ABSTRACT
Curricular emphasis on twenty-first-century competencies and the introduction of social studies as a subject in secondary school were supported by a collaborative professional development initiative involving teachers working with university-based facilitators. Secondary social studies teacher groups carried out lesson studies to teach topics from the national syllabus. Clarity about subject content involving the question of ‘what to teach’ was developed by identifying the critical aspects of the object of learning to inform the processes of planning, teaching and learning, and reflection. This chapter highlights the use of this approach to inform lesson study focusing on the Japanese Occupation as the object of learning. The critical aspects comprised Japanese propaganda, invasion and cultural domination referred to as nipponization. Three lessons each focusing on a critical aspect were developed and taught, and teachers were encouraged to reflect on these experiences to develop insights which would help them shift their practice from a textbook-based, transmissive pedagogy to more student-centred approaches using a variety of rich resources.
