LESSON STUDY: A SCHOOL-EMBEDDED MODEL OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR (LANGUAGE) TEACHERS

One of the most magnetic words in the topic of teaching and learning is professional development. The word professional development is usually attributed to teachers who pursue or are sent to pursue new knowledge and skills in order to support their job as teaching
practitioners. Professional development is believed to possess potential benefits which enable teachers to perform better in class to help students achieve their full potential. This paper will consider a number of explanations for teacher professional development. Taking the concepts of teacher as agent of change and teacher as learner as two points of departure, the paper reviews the literature on the principles of professional development and proceeds to present the ‘lesson study’ as a form of professional development for language teachers before finally suggesting some points about the importance of teacher learning in enhancing their professional growth.