers for certification program; (1) academic qualification, (2) training and
workshops, (3) teaching experience, (4) teaching program, (5) official judgment,
(6) academic prestige, (7) professional development, (8) scientific meeting, (9)
organizational experience on education and social, and (10) relevant award. This
program is very challenging for teachers, for the teachers who fulfill the
qualification will get an incentive reward.
Teachers need to update their knowledge and skills to catch up with the
curriculum which changes from time to time. The curriculum of education in our
country has changed many times. It changed in such aspects, as its approach,
movement of the needs and the development of the society and technology.
Directly it has some effects on how teachers implement the curriculum especially
in the teaching and learning process. They have to find the suitable way of their
teaching. They need to change their strategy, method or approach in order to
achieve the goal of the curriculum. As what happened in the latest curriculum,
curriculum 2006, it is a competency based curriculum. It contains standard
competences and basic competences. In this curriculum teachers are free to decide
the instructional design based on the situation and condition of the school where
they are teaching. This condition requires teachers to be more creative and
professional on being able to adjust themselves on fulfilling the target of the
curriculum.
Teachers rarely discuss about teaching problems, students‟ development,
or teaching improvement together. We rarely see teachers sharing their teaching
experiences in the teachers‟ office. It is common that teaching is a private activity.
A teacher is the master in the classroom. Whatever happens in the classroom is
closed. It is within the teacher and the students only. How far the teacher does a
reflection on what and how the teaching and learning process becomes the
teacher‟s autonomy.
Teachers need professional development. It is not only to cover the goal
and material of the curriculum but also to catch up with the development of the
technology and science. Teachers need to learn more to acquire the new
technology and science and then transfer them to the students. The world outside
the classroom develops very fast. It will be wiser if the teachers do not step behind
activities such as attending seminar, workshop, study groups, peer collaboration,
mentoring, etc.
Lesson study is a Japanese form of professional development that centers
on collaborative study of live classroom lessons (Lewis 2006).Lesson study is a
direct translation from the Japanese word jugyokenkyuwhich is composed of two words: jugyo which means lesson, and kenkyu which means research. In doing lesson study some teachers, usually 4 to 6 teachers make a group of leson study.
They are planning a lesson together. One of the teachers implements the lesson
plan in the classroom. During the lesson the other teachers are as observers. And
then they make a reflection to see what should be revised and improved.
In Indonesia, lesson study for mathematics has been applied in three
regions (Malang, Yogyakarta, and Bandung) since 2006 through a scheme
Strengthening In-Service Teacher Training of Mathematics and Science
(SISTTEMS) (Susilo 2007). Lesson study is a process by which teachers and
teacher educators work together to critically improve the quality of classroom
practice through a planning, observation and reflection cycle. Their activities are
based on the principles of collegiality and mutual – learning to develop a learning community (Suratno and Cock 2009).
Professional development is very valuable for teachers in the process of
teaching and learning. Lesson Study offers teachers to develop their
professionalism. From that reason the purpose of this study is to give description
and interpretation on how English teachers develop their professionalism through
lesson study. This study is based on a research on one cycle of lesson study done
lesson study consists of the three phases activities of lesson study: Plan, Do, and
See.
B. Problem identification
Most teachers are concerned about their professional development,
although they do it as the positive impacts of certification program from the
government. Because of the certification program there are large numbers of
teachers attending various professional development programs, such as continuing
their study to S1, S2, or S3, attending conferences, taking part in seminars,
workshops and short courses. The positive impacts of what have been done by the
teachers are that the teachers have better knowledge, skills and experience which
isneeded to the improvement of their classroom practice and learning experience
of their students.
Teachers need to update their knowledge and skills to be able to
implement the new curriculum. Based on the new curriculum teachers should be
able to design the lesson plan which will be implemented in the classroom.After
the implementation of the lesson plan in the classroom teachers should evaluate
whether the lesson plan is good or not on achieving the goals in the curricullum.
Can teachers understand every new curriculum by themselves?
From the background above there are some problems identified. There are
how teachers update their professionalism, how teachers develop their
competencies, how teachers improve their knowledge and skills, what teachers do
to keep up with the development of technology and science, and how teachers
C. Problem formulation
According to Guskey (2000), professional development is process and
activities designed to enhance the professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes of
educators. “Development generally refers to general growth not focused on a
specific job” (Richards and Farrel 2005: 4)
Lesson study basically involves a group of teachers who do the planning,
implementation, and post-learning reflection together to form a synergistic
learning community. Teachers are working collaboratively. First, they analyze the
problem of learning, both from the aspect of teaching materials and teaching
methods. Furthermore, the teachers also collaboratively find solutions and design
student-centered learning. The next step is to apply the lesson plan in class by a
teacher, the others are as observers of student activities, and then it is followed by
a discussion after the lesson to reflect on it. This research will specifically address
a research question “How do English teachers develop their professionalism
through lesson study?”
D. Research Objectives
In order to improve the quality of education the government released
Indonesian Government Regulation Number 74, 2008 about teachers. Article
number 10 states that teachers should have four competences. The four
competences include pedagogic, personal, social, and academic competences.
As previously stated above that this research will specifically address to a
question, ‟How do English teachers develop their professionalism through lesson
study?” In relation to the research question, the objective of this research is to
competences: (1) pedagogic, (2) personal, (3) social, and (4) academic
competences through lesson study.
E. Research benefits
This study would describe how English teachers developed the four
competences of teacher‟s professionalism through lesson study. They are
pedagogic, personal, social, and academic competence. The description is a kind
of information for English teachers, schools, government and teachers in all
subjects as well as any parties who are concerned with education.
Based on the description of this study teachers will acknowledge some
aspects of lesson study that are in line with teachers‟ professional
development.They will see the effectiveness of the lesson study on examining and
improving their lesson preparation and teaching practice. The description and
interpretation are also valuable for further research related to the use of lesson
study in other lines. In other words, the result of this study will give contribution
8
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter attempts to place this study in the context of English teachers‟
professional development through lesson study. It provides basic information
about some keywords in this study from some relevant literatures. It consists of
three major sections, namely, (a) theoretical review, (b) review of related study
and (c) theoretical framework.
A. Theoretical Review
This section will elaborate some keywords that are used in this study. It
will lead the subject being studied more closely and accurately. It will give more
comprehension to the construct of the object studied. There are four notions to be
explored, namely, (1) professional development, (2) professional teacher, (3)
lesson study, and (4) action research.
1. Professional Development
According to the thesaurus of the Educational Resources Information
Center data base (ncrel.org), professional development refers to some activities to
enhance the professional career growth. Such activities may include individual
development, continuing education, and in-service education, as well as
curriculum writing, peer collaboration, study groups, and peer coaching or
mentoring. There are some overviews given by Guskey, Richard and Farrel,
Rodrigues, Glatthorn, and Rasidas and Glassto see more deeply what professional
Guskey (2000) defines professional development as process and activities
designed to enhance the professional knowledge, skills, and attitudes of educators.
He also states that there are three characteristics of professional development.
First, professional development is a purposeful and intentional process. It is a
consciously design effort to bring about positive change and improvement to the
educators. Second, professional development is an ongoing process. The process
grows and develops continuously. Third, professional development is a systemic
process. It is a deliberate process, guided by a clear vision of purposes and
planned goals. These goals formed the criteria by which content and material are
selected, processes and procedures developed, and assessments and evaluation
prepared.
Strategies for teacher development often involve documenting different kinds of teaching practices; reflective analysis of teaching practices, examining beliefs, values, and principles; conversation with peers on core issues; and collaborating with peers on classroom project. (Richards and Farrel 2005:4)
Professional development is a continuous process of individual and
collective examination and improvement of practice. It should empower
individual educators and communities of educators to make complex decisions; to
identify and solve problems; and to connect theory, practice, and student
outcomes. “Mutual sharing of knowledge and experience is a valuable source of
teachers‟ professional growth.” (Richards and Farrel 2005: 2). Professional
development also should enable teachers to offer students the learning
opportunities. Professional development should deepen and broaden knowledge of
content. It should provide a strong foundation in the pedagogy of particular
development should be rooted in and reflect the best available research. The
content of professional development should be aligned with the standards and
curriculum teachers‟ use. Professional development should contribute to
measurable improvement in student achievement. Professional development
should be intellectually engaging and address the complexity of teaching.
Professional development should provide sufficient time, support, and resources
to enable teachers to master new content and pedagogy and to integrate this
knowledge and skill into their practice. Professional development should be
designed by teachers in cooperation with experts in the field. Professional
development should take a variety of forms, including some we have not typically
considered. Rodrigues (2005) states that according to Tobin, Briscoe, and Holman
(1990) that personal reflection, the commitment to personal change and the
reconstruction of personal understanding of teaching and learning, and the
ultimately classroom practice have a significant role to play in teacher
professional development. ”Professional development has no fixed route if it is viewed as lifelong learning” (Rodrigues 2005: 4).
Professional development refers to knowledge and skills attained for both
personal development and career advancement. English teachers‟ professional development is that teachers enhance and nurture their knowledge of the subject
they are teaching and their teaching skills through evaluating or reflecting their
teaching experience. “Teacher‟s development is the professional growth a teacher
achieves as a result of gaining increased experience and examining his or her
teaching systematically” (Glatthorn 1995: 41). Teachers‟ professional
collaborate with peers, exchange ideas, and provide and receive peer feedback;
when they reflect critically on what they are doing; when they work on real-world,
challenging, authentic activities; when they work is constantly evaluated; and
when they are intrinsically motivated (Rasidas and Glass 2004)
2. Professional Teachers
Indonesian Government Regulation Number 74, 2008 about Teachers
states that teachers are professional educators. They should have: (a) an academic
qualification, (b) four competences, (c) an educator certificate, and (d) an ability
to achieve national education goal. They should be healthy inside and outside.
Their main tasks are to educate, to teach, to guide, to train, to assess, and to
evaluate the students. To do that a teacher should have a set of knowledge, skill,
and attitude that should be actualized in his professional on doing his work (article
3). He should posses the academic qualification which is suitable for the subject
he is teaching. It is also stated in Indonesian Government Regulation Number 74,
2008 about Teacher that teachers should have four competencies which include
pedagogy, personality, social, and academic competence and apply the four
competences in their real work.
a. Teacher‟s Competence
Based on The Regulation of National Education Minister of Republic of
Indonesia Number 16, 2007 on Teachers Competence and Academic Qualification
Standard, teachers are as the agents of education. They should have four main
teachers‟ competences, pedagogic, personal, social, and academic competences.
Pedagogic competence is teacher‟s competence on some aspects. The first
aspect is teacher‟s understanding on his students. On understanding students a
teacher should understand his students physically, morally, spiritually, socially,
culturally, emotionally, and intellectually. Teachers are able to identify students‟ potential on the subject being taught and to know the initial input of the students‟ competence. They have to understand students‟ difficulties on learning the subject. The second is applying various approaches, strategies, methods, and
techniques on teaching and learning. The third is developing curriculum. The
activities on developing curriculum are deciding learning objectives, developing
learning experience/activities, choosing learning material and developing
indicators and evaluation instruments. The fourth is managing an educational
learning. It includes designing comprehensible lesson plan, implementing the
lesson plan and applying learning media process and resources. The next aspect is
using information and technology in teaching and learning. A teacher should have
a competence on building interaction withlearners. The interaction with the
students should be built effectively, empathetically, and politely. The next aspect
is a teacher should carry out assessment and evaluation. This activity includes
determining theaspects of the assessment and evaluation, developing the
assessment and evaluation instruments, conducting and analysing the result of the
assessment and evaluation. The results of the assessment and evaluation are
usedto improve the learning such as designing remedial and enrichment program.
The last teacher„s competence on pedagogic competence is conducting reflective
In Indonesian Government Regulation Number 74, 2008, section 2,
pedagogic competence is a teacher‟s competence on designing, implementing, and evaluating teaching and learning process. This competence includes teacher‟s
ability on understanding students‟ characteristics. Different students‟ characteristics need different teacher‟s understanding on choosing the method and
strategy in the teaching and learning process.
Personal competence is teachers‟ competence on: (1) acting in accordance with the norms of religions, law, social, and Indonesian culture; (2) respecting
students‟ diversity; (3) presenting themselves as honest persons with noble
characters and as the model of their students; (4) showing them selves as mature,
wise, stable, and authoritative persons; (5) being proud of becoming teachers and
having high responsibilities and self-confidence.
In Indonesian Government Regulation Number 74, 2008, section 2, in
personality competence teachers must have a strong belief in God. They should
have mature honest sportive personality and character worthy of imitation. They
should have leadership and act wisely. There should be an ability to nurture each
student individually. They become the model of their students and the society
around them. Objectively they have to evaluate their own work. They need to
improve their competence by themselves progressively.
Social competence needs teachers‟ consideration for not discriminating
students‟ gender, religion, race, physical condition, socio economic status, and
family background. The teachers should be objective against the students,
colleagues, students‟ parents, and school environment. They should build
empathetically, and courteously. They should be able to adapt themselves to the
communities wherever they live. The students‟ parents and school environment are involved in the learning program. The teachers communicate new learning
innovation to the school communities.
Indonesian Government Regulation Number 74, 2008, section 2, states
that in social competence, teachers are expected to have an ability to communicate
effectively with students, fellow teachers, students‟ parents and the nearby
community. They can use communication and information technology on
developing students‟ competence. They can develop the collaborative principal with fellow teachers, students‟ parents and the nearby society.
Academic competence is teachers‟ competence on understanding the standard and basic competencies of the subject. Teachers should understand on
the objectives of the learning. Teachers are able to select the learning material
according to the level of the learners‟ development.Teachers develop their professional with sustainable reflective actions. Teachers should have an ability to
conduct classroom action research to develop their professional. They have to
update their knowledge and skills by learning from various resources and
media.The last competence on academic competence is the application of
information and communication technology for communication and professional
development.
The academic competence in Indonesian Government Regulation Number
74, 2008, section 2, is that teachers should master the subjects to be taught to
students widely and comprehensively. They should understand the curriculum.
The Regulation of National Education Minister of Republic of Indonesia
Number 16, 2007 on Teachers Competence and Academic Qualification Standard
section 18.1. states that teachers of English in primary schools, junior high
schools, and senior high schools should have knowledge of various aspects of
language in English (linguistics, discourse, sociolinguistic, and strategic).They
have to master in English language spoken and written, receptive and productive
in all aspects of communication (linguistic, discourse, sociolinguistic, and
strategic).
b. The Implementation of Teachers‟ Competence
The four competences, pedagogy, personal, social, and academic
competences, have a holistic characteristic. They support each other and cannot be
separated in their implementation. They are integrated in teachers‟ activities, on designing, implementing and evaluating teaching and learning process
(Government Regulation number 74, 2008).
To design teaching and learning is to plan the events that take place during
the instructional process. Instructional events include actions of both teacher and
students in sequence. According to The Regulation of National Education
Minister of Republic of Indonesia Number 41, 2007, on Standard of Process,
instructional design consists of syllabus and lesson plan. Both of them consist of
the identity of the subject, standard competence, basic competence, indicators of
the basic standard competence achievement, learning objectives, teaching
materials, time allocation, teaching method, learning activities, assessment of
learning outcomes, and learning media and resources. The syllabus is then
teaching and learning process from the beginning until the end of the lesson. The
procedure of the learning process should be arranged systematically in order to
create an interactive, inspirative, joyful, challenging, motivated and creative
learning process. The lesson plan is prepared for one basic competence which can
be implemented in one session or more.
In The Regulation of National Education Minister of Republic of
Indonesia Number 41, 2007, on Standard of Process, the components of a lesson
plan are : (1) the identity of the subject which includes educational unit, class,
semester, program, the number of the meetings; (2) competence standard, the
minimum qualification of the learner‟s achievement that describes the acquisition
of knowledge, skills and attitude to be achieved in each grade or semester of the
subject; (3) basic competence, a capability that must be mastered by the learners
and as a reference for achievement indicator in a lesson; (4) the achievement
indicators of basic competence, learners‟ behaviour that can be measured or
observed to demonstrate the achievement of certain basic competence and
formulated in operational verbs that can be measured for the knowledge, skills,
and attitudes; (5) learning objectives, describes learning process and learning
achievement that will be achieved by the learners; (6) learning materials; (7) time
allocation; (8) learning method, the atmosphere of teaching and learning process;
(9) learning activities, pre-whilst-post activity; (10) evaluation procedure and
instrument; (11) learning resources.
Some principals should be considered on designing the instructional. They
are: (a) the differences of students‟ characteristics; (b) the instructional learning is
actively; (d) the lesson plan provides feedback and follow up; and (e) applying
information and communication technology.
According to The Regulation of National Education Minister of Republic
of Indonesia Number 41, 2007, on Standard of Process, the implementation of
teaching and learning process is the implementation of lesson plan. Teacher
follows the procedure arranged in the learning activities in the lesson plan. It
includes pre-whilst-post activity. In pre-activity or introduction teacher prepares
students psychologically and physically to follow the learning process, asks
questions that lead to the prior knowledge of the material that will be studied. In
whilst or core activity, learning is developed to achieve the basic competence. The
process is interactive, inspirative, exciting, challenging, and motivating the
learners to participate actively. The activity provides enough space for learners‟ innovation, creativity, and independence. The process includes exploration,
elaboration and confirmation. In the exploration, learners are involved in seeking
a broader and deeper information about the topic/material, teachers use various
intructional approach, media and resources and facilitate learners to interact with
each other and with teacher. In the elaboration, teachers give tasks individually or
in group to triger new ideas, provide an opportunity to think, analize, act, and
solve problem without fear, facilitate learners with cooperative and colaborative
learning and to compete in a healthy way. In the confirmation, teachers give
feedback and reinforcement orally, written, or with gesture, help learners to solve
the difficulty. In post-activity, teacher with learners summary/conclude, reflect the
activity they have done. Teachers plan a follow-up activity in the form of remidial
In The Regulation of National Education Minister of Republic of
Indonesia Number 41, 2007, on Standard Process, classroom management
becomes one requirement in a lesson implementation. Teachers arrange the seats
based on the learners‟ characteristics and the learning activities to be performed.
Teacher‟s voice (volume and tone) and speech should be heard very well and can
be understood by the learners. Teachers create order, discipline, convenience,
safety, and regulation in performing the learning process. Teachers provide
reinforcement, response, reward, and feed back to the learners. Teachers clothes
are polite, clean and neat. Teachers begin and end the learning process due to the
time schedule
During or after a set of teaching and learning process, an evaluation is
done to see the students achievement of one or two basic competence. Patton
(1997) mentions that the future of evaluation is tied to the future effectiveness of
programs. Therefore, it provides ongoing feedback for improvements during
implementation. National Education Department (2004) also defines that
evaluation is an identification activity to see the achievement and efficiency of an
arranged program and whether it is valuable or not. The Regulation of National
Education Minister of Republic of Indonesia Number 41, 2007, on Standard of
Process, evaluation is conducted to measure the level of learners‟ achievement on the basic competence, see the learning progress, and improve the learning process.
The evaluation is carried out systematically using test-nontest orally or writen in
3. An Overview of Lesson Study
Lesson study is a Japanese form of professional development that centers
on collaborative study of live classroom lessons (Lewis 2006).In doing lesson
study some teachers, usually 4 to 6 teachers make a group of leson study. They
are planning a lesson together. One of the teachers implements the lesson plan in
the classroom. During the lesson the other teachers are as observers. And then
they make a reflection to see what should be revised and improved.
Fernandez (2004) defines the term lesson study as a direct translation of a
Japanese word jugyoukenkyuu which composed of two words, jugyou and
kenkyu.Jugyou means instruction or lesson and kenkyuu meansresearch or study. Lesson study is to describe a collaborative process in which teachers plan a
research lesson, teach and observe lesson, revise and reteach the lesson (Yoshida
1999). Fernandez (2004) also states that lesson study consists of the study or
examination of teaching practice. It is a form of teacher professional development
programme that engages teachers collaboratively in planning, implementing,
observing and reflecting on the lesson. The teachers progressively improve their
teaching methods by examining and giving critique one another‟s teaching
techniques. They can learn from and improve their practice by seeing other
teachers teach. “Lesson Study functions as a means of enabling teachers to
develop and study their own teaching practices” (Takuya 2007: 2). According to Stigler and Hiebert (1999), lesson study is the core form of professional
development, and it is often credited for the study improvement of Japanese
Richardson (2004) lesson study is different from lesson planning. Lesson
study focuses on what teachers want students to learn rather than on what teachers
plan to teach. Lesson planning is a part of lesson study planning. What are
studied, observed and evaluated, here are the lesson and the learning not the
teacher. Isoda (2006) indicates that lesson study usually begins by developing
lesson plan in which teachers solve and pose problems from students‟
perspectives. Teachers share their experiences with other teachers and lecturers.In
Japan, lesson study is initiated by teachers and may be sponsored by a variety of
organizations, including schools, districts, professional organizations, and
independent study groups (Lewis and Tsuchida 1998). It has evolved in tens of
thousands of sites across Japan. There have been in great variations in lesson
study goals, practices, norms and other dimensions. Isoda (2006) indicates the
specific objectives of lesson study are to develop instrument and equipment,
teaching method and model, teaching material, and teaching evaluation for
teaching and learning process.
4. The Implementation of Lesson Study
Lesson study involves groups of teachers meeting regularly over a period
of time ranging from several months to a year to work on the design,
implementation, testing, and improvement of one or several research lessons
(Stigler and Hiebert 1999). They collaborate and share ideas, opinions, and
conclusions regarding to the research lesson. There are eight steps given by
Stigler and Hiebert (1999): (1) defining and researching a problem, (2) planning
the lesson, (3) teaching and observing the lesson, (4) evaluating the lesson and
revised lesson, (7) evaluating and reflecting in the second time, and (8) sharing
the result.
Figure 2.1 describes a lesson study cycle taken from Lewis, Perry, and
Murata (2006). In the initial goal-setting phase, teacher participants begin by
setting a goal for their students that they are aiming to address in their lesson. This
is often something that is difficult for the students to learn or difficult for the
teachers to teach. The goal setting leads to the decision for the best instructional
strategies that could be used to achieve the goal. Once the lesson is planned,
teacher teams decide who will implement the lesson. The lesson is taught and
observed, and then a detailed debriefing session and reflection takes place. This
debriefing period drives the continuation of the cycle as the next set of goals is
established. These final phases of the cycle – implementation / reflection / debrief
– should feel less like a final performance and more like a catalyst for further
Figure 2.1 Lesson Study Cycle (Lewis, Perry, and Murata 2006)
Lewis (2000) states that lesson study is conducted in all subject areas and
non-subject areas such as class meetings and special school-wide activities
designed to build community. Lewis (2002) describes that the members of one
Consider long-term goal for student learning
and development Study curriculum and standards identify topic
arranging the lesson plan and what they will observe in the lesson. One of the
teachers implement the lesson plan, while the others observe the teaching and
learning in a live classroom lesson. After the lesson they reflect on the lesson by
analysing the data they have collected during the lesson collaboratively to see the
achievement of their goal. And then they decide whether they will revise the
lesson plan and do the lesson study in other class or not.
According to Yoshida (1999), there are three main activities that make up
lesson study: (1) identifying a lesson study research theme; (2) conducting a small
number of research lessons that explore this theme; and (3) reflecting on the
process which includes producing the writing report.
The first activity, identifying a lesson study research theme, is the process
for setting the research theme/goal for a specific lesson study involves initial
discussions among all teachers of the group. This process is usually carried out at
the beginning of the lesson study process. A research theme is usually established
by identifying the gap between their students‟ state of learning and understanding and the teachers‟ aspirations for their students, which are based upon the available
data and reflecting on classroom practices. In addition, teachers discuss how they
want to close performance gaps. Through this exercise, the Japanese teachers
establish a research theme and use it as a focus of improvement to conduct their
lesson study activities. The research theme is also used to determine the success of
the lesson study.
In the second activity, a group of teachers jointly draws up a detailed plan
for the research lesson. This group usually consists of four to six people. They
teachers discuss the unit they are going to investigate and the specifics of the
research lesson they are developing. After the lesson is developed, a teacher from
the group teaches the research lesson in a real classroom while other members
observe. After the lesson, a debriefing session is held and the observers reflect and
discuss the lesson. Things they learn from the discussion are incorporated into the
revision of the research lesson and implemented in another classroom. Finally, the
lesson plans for the research lesson and thoughts from the discussions are
compiled into a written report.
The third main activity is reflecting and recording. In order to summarize
the lesson study group‟s activity and achievement and keep a record for future
use, the school compiles the research lesson plans developed throughout the
school year, observation data and notes, samples of students‟ work, discussion
notes, and the reflections on the lesson study activity into a final report. This
record becomes an important resource for teachers to improve their practice in the
future. In Japan, schools produce such lesson study reports and store them at the
school as well as the board of education and education centers. They are often
distributed at lesson study open houses and to important guests when they visit the
school.
According to Fernandez (2004), the implementation of lesson study can be
different from the way it is implemented in Japan. It does not need to copy what
the Japanese do in details. The importance is the lesson study‟s substance. Its
substance is the principles of collaboration and collegiality on mutual – learning. Lesson study is defined as a model of professional development for educators by
the principles of collegiality and mutual learning to develop a learning community
among educators (Suratno and Cock 2009). Accordingly, Lesson Study involves a
group of educators in a Plan-Do-See cycle, that is, collaborative planning,
implementation and observation, and reflection of teaching and learning process.
The three stages of lesson study can be explained as follows. First, in the stage of
Plan, lesson study team collaboratively develops teaching and learning design based on students‟ needs and their learning demands. Second, in the stage of Do,
an appointed teacher who is called as model teacher implements the planned
lesson. The other team members observe the lesson. The observation is mainly at
students learning in terms of interaction among students, between students and the
model teacher, and students understanding of the content being taught. Third, the
reflection or post-class discussion (See) is conducted soon after the lesson. The appointed teacher model and observers discuss together, led by a moderator as to
share evidence resulted from observation, to map identified learning problems and
to find alternative solutions for the future lesson improvement (Suratno and Cock
2009).
Lesson study has three main activities: planning, implementing (teaching
and observing), and reflecting and revising (Sukirman 2006). In the
planningphase, the teacher participants first identify the problems found in the
classroom. The identification of the problem accompanied by the solution taken
are related to the teaching material, schedule, students‟ characteristic, class condition, teaching method, teaching media, experiment kits, and evaluation
toward the teaching process and result. They discuss the choice of teaching
be used. Additional discussion is also focused on the collection of data on the
observation sheet, especially about determining the indicator of good teaching – learning process seen from the aspect of teacher and students. Those indicators are
written based on the lesson plan and approaches used to reach out to students
during the teaching - learning process. Based on the identification andsolution of
the problems, it was carried out into a set of steps consisting of: lesson plan,
teaching guide, teaching media, evaluation sheet of teaching process result, and
observation sheet. Inthe implementation phase, one of the teacher participants
implements the lesson plan while other teachers and expert observe the process
using the prepared observation sheet. To support it, the observers videotape the
process of the teaching and learning process. In the reflection and revising phase,
the teacher who implement the lesson plan is given time to state his feeling during
the implementation. Next, time is given to observers, both expert and other
teachers, to share the data they collect on the students‟ activity during the implementation followed by showing of the video. The teacher of presentation,
then, is asked to respond the observers‟ comments. The important thing in reflection is to reconsider the lesson plan developed as the basis to make
improvements for the next teaching.
5. Lesson Study‟s Difference from ActionResearch
Lesson Study shares close similarities with Action research. Both
approach emphasize planning, implementation, the conduct of the action or the
lesson, and reflection (Hock 2010). However there are some differences.
Richards (2005) defines that action research refers to teacher-conducted
approach to carrying out investigations and collecting information that is designed
to illuminate an issue or problem and to improve classroom practice. The word
„action‟ refers to taking practical action to resolve classroom problems. Action research takes place during the process of the teacher‟s own regular classroom. It
can be carried out by an individual teacher or in collaboration with other teachers.
Collaborative action research may include as few as two teachers or a group of
several teachers and others interested in addressing a classroom or departement
issue (Ferrance 2000).
Action research is a reflective process with mainly the purpose of solving
a problem or improving the teaching and learning process. Reflection can be
defined as the act of critically exploring what you are doing, why you decided to
do it and what its effects have been (Mertler 2006). The main goal of action
research is to address local-level problems with anticipation of finding immediate
solutions. Most action research studies are cyclical. Mertler (2006) describes the
steps of the process on conducting action research: identifying and limit the topic,
review the related literature, develop a research plan, implement the plan and
collect the data, analyze the data, develop an action plan, share and communicate
the results, and reflect the research. according to Ferrance (2000) there are five
phases of inquiry: identification of problem area, collection and organization the
data, interpretation the data, action based on the data, and reflection. If the results
of one cycle are negative, the cycle may be started again until the results are
positive.
Lesson Study can be defined as action research conducted by teachers, in
teaching (Cheng 2011). One main difference is that while Action Research use
various research techniques in collecting the data, Lesson Study primarily on peer
observation as the main mode of data collection (Hock 2010). Lesson Study is
collaborative not individualistic, as stated by Elliot (2007) that Lesson Study is
carried out by a group of teachers of 3 – 8 members and also in Lewis (2002) that the members of one team of lesson study are 4 – 6 teachers. If lesson Study is not defined as action research, in each cycle a collaboratively planned lesson is taught
by different teacher in different class (Lewis 2002).
B. Review of Related Studies
Some reviews of related studies are presented here to present the
information of what, why and how they have studied their topics which are related
to lesson study. They discuss the reasons, the objectives and the findings of the
studies/research.
Widodo et al (2007) on their study analyses tshe impacts of lesson study –
based school experience program on the improvement of the preservice teachers‟
teaching competencies. The findings of their study are (1) the preservice teachers can perform most indicators of teachers teaching competencies, (2) the utilization
of teaching resources is still limited, (3) classroom emotional climate is quite
good, (4) the preservice teachers participated in lesson study – based school experience still show some weaknesses in their teaching, (5) during the reflection
session, the preservice teachers admitted that lesson study based school
experience program provided them with meaningful insights on how to improve
Saiful Prayogi, a graduate student of Sebelas Maret University of
Surakarta, on his thesis, The Effect of Implementation of Lesson Study and Learning Activities toward Learning Achievement in Student of Class XI Economics Laboratorium High School, State University of Malang, aimed to
determine; (1) the effects of students‟ perception on the implementation of lesson
study to the learning achievement on economic subject, (2) the effects of students
learning activities to the students‟ achievement on the economic subject, and (3)
the effects of lesson study and students‟ learning activities simultaneously towards the students‟ achievement on the economic subject. The conclusion of his research
are (1) lesson study improves learning achievement on the economic subject, (2)
learning activities are motivation to learning achievement, (3) lesson study and
learning activities simultaneously have significant influence on the economic
subject.
On their action research Taylor, Anderson, Meyer, Wagner and West
(2002) reports four teachers and one teacher educator used the Japanese lesson
study model of professional development for 15 months in rural Carniville,
Illinois. In March 2001, the group identified a goal to improve their students‟ understanding of two – step word problem in 2nd grade elementary mathematics. During 15 months the lesson study group completed three cycles of planning,
teaching, evaluating, and reflecting. Their study found that the teachers were
motivated and empowered, and lesson study is effective for professional
development in the rural setting.
Lesson Study”. The instruments she used to collect the data were observation and
in-depth interview. Two participants and one facilitator were interviewed. The
findings revealed that teachers‟ understanding on the concept and principle of
Lesson Study enriched their knowledge on teaching and learning practice;
teachers‟ view and action in Lesson Study activities changed their thinking;
Lesson Study shaped teachers to become professional and innovative; teachers‟
expectation indicated that the teachers realized the importance to implement
Lesson Study in every school.
The studies above relates to Lesson Study. They give knowledge,
motivation, and support to the bearing of this study. They show that lesson study
improves preservice teachers‟ teaching competencies, students‟ learning
achievement and teachers‟ knowledge on teaching and learning practice. Lesson study is also effective for professional development. It showed that lesson study
playeda very meaningful role on improving teaching and learning process. It
encouraged me to see its role more deeply. How English teachers develop their
professionalism.
C. Theoretical Framework
This section presents the framework used in this research. It is to connect
and lead the related theoretical review to the pre-understanding of the English
teachers‟ lived-experience on the phenomenon on how they develop their
professionalism through Lesson Study. It is also to state how the answer of the
research question is determined.
This study attempts to describe how English teachers develop their
