observations. Finally, before closing the debriefing, the facilitator asked if anyone
wanted to make a comment or reflect on the process of lesson study. Teachers commented
on how difficult it was to watch the students and not interact with them, i.e.,
to remain quiet. At the end, Peg made a statement that promoted the development of
the culture of lesson study within the group. She said, “A couple of times during the
discussion today I was getting defensive about what was being said, but I realized
that everyone was taking responsibility for the lesson and it wasn’t about me it was
about the lesson. It was hard, but I think I understand better about the process and
what we are trying to do.”
A complete description of the three subsequent lessons is not included in this
chapter. The remaining three lessons followed the same format as described above.
It is, however, necessary to visualize the problems in the last research lesson in order
to interpret the research findings discussed in Part 2. The final lesson required
the students to name the fractional parts of a square region (see Fig. 1). The students
were asked to label the fractional part of the whole that each section represented.
No parts were shaded.