Alphington PS:
e5 and Lesson Study
Introduction and
Context
Engagement and
challenges for all
Alphington Primary is an inner
suburban school of around 400
students. The school’s purpose is
identified as, 'inspiring learning,
creativity and excellence for our
future'.
The leadership team aspires to
establish the conditions in which
creativity permeates all school
programs.
Cheryl McCashney is in her
seventh year as principal of the
school. She describes the students
at Alphington as having ‘high
social capital’. This is reflected in
the school’s socioeconomic profile
where 78% of students are in the
‘top quartile’ according to the
Index of Community SocioEducational Advantage. Just 1%
of students are identified as being
in the ‘bottom quartile’. Students
generally perform above the state
median in NAPLAN.
There are strong parent
partnerships with the school and
community expectations that
students will move from
Alphington into ‘esteemed
professional roles’.
At Alphington, the values of
'integrity, respect, inclusiveness,
curiosity and collaboration' are
explicitly promoted. Teaching is
characterised by personalised
learning, efforts to differentiate
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
the curriculum and a focus on
inquiry-based learning.
Key areas of focus for teachers at
Alphington PS are ‘connecting
learning’ and ‘providing feedback’.
In terms of planning, every
teacher is encouraged to design
for differentiation, student choice
and rich tasks, with designs
shaped and informed by effective
use of data.
The instructional approach in use
at Alphington PS is the DEECD e5
model. This is coupled with a
commitment to Lesson Study as a
professional learning technique
that supports teachers to learn
how to apply the model.
The impetus for exploring an
instructional model stemmed
from the school’s involvement in
the former Northern Metropolitan
Region’s AiZ school improvement
project. It was here they had early
exposure to the e5 model.
Lesson Study was originally a
Japanese approach to improving
mathematics teaching and
learning. When engaging in Lesson
Study, teachers cycle through
stages that include: diagnostic
informed planning; teaching and
observing; discussion and revising;
and, re-teaching and observing.
The cycle then begins again with
diagnostic-informed planning.
‘…a cycle, which begins with
diagnostic informed planning’
Key elements of Lesson Study, as
outlined in school documentation,
include:
-
-
Diagnostic assessments for
common misunderstandings
to pre-empt student
responses;
Rich problem solving
provocations;
Questioning for effective
scaffolding;
Effective scaffolding
resources;
A well designed plenary; and,
an exit task or post
assessment. i
While e5 is at the heart of the
instructional approach at
Alphington, the Lesson Study cycle
provides teachers with a
collaborative process to design,
observe, analyse and make
changes to their instructional
practice.
How did teachers
learn about and
engage with the
model?
model. Their goal was to support
teachers to offer more engaging,
coherent and challenging learning
experiences for students.
This was subsequently
communicated at whole-school
staff meetings, with relevant
academic reading shared and read
by all staff.
Taking stock
When Cheryl began her role as
principal at Alphington, she
noticed that existing professional
learning was informed by
considering aspects of the
Victorian PoLT framework, along
with student, teacher and parent
surveys.
A structure for rejuvenating
professional development
Teachers were attending to
reflection, self-assessment and
goal-setting, while also working
on a developmental continuum
for an enriched learning culture.
The e5 model and associated
resources were seen as a way of
consolidating this existing work.
Cheryl was attracted to the e5
model because she could see its
potential for rejuvenating
professional learning, improving
student learning and promoting
effective practice.
After attending professional
learning on Lesson Study, school
leaders also saw the potential for
bringing this together with the e5
Across the school, year level
groups were challenged to
develop a lesson that would
incorporate a Lesson Study focus.
One colleague taught, while other
team members observed the
lesson.
This was followed by collaborative
refinement of the practices
observed, using the language of
the e5 instructional model to
discuss, analyse and reflect on
practice and to support their
learning. Each of the Lesson Study
2
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
groups shared their professional
insights with the whole staff.
While the process was logistically
challenging, staff believed they
were reaping considerable
benefits from learning with each
other in these ways.
The e5 instructional model guides
professional learning, lesson
planning frameworks and
individual performance reviews
where teachers self-assess, set
goals and reflect on their practice
to improve teaching and learning.
The e5 model guides what
teaching practices and capabilities
are desirable while lesson study
guides how these are developed
and attained.
Clear links are made between the
e5 model and the school’s goals of
empowering student voice,
improving students’ perceptions
of teacher empathy and
stimulating learning.
School-wide goals were identified
as being to:
-
Support student growth;
Provide teachers with
valuable feedback; and,
Acknowledge and recognize
effective performance.
Three drivers for improving
teacher practice were identified:
peer coaching, team-teaching and
performance review (with
targeted professional learning).
Features of professional learning
in the school include teacher
reflection and feedback on
practice within a framework of
explicit and shared expectations.
Professional learning is supported
by the collection of evidence,
targeted reflection and
appropriate modification of
practice.
Leaders meet with teachers midcycle and invite respectful sharing
of observations related to goals,
reviewing of aspirations, and
establishing future actions.
How does the model
or approach inform
the way staff at the
school work?
A work in progress
Leaders strive to offer a cohesive,
school-wide approach to
professional learning that also
provides opportunities for
individuals to personalise their
learning and address specific
learning needs.
Emilie, a teacher at Alphington PS,
described how the e5 instructional
model helped her to identify
strengths and areas for
improvement to enhance her
practice in accordance with the
school-wide goals articulated in
the strategic plan.
3
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Through this process, Emilie
became interested in identifying
and exploring more effective
means of communicating progress
of learning and achievement,
while refining her ability to pose
probing questions for herself, her
colleagues and the students.
e5 as an analytical lens. The team
then decides on improvements for
future classes.
The e5 capabilities also guide the
teaching of Inquiry units, which
are designed to enable students
to explore big questions.
Cheryl reflected that although full
implementation of the e5 model
continues to be ‘a work in
progress’, staff regularly use the
framework for peer observation
and coaching.
Teachers collaborate and observe
colleagues in the classroom, then
constructively comment on the
teaching practices observed using
2. Presentation of the Problem
Format: Exploration
Explicitly teach: the CONCEPT.
Explicitly teach and model: the
SKILL.
Emilie was able to articulate what
had caused her practice to evolve
from what she identified as a
‘closed door approach to
classroom practice’ in the past to
being guided by the e5
instructional model. She also
made links between her ‘e5 focus’
and the regional priorities of
‘curiosity and powerful learning’,
which were of great interest to
her. Emilie placed ‘great value on
the e5 concepts of reviewing and
evaluating lessons.
The e5 instructional model now
forms the basis of an agreed
lesson structure throughout the
school. It also supports staff to
analyse NAPLAN and other data
sets by prompting reflection,
identifying links with teacher
practices as a means of improving
outcomes.
Learning intentions: make the
Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria clear to students.
Check for Understanding: Monitor
students’ comprehension before
proceeding.
3. Solving the Main Problem:
Explanation
Setting the problem: through a
rich task in a real life context.
Provide Individual Support:
teachers work alongside students
individually or in small groups to
support their understanding of
the concept.
The following example illustrates
how the e5 model and lesson
study cycle scaffolds teacher
planning.
Attention is given to five key
elements.
Effectively scaffold: guided by
student responses.
Provide feedback: determine level
of students’ understanding and
provide feedback.
1. Grasping the Problem Setting:
Engagement.
4. Polishing and reporting
individual Solution Methods:
Elaboration
A learning goal: is established
where teachers gather clear
evidence of what students know,
how they’re thinking, and specific
areas of need.
Plenary – Build consensus:
Students verbalise learning,
engage in questioning, noticing
and evaluating generalisations.
The hook: designed to grab the
students’ attention to engage
them in learning.
Instruction and scaffolding: to
activate and review acquired
knowledge.
4
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
5. Summative Evaluation and Link
to Future Learning: Evaluation
Students bring the lesson to an
appropriate conclusion, tying
together the learning coherently.
Link back to original learning
intention.
Reiterate student consensus (not
always reached).
Learning intentions and pace
appropriate to individuals in a
particular class shapes the
content.
As the Lesson Study cycle places
emphasis on diagnostic
assessments, teachers are alert to
identifying common
misunderstandings so that they
can pre-empt student
misconceptions. This helps to
reveal individual learning needs.
Classroom teachers identified that
the culture of support in the
school has encouraged them to
move effectively along the e5
developmental continuum.
What has been the
impact of engaging
with the model?
Professional clarity
The e5 instructional model and, in
a supporting role, the Lesson
Study approach, have impacted
school life at Alphington in
multiple ways.
The leadership team and teachers
report significant student
development:
They are setting goals, tracking
their thoughts and feelings,
observing their own
improvement. Responsibility
and accountability has spread
from the teachers to the
students, along with a change
in students’ sense of choice and
participation.
This has been supported by a
transformation in the ways in
which teachers interact with each
other, with more doors open,
more frequent team-building
conversations and a stronger
sense of distributed leadership.
One of the teachers identified
some of the shifts in her
understandings and practices:
I used to believe that
differentiation was giving each
student a different activity…now
I believe having a learning goal
for a lesson makes students
aware of what learning will take
place. It gives students a ‘voice’
to discuss how they have
progressed from the initial
starting point. You can create a
differentiated task that all
students can complete rather
than individual group activities.
Lesson Study and working in
teams had also enabled teachers
‘to develop a lesson and to
critique our teaching to help
improve and change our
practices’.
Prior to Cheryl’s leadership, there
had been a ‘closed door’ culture
where teachers engaged in
‘individual classroom practice’.
Now Alphington has ‘open
classrooms’ where teachers
observe, comment on teaching
and learning strategies and offer
constructive feedback.
Teachers are continuing to
develop their capacity to ask more
probing questions, develop goals,
identify strengths and areas for
improvement.
One student reflected:
…most of the time the topics I
study are interesting and we
are challenged to put what we
learn into real-life situations.
When I fall behind with maths I
get extra support. Students
who need extension are
recognized and given work that
challenges them. Technology,
like laptops and educational
games on the interactive
whiteboard, help us learn.
Other impacts include:
There is now a common and
pervasive professional language in
use, based on e5 and Lesson
Study, which is enabling:
- Mutual understanding and
more analytical professional
conversations in peer coaching
5
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
and team teaching, including
when engaging in feedback;
- Consistent, shared approach
to designing for learning;
- A framework for performance
and development reviews;
- A means of clarifying and
identifying professional
learning needs; and, via this,
- Clearer and more targeted
individual and collective foci
for professional learning;
-Increased student voice and
choice; and,
- Inquiry and innovation, based
on research, have become key
priorities.
The Lesson Plan cycle has also
prompted a stronger emphasis on
use of evidence and student data
to inform planning. These
combined impacts have led to:
- An expanded and more
effective pedagogical
repertoire for teachers;
- More stimulating, purposeful
and creative unit designs and
lesson plans;
- More engaging, interesting
and challenging learning for
students, where they have
choices that reflect their
different interests and needs;
and,
Moreover, the e5 model has
helped the school move away
from an ‘audience’ approach to
professional learning to a more
active approach where staff
contribute to and build on their
own knowledge by engaging with
and learning from each other.
Leaders also actively facilitate
improved internal sharing of
practice.
The leadership team has observed
the effectiveness of the Lesson
Study approach and committed to
a shared planning time for teams
to work together and engage in
observations.
-Stronger sense of belonging to
a united learning community.
6
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
When whole-school professional
learning sessions are convened at
the school, emphasis is placed on
the trust given to staff by the
principal and her support for
innovative undertakings.
In recent years, the momentum
for positive change has grown,
while individual capacity building
within teams has empowered
staff and boosted their
professional confidence.
What might other
school communities
learn from the
Alphington
experience?
School improvement is driven by
individual reflection on effective
practice, alongside careful
consideration of the collective
progress of the team, in reference
to the ideas and practices
promoted in the e5 model and the
Lesson Study cycle.
This sense of pedagogical growth
and confidence is captured in the
perspective of a group of
students:
Choosing carefully
Cheryl described how in contrast
to when external professional
development was the norm, there
is now a sense of ‘internal
efficacy’.
The leadership team has observed
how engagement with the e5
model has encouraged teachers to
‘probe beyond the surface, to help
generate strategies. It’s not just
about knowing how to do it, it’s
about understanding’.
We like how every class is
different, and everyone
collaborates. We like how
teachers are creative about their
lessons, but stretch us. They
understand us and are bouncy
and happy around us. They give
us options and are willing to
help.…teachers make an effort to
make learning hands-on... Our
science projects gave us the
opportunity to create… I like how
the teachers differentiate our
learning so that it stretches us
but doesn’t overwhelm us. We
are given choice
The Alphington experiences
suggest other schools may benefit
by:
Searching out models of
practice that suit, or can be
adapted to meet the needs of
local school contexts - it is
important to make the model
your own;
Supporting the development of
staff via a number of different
strategies so that the favoured
model is well understood. This
is likely to involve significant
re-organisation and ongoing
effort;
Teachers now feel that there is a
stronger whole school approach
to teaching and learning.
The professional learning culture
at Alphington has transitioned
from high level technical concerns
to a stronger focus on inquiry and
innovation.
They are less likely now to look to
outside experts for answers and
have developed the capability to
work things out locally.
7
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Making sure that people have
regular opportunities to
observe and discuss new
practices and approaches, in
teams as well as whole staff;
Using evidence to support
individual and collective
professional inquiry;
Employing multiple strategies
to promote use of the model;
Considering the possible
connections that could be
forged between aspired to
aspects of practice promoted
in the model and the
performance and development
review process;
Recognising the power of
developing a shared
professional language as a
significant enabler of dialogue,
reflection and change;
Considering the role that an
instructional model could play
in guiding and shaping how the
school plans and designs
learning – this may mean
developing a scaffold;
Recognising that people need
time to understand, take up
and begin using a model
effectively, it won't happen
overnight; and,
Leaving room in the model for
teachers to make professional
judgements and to adapt
aspects of the model to the
learning needs of their own
students and contexts;
The way that teachers learn needs
careful attention in order to build
‘internal efficacy’. This can be
achieved via school organised and
facilitated professional learning,
which offers relevant, current,
dialogue-based opportunities for
reflective practice.
Particularly important at
Alphington has been the
appointment of passionate
leaders and effective school
improvement teams with an
emphasis on coaching and
internal sharing of practice.
In addition, evidence-based
observations and strategic
arrangements for shared planning
time have led to fruitful
collaboration within learning
teams.
The take up and use of any model
will depend to a significant degree
on the role leaders play in
developing, promoting and
scaffolding it’s use.
i
Dawson, E. F. (2013). Lesson
Study: Improving Teachers’
Conceptions of Students’
Understanding in Place Value.
Unpublished Manuscript.
8
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development