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Japanese Lesson Study (JLS) is a professional development method, involving teachers collaboratively planning lessons, observing their enactment, then discussing observations of teaching and learning. This paper explores translation of JLS internationally, seeking to understand how and why it is adapted and how an understanding of national culture and implementation paradigms might support translation. We begin by examining evidence on adaptation and challenges of JLS implementation internationally, finding both deviation from the seven components of JLS, and qualitative evidence of perceived challenges to successful implementation. Further we explore two bodies of the literature explaining how and why such adaptations occur. First, implementation science reveals that full fidelity appears not to be amenable to the complexity of education innovations like LS, but that adaptation is fraught with challenges, with no linear pathway. Secondly, Hofstede's and colleagues' dimensions of culture enable us to hypothesise about how Japan's culture might have framed development of JLS, and to predict possible challenges when translated into a host nation. Finally, we hypothesize as to the relationship between adoption of either fidelity or adaptation implementation paradigms, and identified differences between Japan and the host nation's national culture, suggesting avenues for further research which may serve to test hypotheses empirically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lesson study has attracted the attention of teachers and teacher educators over the past two decades, and practices vary from region to region and from school to school. This study, as a conceptual discussion paper, aims to discuss the modes of coordination of lesson study at the school level, based on comparative institutional analysis (CIA). CIA is a framework to investigate the 'rules of the game' that govern given organisations. The conditions of categorisation include three core foci: whether lesson study is essentially more subject oriented or student oriented, whether or not the entire school is involved and whether or not the members are consistent throughout the process. According to these conditions, five modes are generated, namely: subject expert mode (E-mode), subject departmental mode (D-mode), LSLC multiple layer mode (M-mode), LSLC initial concentration mode (C-mode) and LSLC initial participation mode (P-mode). These are based on the differing needs of teachers: E-mode and D-mode refer to the more subject oriented lesson study aimed at instructional improvement; M-mode refers to school reform based on the needs of students observed in the process of lessons; finally, C-mode and P-mode are introductory approaches to M-mode, requiring careful planning and management for scaling up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the outcomes of a ‘lesson study’ project conducted in a mathematics department with four serving teachers in a secondary school in England. Using Dudley’s lesson study framework and drawing on Hargreaves and Fullan’s notion of professional capital, the feasibility and value of collaborative lesson study as a vehicle for the development of teacher learning were explored. Planning and evaluation meetings as well as end-of-project interviews were analysed to investigate how teachers planned research lessons together and how these were evaluated. Despite time constraints, teachers who engaged in lesson study reported that the process improved understanding of their students; that collaboration helped them to develop less-teacher-centred approaches and created a stronger sense of teacher community. The project demonstrated that lesson study has potential as an alternative or complementary model of teachers’ learning, but it also throws up substantive organisational challenges if its use is to expand. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent research, it has been argued that effective professional learning would continue over the long term and is best suited for a school community that promotes learning. This requires an examination of the teachers on a daily basis. In order to develop such a community, it becomes increasingly important for teachers to mutually observe and jointly reflect on practices at the classroom level. Educators in the United States have begun paying close attention to the Japanese tradition of lesson study. This paper aims to discuss the chief findings and issues that have hitherto been raised with respect to research on lesson study and to clarify current progress and limitations in the research in the United States and Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study explores the processes of collaborative teacher learning in a Lesson Study group at a lower secondary school in Norway. In this context, teacher learning is understood from a sociocultural perspective, as making sense of the world, solving problems and exploring new perspectives through social interaction. Audio-recorded teacher discussions are analysed, using a coding system adapted to identify whether teachers' reports of observations from the classroom are related to interpretation, evaluation and further planning. Findings reveal a strong link between reported and interpreted observations, evaluation of student learning and teaching, and further planning. The article suggests that the sharing phase of the post-research lesson discussions provided the foundation for this relationship. Planned observations operationalised through observation forms contributed to rich reports of observations from several observers. The collaborative sharing process opened up for extended perspectives on the research lessons. However, the most crucial aspect for teacher learning was shared ownership of challenges and a common wish to change and improve the next lesson. These findings contribute to enlighten the potential of teacher learning processes in Lesson Study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a concrete illustration of how teachers in a primary school in Singapore discuss students' learning in a lesson study cycle and grew professionally as a community. Specifically, we examined how collaboratively analysing students' work serves as a useful practice for teachers to learn to work with diverse learners. The findings suggested that open discussions around students' work helped teachers to reflect upon their unwarranted perceptions of their students and their teaching. The study provided insights into how teachers' understandings of their students' diverse backgrounds, as well as teachers' understanding of subject content and pedagogy, developed as they participated in lesson study activities that were focused on analysing students' work. Our findings found that lesson study provided the following affordances to foster such changes: (1) eliciting hypotheses in dialogue; (2) creating space for alternative perspectives; (3) collaboratively scrutinizing student learning evidence for follow-up teaching; and (4) identifying problems for further discussion. While the illustration of this case is uniquely Singaporean, implications include concerns about teacher professional learning and teaching for equity common to many other educational contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professional school cultures, which can be characterized by teachers who take an inquiry stance and in which exchanging knowledge and collaboratively developing classroom material is common practice, receive increasing attention. However, teachers in many schools still often work in isolation and generally do not critically examine their practices. This could lead to decreased feelings of self-efficacy and could negatively impact teacher learning. To counteract such an isolationist school culture, Lesson Study, known for its integration of collaborative and inquiry-based features, could play an essential role. Using a quasi-experimental design (N = 60) including two questionnaires, this study explores whether participating in Lesson Study influences teachers' perceptions of the school culture and conditions in their schools (such as leadership and collegial support), as well as their feelings of self-efficacy. The results reveal significant between-group differences in terms of efficacy in student engagement and significant within-group differences in the intervention group in terms of teacher autonomy and support from the school department leader as well as all teacher self-efficacy. This study could support school leaders who wish to implement, sustain or upscale Lesson Study practices in order to promote a professional school culture in their schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lesson Study is a professional development program, which engages teachers in a collaborative and long-term lesson planning process aimed at improving a single or a group of lessons. In the process, teachers may feel that they are offered three different types of support: social, emotional, and instructional. The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of those supports received during Lesson Study. Specifically, this study focuses on teachers' perceptions of the supports they experienced while working in a Lesson Study group, and the extent to which teachers' perceived supports differed when participating in Lesson Study in-person and then via video. Furthermore, perceptions of supports were investigated based on modalities, and whether or not the Lesson Study was single-school based or cross-school based teams. Findings from this study revealed that participants did feel socially, emotionally and instructionally supported during Lesson Study, and felt higher levels of support during in-person Lesson Study, in comparison to a video-based Lesson Study iteration. Additionally, the results suggest that levels of perceived support did not vary based on being single-school-based or cross-school-based Lesson Study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a methodology for the developmental evaluation of a lesson study programme in primary and secondary schools. Our approach combined the principles of (i) user-focused evaluation, in which, as evaluators, we acted as participatory members of the innovation team and sought to involve users in the design and implementation of evaluation tools, (ii) a multi-level logical model to guide data collection and impact measurement and (iii) an 'improving rather than proving' approach to evaluation. The evaluation tools were used on a programme to promote lesson study in London schools involving 133 teachers and 33 schools. The evaluation methodology included outcomes at school leadership, teacher and student levels. Issues of internal and external validity are discussed and strengths and weaknesses are described. Findings showed promise in the use of our scale to measure changes in teacher pedagogical outcomes and in the recording of qualitative changes to both teachers and students as a result of the lesson study cycles. Suggestions for the future use and development of this methodology are proposed, including better use of control groups and quantitative measures to record changes in learning outcomes for students. List of Abbreviations: HE: Higher Education; LS: Lesson Study; PD: Professional Development [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central in this study is the professional development of beginning and experienced teachers collaborating in Lesson Study teams. Two high school teacher teams participated, a chemistry and a multidisciplinary team. Each team consisted of a beginning and an experienced teacher. Both teams went through the Lesson Study cycle twice. What and from what the beginning and experienced teachers learned, differences in teacher leaning and what Lesson Study elements contributed to this learning were studied in a qualitative multiple case study using interviews, reflective journals, and recordings. The Extended Interconnected Model for Professional Growth was used to interpret teacher learning. Our results show that two Lesson Study teams materialized in which participants shared experiences, thoughts, and ideas related to teaching and learning. Lesson Study contributed to both beginning and experienced teachers' PCK development. The combination of two phases in this professional development program proved instrumental for this PCK development: a development phase in which participants meet new pedagogies, discuss these in the perspective of student learning, design a lesson plan and prepare for class use. Followed by a class enactment phase where the designed lesson is enacted, students are observed, subsequently salient results are discussed and the lesson plan revised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based in a time of major curriculum reform, this article reports on a qualitative case study of teacher professional development (PD) in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). Five mathematics teachers in an Irish secondary school were introduced to and participated in successive cycles of school-based lesson study (LS) over the course of one academic year. The research investigated how teachers’ pedagogical practices and beliefs on student learning, specifically related to a revised curriculum, were impacted as a result of their participation in this model of PD. Data were generated through audio and field recording of teacher LS meetings, individual teacher interviews, teacher notes, samples of student work, observation of research lessons and researcher field notes. Analysis suggests that due to their collaborative planning, teaching, observation and reflection of research lessons, teachers began to incorporate and develop new pedagogical practices both inside and outside LS. This study suggests that in the introduction of centralised curriculum reform, LS can act as a powerful model of PD which can encourage the introduction of new pedagogical practices. This research also provides evidence for the introduction of LS as a viable form of PD in secondary schools in the ROI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professional development of in-service teachers requires a sustainable and school-based model which will provide them with opportunities for collaboration in building an environment that supports their capacity-building and pedagogical improvement. In this professional development model, teachers are treated as central to the learning process, allowing them to be engaged in critically assessing their own improvement. A qualitative method was used in this study to explore the positive outcomes of lesson study as a professional development model. Data included transcripts from year-long interaction of the teachers and science education experts taken in various form such as reflective logs, audio and video-tape recordings, non-structured questions and formal written interviews. Analysis was done through the constant comparison method to reveal the coding patterns for the positive impact of lesson study. Teachers’ insights provided positive evidence that lesson study developed them professionally, especially in terms of enhancing their science content knowledge, improving their teaching strategies aligned to inquiry, building a collaborative and professional working environment, and recognizing the significance of post-lesson reflection and discussion. Results therefore show the growing acknowledgement of lesson study as a professional development model for in-service teachers which can possibly be adapted by other Asian and international education settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study focuses on mathematics teachers’ professional development through elements of Japanese lesson study. The teachers designed a research lesson with regard to sense-making of the derivative using the integration of GeoGebra. In the second year of the four-year lesson study project, seven secondary school teachers – from different Dutch schools – worked cooperatively, building on the first-year experiences with the introduction of the derivative. The teachers designed a lesson that focused on encapsulation of the conceptual understanding of the derivative before solving problems with operational symbolism later in the course. They tried to make sense of the calculus using GeoGebra as a tool to realize surprise in which conceptual embodiment and operational symbolism blend together. The teachers integrated GeoGebra to consolidate the derivative using the visual idea of zooming in on the graph to see its local behavior (where a differentiable function looks ‘locally straight’). The teachers reported that they have learned to use visualizations and experienced the importance of student interaction. The teachers realized that this approach of the derivative – integrating GeoGebra – encouraged them to reflect on how the students made sense of learning activities in general. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lesson observation has a longstanding tradition in the assessment and development of new and experienced teachers in England. Over the last two decades it has progressively emerged as an important tool for measuring and improving professional practice in schools and colleges. This article reviews literature across the three education sectors (i.e. schools, further education and higher education) in order to compare and contrast the role of observation. In doing so it discusses the key themes and issues surrounding its use in each sector and identifies common and contrasting patterns. It argues that in schools and further education, observation has become increasingly associated with performance management systems; a dominant yet contested model has emerged that relies on a simplified rating scale to grade professional competence and performance, although the recent introduction of ‘lesson study’ in schools appears to offer an alternative to such practice. In higher education, however, there is limited evidence of observation being linked to the summative assessment of staff, with preferred models being peer-directed and less prescribed, allowing lecturers greater autonomy and control over its use and the opportunity to explore its potential as a means of stimulating critical reflection and professional dialogue about practice among peers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article we portray our personal journeys in a cross-cultural context resulting in professional growth. Data are presented in the form of constructed dialogues, and are reflected upon using the theories of transformative learning and intercultural competency. The role of lesson study as a vehicle for our journeys is examined. Reflection on our journeys culminates in a discussion on individuation, risk-taking, professional dialogue and the value of learning companions. We conclude by speculating on factors that may contribute to whether individuals might accept or decline engaging in similar journeys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]