Lesson Study works and what it offers: lessons from the Lesson Study MLD project

Moderate learning difficulties (MLD) has been a neglected area of research and development in Special Needs Education partly because of its contested nature and loose formulation. The project Raising Levels of Achievement through Lesson Development for pupils with Moderate Learning Difficulties aims to improve the learning experiences and opportunities of pupils with MLD to enhance their educational achievements and to develop pedagogic strategies, programmes and materials for wider use in secondary schools based on the Lesson Study. The Lesson Study methodology is a collaborative approach for teachers to assess, evaluate and plan a sequence of lessons that focuses on the learning of one to two focus pupils in this case those identified as having MLD. We report findings at around half way point of the project, which, in addition to outlining the main principles of Lesson Study, throw some light on the MLD category as well as the impact of the Lesson Study process on participating teachers in terms of their reported teaching efficacy, attitudes to inclusion and pedagogic strategies developed for teaching pupils with MLD at Key Stage 3.