24th UNESCO-APEID Hiroshima Seminar

Dr. Amelia E. Punzalan and Dr. Aida I. Yap attended the 24th UNESCO-Asia and the Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID) Hiroshima Seminar on 6 to 9 March 2012 at Hiroshima University, Japan. The UNESCO-APEID Hiroshima Seminar is now on its 8th cycle (2008 to 2013). It intends to continuously examine the problems and issues related to teacher education and development in Asia and the Pacific Region, exchange experiences concerning the efforts to develop teacher competencies, and design national and international cooperative frameworks and action plans to improve them. With Japan as the host country, ten other countries are invited to attend this seminar. These countries are subdivided into two groups which alternately attend the seminar held every year. The first group includes Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malaysia-RECSAM, Philippines-UP NISMED, and Singapore while China, Indonesia, South Korea, Mongolia, and Vietnam comprised the other group.

This year's seminar focused on Innovation for the Promotion of Lesson Study in Asia and Pacific Regions. Dr. Punzalan and Dr. Yap co-presented the current status of lesson study in the primary and secondary schools, particularly in science and mathematics, as well as the plans and efforts to develop and improve lesson study in the Philippines. During the seminar, the problems and issues related to lesson study, the current roles of lesson study for the professional development of teachers, and the uniqueness and commonalities across the cultural setting in each participating country were identified. There was also an exchange of ideas in establishing a better model of lesson study.

The organizers plan to publish a book based on the proceedings of this series of seminars in 2013. Representatives of the ten countries are expected to contribute to this book about practices and the challenges they faced in doing lesson study in their own country.

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