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The primary research question in this study concerns the establishment of a platform for intercultural collaborative lesson study, which promotes reciprocal dialogue between culturally distinctive educational research groups. Therefore, this study aims to introduce a case of intercultural collaborative lesson study projects between Hiroshima University and Leipzig University and to illustrate the issues in intercultural collaborative lesson study.

This study reconstructed the sequence of the project as a case under the narrative structure. Data were retrieved from a collaborative project between Hiroshima University and Leipzig University, which corresponds to the theoretical framework, as they represent a clear cultural contrast. The description of the project is reconstructed and reduced into a linear storyline of procedure.

This study identifies three key issues: (1) sharing data and culture, (2) visualising methodology and process, and (3) responding to research questions and answers.

This platform does require one cultural group neither throwing their own norms away nor creating an utterly new paradigm beyond their own cultures. It is a place “between” original places that enables groups to capture their own culture and another culture, which does not compel to change but effectively allows reflection and changing themselves.

Although several transcultural reports find that one cultural asset is imported and exported, the arena of bi-directional intercultural dialogue remains undeveloped. The collaborative project between Hiroshima and Leipzig is then introduced and examined to overcome the current problems in transnational lesson study.

The authors aim to determine the effects of Global Lesson Study (GLS) – a two-year, one-cycle program defined as “international cooperative lesson study through international exchange among teachers using ICT” – on intercultural competence for lesson study based on pre- and post-survey conducted for Japanese teachers.

In accordance with the GLS program, mathematics lesson studies on mathematics between Japanese and Singaporean elementary school teachers were conducted over a two-year period. Questionnaire surveys on intercultural competence for lesson study was conducted using 7-point Likert scale and descriptive questions with Japanese teachers (N = 5). Analysis of Wilcoxon's signed rank test and correlation analysis were conducted.

Followings are identified as the effects of GLS for Japanese teachers: (1) Japanese participants felt improvement of their competence in areas of attitude, internal outcomes and outward impact. (2) Participating in a GLS led to the improvement of Japanese teachers' qualities and abilities for subject teaching related to mathematics education. (3) Improvement of intercultural competence for lesson study was related to each other, and GLS led to improvement of these competences. (4) It was meaningful to have a two-year period to assimilate and adjust to independent experience of the host and guest.

The GLS led to teacher empowerment among this sample, not only as cooperative research, but also at the individual level of teachers where participants continued to develop lessons based on the GLS learning after study completion. This has important implications for the implementation and dissemination of the GLS.

The purpose of this study was to better understand how lesson study (LS) impacts the pedagogy and attitudes of teachers in varied sociocultural contexts. The authors investigated responses of teachers in Kenya and the USA who were new to LS.

Teacher interviews after LS were qualitatively and inductively analyzed with Teacher Education and Development Study: Learning to Teach Mathematics as a conceptual/analytical framework.

Results varied between Kenyan and US teachers. Kenyan teachers reported increases in content and pedagogical content knowledge. They suggested participating in LS was an enjoyable, productive struggle and emphasized the value of planning for lessons and the role of the outside expert. US teachers described consideration of students' needs, abilities, and learning strategies. They described LS as a positive experience, even though making time for the process was challenging. Procedurally, US teachers valued research and collaboration. Although both the process and responses differed, US and Kenyan teachers' reflections highlight affordances of LS.

This study is a small-scale, comparative case study. Future research could ask similar research questions in other contexts and with greater numbers of participants.

Views of teaching and learning and typical structures for teachers' professional learning vary by context; these factors should be considered when planning and implementing LS.

The study responds to an identified need to learn more about how LS contributes to teachers’ different views of teaching and learning, which are embedded in various sociocultural settings.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the history and current state of lesson study (LS) in Germany. In particular, this paper describes the development of LS over time and its stakeholders.

Conducting a systematic literature review, we searched three scientific databases and Google Scholar, examined 806 results and included 50 articles in our final sample, which we analyzed systematically.

The spread of LS in Germany can be divided into three phases, characterized by their own LS projects as well as their own ways of understanding LS. Although interest in LS has increased significantly in recent years, it is only present at a small number of schools and universities in Germany if compared internationally. Furthermore, this paper identifies the so-called learning activity curves as a tool frequently used for observation and reflection that appears to be unknown outside German-speaking countries.

This paper may act as an outline for countries without large-scale LS projects and with limited support from policymakers. The experience from Germany demonstrates the outcomes and challenges that can arise in such a situation and shows how unique LS features and proceedings have emerged.

This study examined the factors that facilitated and obstructed the dissemination of a physical education lesson study (PELS) project in Peru, conducted in collaboration with Japan.

Adopting a qualitative approach, five Peruvian stakeholders in the field of physical education (PE) were interviewed. All the interviews were transcribed. The data were analysed using the Steps for Coding and Theorization (SCAT).

The factors that obstructed the dissemination of PELS were lack of mutual observation of lessons among teachers and the resistance of teachers to the project due to the term “study” in “lesson study”. Conversely, online dissemination of PELS may significantly improve its position in Peru. Disseminating PELS through small group practice and deploying it in the field of education through stakeholder collaboration comprised facilitating factors.

This study could facilitate an understanding of Peruvian educational and PE culture and have ripple effects on the practice and dissemination of LS in other countries and subject areas.

This paper aims to discuss the significance of teacher authorship (jissen kiroku) developed during jugyo kenkyu. Specifically, it explores the structural conditions of jugyo kenkyu that enabled the flourishing of jissen kiroku.

To find how jissen kiroku developed in jugyo kenkyu, this paper settled triad of authors-text-readers as the analytical perspective. Disputes through 1960s–1980s are adequate to inquire because it can elucidate how readers read jissen kiroku, which is typically challenging to observe.

Jissen kiroku is a powerful tool for semantically preserving, reconstructing and consolidating professional values and knowledge in jugyo kenkyu with deepening connoisseurship. Voluntary educational research associations (VERAs) encourage teachers to write and read jissen kiroku to develop their professionalism, which also helped develop exclusive semantics within the field. These developments were possible due to the public nature of jissen kiroku, disseminated to lesson study (LS) actors, thereby strengthening discussions both inside and outside VERAs.

The paper proposes shift in views on educational science and emphasizes authorship as authority in that professionalism of teaching can be protected and elevated through authoring.

The significant roles of writing practice have not been explored enough. This paper finds the value of authorship in terms of public nature and openness to all teachers which enable the enhancement of professionalism of the LS field.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to develop Global Lesson Study (GLS) defined as an international collaborative lesson study through international exchange of teachers using ICT. Its purpose is to nurture teachers from different countries with intercultural competence to conduct lesson study.

We developed an initial program for GLS in the subject of mathematics education between elementary school teachers in Japan and Singapore. The qualitative analysis of activities at each stage of the Pilot GLS was conducted from two perspectives: (1) intercultural competence for lesson study and (2) teacher's competency for subject instruction.

Through GLS, a new lesson was created that was only possible with discussions from teachers from different locations. It was clarified that GLS was not only useful for training teachers with intercultural competence for lesson study but also has led to the improvement of teacher's competency for subject instruction in mathematics.

The GLS is a new attempt in the sense of developing a high-quality lesson study method for creating new lessons as well as improving qualities and abilities of teachers through international exchange.

The purpose of this paper is to present a framework based on lessons learnt from a recently completed project aimed at developing intercultural online communication competencies in business students.

The project entailed collaboration between students and staff in business communication courses from an Australian and European university. The project was designed as a response to calls within the literature to equip business graduates with intercultural expertise for global online collaboration.

Based on theoretical perspectives, staff experience and data based on student evaluations of the project, a framework has been constructed based on the issues that emerged. The issues include: institutional support, project and course goal alignment, interpersonal and intercultural relationship management and technological capabilities.

The paper is limited to the experiences and responses from the Australian university. Future research should aim to collect data from both organizations involved in the collaboration.

The framework has been constructed to assist business educators in creating collaborative international projects in the future.

Research in international education suggests the need to create collaborative projects that provide students with real life opportunities in intercultural collaboration. However, little guidance exists for academics in terms of creating and coordinating such activities. The current paper provides a framework towards the development of such pedagogic activities.

Breakout rooms are commonly used by lecturers as a means to achieve collaborative learning in online lessons. Although breakout rooms can be effective at encouraging student engagement, interaction and learning, many students dislike being forced to interact with peers, and for some students, it can lead to feelings of anxiety and stress. Successful collaborative learning depends upon having the “right” individuals working together, so the purpose of this research is to identify specific learner attributes that are associated with purposeful interpersonal interaction in breakout rooms.

An online survey was used to obtain data from 664 higher education students in the USA, which were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

Students' technology readiness, social identification and intercultural communication competence are each significantly related to the achievement of purposeful interpersonal interaction, which is strongly related to students' perceived learning.

The findings of this research emphasize the importance of lecturers considering learner attributes when forming breakout room groups.

The breakout room represents a unique and specific context for collaborative learning, where there may be minimal lecturer supervision and where students may choose to disengage by turning off their cameras and microphones or simply listen without participating (known as lurking). The existing literature has given little attention to how lecturers allocate students to online breakout rooms.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a collaborative project and study implemented by two teacher educators in an elementary education program. To prepare teacher candidates for field experiences and practicum in a diverse (bilingual) urban school, the program uses coursework to impart asset-based pedagogies and practices.

In this mixed-method case study, this paper examined the awareness and perspectives of preservice teachers (n = 26) to cultural and linguistic diversity and relevant teaching and learning practices. In particular, this study gauged their engagement with multicultural children’s literature in a collaborative interclass activity. The data sources included beginning and end of semester survey responses, notes on participant interactions during the mid-semester collaborative interclass activity and participant retrospective reflections about the activity.

This paper found that teacher candidates showed increased awareness and positive shifts in perspectives. This study also ascertaind that, in learning to become culturally (and linguistically) responsive and sustaining teachers, they benefited from collaborative peer work that focused on learning about multicultural children’s literature, analyzing it and planning to integrate it into their classrooms.

Studies show that culturally relevant literature in schools is beneficial; however, teacher candidates often lack knowledge of such literature and how to use it. This need is especially critical and relevant when learning about and implementing culturally relevant and sustaining practices. The collaborative undertaking discussed in this study fills this gap through co-teaching and interclass activity that brings preservice teachers as a cohort to collaboratively learn about, discuss, reflect on and plan lessons as they prepare to work with students from different backgrounds than their own.