Project News

Written by Dr. Ibrohim, M.Si Local Coordinator of PELITA-JICA for FMIPA UM

Lesson study is an activity of reviewing lessons, conducted by a group of teachers, collaboratively and continuously to improve the quality of lessons. The term ‘lesson study' comes from Japanese, "jugyo kenkyu". Lesson study was adapted from Japan to Indonesia in 2004/2005 by Japanese experts, who were working for IMSTEP Project (Indonesian Mathametics and Science Teaching Education Project). After being developed, implemented, and disseminated through JICA technical cooperation programs (SISTTEMS and PELITA), lesson study is now wide-spread in many areas. In addition, lesson study has also been disseminated through BERMUTU program (Better Education Through Reformed Management and Universal Teacher Upgrading) and Induction Program for Novice Teacher (Program Induksi Guru Pemula — PIGP). Lesson study has also been used as one of the strategies of LPTK and LEDIPSTI (Lesson study Dissemination Program for Strengthening Teacher Education in Indonesia).

After lesson study was wide-spread, we found lesson study practices, through trainings, seminars, or workshops, that deviated from the correct concepts/principles and syntaxes. Many teachers or education practitioners who knew and conducted the steps of lesson study only in the surface. To anticipate these problems, some people began to realize that we need to establish a network that can be a medium for exchanging and sharing experience, and to guide the dissemination of lesson study in Indonesia. Eventually, an idea to establish the medium or network was presented in a meeting of representatives of educational universities that received lesson study block-grant (more than 30 people) during the 4th National Seminar of Lesson Study Seminar in FMIPA of UM Malang, on November 12, 2012. The medium was called (ALSI) or Lesson Study Association of Indonesia. ALSI was intended as an organization for educational practitioners who developed lesson study as a medium to improve the quality of lessons.

The establishment of ALSI was started by setting a formatting team, consisted of 7 representatives from educational universities, especially the ones located in Java Island. It was done so that the formatting team could immediately hold a meeting to establish and to prepare the organizational apparatus and to plan a meeting to establish the organizing members. Unanimously, the meeting decided to appoint Dr. Istamar Syamsuri, M.Pd and Dr. Ibrohim, M.Si (FMIPA of UM) to be the Head and General Secretary of ALSI for 2012 – 2013 periods, and set FMIPA of UM as the joint secretariat of ALSI.

With the establishment of ALSI, it is expected to be a medium for educational practitioners in Indonesia, from teachers, lecturers, principals, supervisors, widyaiswara (trainers), to leaders of education offices, to exchange information, experience, and best practices of lesson study in order to improve the quality of education in Indonesia. Therefore, anybody, both members and non-members of ALSI, can utilize ALSI to consult and to ask for advices about how to develop lesson study practice, so that the activity can run effectively and efficiently.