Lesson study, a new approach for teachers to teach science and mathematics in schools

In order to prepare and generate qualified science teachers in Ghana, science education in Ghana has been intensified in higher education. Since STEM education is now a key component of every nation's development for the fourth industrial revolution, Ghana's educational system must generate qualified science teachers who will support STEM education and create science technocrats who will help Ghana stay ahead of the curve.

Ghana has recently produced some of the world's best scientists, whose work has influenced society. These include Dr. Thomas O. Mensah, a chemical engineer and inventor who helped the world develop fiber optic manufacturing and nanotechnology, Prof. Francis Allotey, who developed the Allotey Formalism, a method for determining matter in space, and Prof. Ewurama Addy, the first female natural scientist inn Ghana who popularized herbal medicine, and many among others.

Many students in Ghanaian high schools now find science and mathematics to be challenging subjects. Even though science and mathematics scores on the West African Examination Council (WAEC) exam have increased recently, many students still have difficulty with them. Numerous factors, such as teacher instructional tactics, students' lack in experiments or practical work, and teachers' subject-matter expertise, are contributing to the decline in science performance and student enrollment in science and mathematics.

One of the greatest approaches of teaching science and mathematics that is currently available is lesson study. Lesson study has been used in many countries to enhance the teaching and learning process since its inception by Japan in the 1870s (Baytops-Paul 2019). Lesson study is an instructional approach in which teachers actively participate in the learning process of students to address their specific learning requirements. It is a classroom-based development model that aims to enhance professional growth among teachers. Lesson study offers several advantages, including enhancing teachers' pedagogical skills, improving their content knowledge, fostering the development of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) through reflective practices, and facilitating the sharing of best teaching practices among teachers (Vermunt, Vrikki, van Halen, Warwick & Mercer 2019). It is a technique of examining teachers' growth and practice (Makinae 2019; Li 2019). To examine an educational challenge and decide how to apply the solution to existing teaching goals, lesson study teams can be organized by grade level, topic area, or as an interdisciplinary group. Depending on the workload and intricacy of the subject matter, lesson study usually lasts about two weeks to a month (Vermunt, Vrikki, van Halen, Warwick & Mercer 2019). During these times, the lesson study team's teachers get together to discuss the problem, organize the lesson, watch one another teach, and discuss the learning of the students (Ogegbo, Gaigher & Salgaram 20119).

When American teachers looked into why Japanese students scored so well in science and mathematics classes in high school, they concluded that their professional development approach, known as lesson study, might be the cause of Japan's success. These teachers found that Japanese teachers had created a method for analyzing student performance called "lesson study" (Jansen, Knippels & van Joolingen 2021). Due to its success in empowering teachers, lesson study is currently one of the professional development strategies with the quickest rate of growth in both the US and Eastern Europe.

Since lesson study is a tool for teacher professional development, Ghana Education Service can research and implement it in schools in districts, municipalities, and metro areas that are categorized as circuit, cluster, or zonal. Teachers of science and mathematics can rely on it to find the right Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) to teach difficult topics in the classroom.