Integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into Middle School Science Teaching through Lesson Study

The purpose of this study was to introduce the integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) concept into middle school science lessons through lesson study. Four teacher educators from Sagaing University of Education and Sixteen middle school teachers from four basic education schools in Sagaing Township participated in this study. Using adapted Dudley (2014)’s lesson study cycle process, lesson study of science lessons from Grade Six science textbooks was conducted. Both Qualitative and Quantitative methods were used and data collecting instruments were semi-structured interview, observation and achievement test. Results of the initiated lesson study significantly indicated that there are improvements of science teaching learning process in terms of teachers’ content knowledge, teaching methodology, and student achievement. As part of participating in interactive lesson study cycles, teachers became more aware of ESD concepts in science lessons and began openly reflecting on students’ participation around science activities during their post-lesson discussions. Although lesson study improves teachers’ professional development with teacher collaboration and student achievement, on the other hand, the teachers are still unfamiliar with ESD themes and they need to understand ESD concepts more clearly. Therefore integration of ESD concepts into science lessons is a difficult task for teachers and there are many challenges for implementing the integration of ESD into science teaching