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Lesson study has emerged as an approach to improving the quality of teaching in the USA. The purpose of this paper is to provide an investigation into teachers’ attitudes toward lesson study. Evidence suggests that lesson study may increase teachers’ content knowledge and their ability to anticipate student misconceptions during lessons. Nevertheless, certain issues have surfaced in the literature. Teachers may struggle with the demands of collaboration, critique of their lessons, and observation of their teaching. Moreover, lesson study may conflict with the existing mandate-monitor culture within many school districts. Understanding how teachers perceive lesson study is vital to gauging the effectiveness of the process.

In all, 55 teachers at two elementary schools in urban Los Angeles participated in the researcher-designed survey. For the teachers in this study, participation in lesson study was mandatory, and most had participated in a version of lesson study that emphasized following the established curriculum and district-approved strategies. Data were analyzed using correlational analysis.

Results yielded significant associations between teachers’ comfort levels with collaboration, lesson observation, lesson critique, and their support for lesson study. Higher degrees of control by the district over the lesson study process were linked to teachers feeling less responsible for student learning.

The findings from this study have important implications for the prospects of lesson study as a model of teacher development in the USA.

This paper fulfils a need to investigate factors that impede and promote the effective implementation of lesson study in the USA.

A first post-WALS attempt at a thematic analysis of the conference presentations since its first annual meeting in 2007, this paper aims to achieve two major purposes: first, to capture the trends of spread and diffusion of lesson and learning studies globally and second, to draw useful implications for future conferences.

A thematic analysis using NVIVO12.0 coding on all forms of conference presentations found in the WALS 2019 Conference Programme was conducted. Representative cases were selected from paper and symposiums sessions to support the claims generated from the analysis.

The study provides an evidence-based confirmation of the global spread and diffusion of lesson and learning studies. It uncovers findings key to the initial spread and continued diffusion; examines funding as a mechanism enabling university–school research relationships, models of adaptations and issues of sustainability; surfaces the theoretical models and methods adopted in paper and symposia presentations. The current situation, lessons learned and possible implications for future WALS conferences are discussed.

Inform research on practical cases.

Lessons learned are discussed.

These are possible implications for future WALS conferences.

The originality lies in its being the first WALS post-conference analysis aiming at identifying substantive themes with potential to draw important implications for future research and subsequent years' conferences.

During field experiences, preservice teachers often are asked plan and teach a lesson and then to reflect on their teaching. The purpose of this paper is to examine the guided reflections of 66 preservice teachers after they planned and implemented a primary source-based lesson in an elementary classroom. The project occurred during the preservice teachers’ enrollment in a social studies methods course.

This qualitative study utilized a fieldwork approach as the methodological framework. This approach provided data that allowed the researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the preservice teachers’ experiences. Data were analyzed using Bogdan and Biklen’s (1998) content unit of analysis. Descriptive and interpretive coding schemes were used to analyze data using a priori categories of successes and challenges.

The preservice teachers were able to engage in technical and practical reflection, considering strategies used in the classroom and their effects on student learning, but they were unable to reflect at the critical level, thinking about moral and ethical decisions. The themes and subthemes that many of the preservice teachers identified as successes, others identified as challenges.

This study highlights the importance of preservice teachers engaging with primary sources, as well as with frequent, meaningful, and ongoing field experiences. Teacher educators need to provide multiple opportunities for teacher candidates to reflect broadly and deeply on their teaching practice and student learning. Additional research needs to be conducted to assess the impact of preservice teachers use of primary sources in the elementary classroom.

Teachers in the USA have been conducting lesson study for more than ten years since it was introduced from Japan in the late 1990s. Although interest in conducting lesson study in the USA is still strong and greater numbers of teachers have become involved in this professional learning, there are significant obstacles to conducting high quality and effective lesson study that enhances teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge, as well as improving their instruction and student learning in classrooms. Because of the needs of improvement in lesson study in the USA, so it can be administered effectively and sustained, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the current status of lesson study in the USA, what high quality and effective lesson study is, and what ideas might be help to improve lesson study in the USA.

In this paper, issues that are common barriers to conducting effective lesson study, such as: US teachers’ misunderstanding or lack of understanding of lesson study; teachers’ insufficient knowledge of content, pedagogical content, curriculum knowledge; lack of support from administrators for lesson study; non‐systematic approach to implement lesson study; and having short‐sighted vision to conduct lesson study will be discussed. The discussions are based on the author's 12 years of experience working with teachers, schools, and school districts in the USA, interactions and information exchanges with other lesson study educators and researchers and professional development coordinators in schools and districts in the USA, and existing research documents in the USA. Through this discussion, the author attempts to provide suggestions for improving lesson study in the USA.

In order for lesson study to be successful, teachers need to think of lesson study as a way to improve their own learning as well as student learning. Spending more time studying mathematical content and curriculum, developing a strong pedagogical content knowledge with colleagues, and establishing a professional community of learning through lesson study will help it to be effective for improving classroom teaching and learning.

The paper provides some helpful suggestions for improving quality and effectiveness of lesson study in order to improve: classroom teaching – teacher's content, pedagogical content and curriculum knowledge; and student learning. The paper is particularly valuable for lesson study practitioners, and administrators and staff developers who are implementing lesson study in schools.

Problem solving is a skill in mathematics which although always relevant has heightened priority due to the changes in the new mathematics GCSE (Department for Education, 2013). It has previously been a skill which is deemed underdeveloped within mathematics and therefore is a theme which teachers are seeking to improve and nurture in order to align with the new changes. The GCSE is the formal qualification that students take at the end of Key Stage 4 (KS4) in the UK. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The focus of the enquiry was to explore, using lesson studies, the differences in students’ approaches to problem solving. Consequently, key themes relating to the mediation of gender, ability, and academic motivation surfaced. Considering these themes, the paper subsequently reflects upon pedagogical practices which might effectively develop students’ ability to problem solve. The study took part in a mixed gender comprehensive secondary school with students taking part in the observation lesson ranging in age from 11 to 12 years old. The authors are the teachers who took part in the lesson study. The teachers implemented observation techniques in the form of video and peer observation with the accompanying teacher. In addition, students provided feedback on how they approached the problem-solving tasks through a form of semi-structured interviews, conducted via the use of video diaries where no teachers were present to prevent power bias. Following this, a thematic analysis of both the observations and student video diaries generated conclusions regarding how said key themes shaped the students’ approaches to problem solving.

Students’ frustration and competitive need to find a specific answer inhibited their ability to thoroughly explore the problem posed thus overseeing vital aspects needed to solve the problem set. Many students expressed a passion for problem solving due to its freedom and un-rigid nature, which is something teachers should nurture.

Generally, teachers are led by a culture in which attainment is the key. However, an atmosphere should be developed where the answer is not the key and students can explore the vibrant diversity mathematics and problem solving can offer.

Although CLS has been implemented in China for over a century, it is barely known to educators internationally. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the salient characteristics of Chinese lesson study (CLS), introduce the major themes of this special issue, and invite dialogues about the theories and practices of CLS.

The authors of this editorial paper conducted an extensive literature review on CLS, analyzed the contents and methods of the existing research categorically, compared CLS with other models of LS globally, and present this special issue articles and their major contributions thematically. The theoretical framework of the paper relies mainly on cultural theories and theories on research paradigms such as improvement science, which explain why and how CLS functions in Chinese education system over time.

Existing studies suggest that CLS is a deliberate practice for developing instructional expertise, a research methodology for linking research and practice, and an improvement science for instruction and school improvement system wide. In addition to the theorization of CLS, this special issue also introduces some adaptations of CLS outside of China such as the USA and Italy.

This paper, for the first time, spells out some salient features of CLS, and discusses issues in adapting CLS in other parts of the world. It will enrich the understanding of LS theories and practices in China and promotes trans-cultural development of LS internationally.

Students often do not understand the relevance of social studies, are not interested in it, and some early childhood students confuse it with other disciplines. Various external and internal factors prevent teachers from providing meaningful social studies instruction; however, practical solutions can be approached more appropriately and interestingly through collaboration. A team of second grade teachers’ participation in lesson study, a 50 plus-year old Japanese collaborative model, and implications of their activities for 41 students are reported in this interpretative case study. Data concerning students’ perceptions of their social studies classroom environments and attitudes about social studies lessons were collected before and after the lesson study, using surveys and focus group interviews. There were slight changes, both positive and negative, in students’ perceptions of their social studies learning environments, though they were puzzled about the discipline of social studies. Early childhood stakeholders benefit from learning what young students articulate about social studies and social studies learning environments. The description of team collaboration, with early childhood social studies, could be helpful also to teachers engaging in job-embedded professional development.

The purpose of this paper is to pull together articles published in the journal over the last five years in terms of their relevance to the main themes and issues that have shaped its development.

The idea is that the paper enables teachers and researchers in schools and higher education institutions to access a substantial and unique collection of lesson and learning studies, and articles about the theoretical and methodological issues they raise, in the context of a rapidly globalising phenomenon.

The paper sets a framework for evaluating the growth and development of lesson studies as a form of practice-based teacher research.

This paper, authored by the founding chief editor of the IJLLS, establishes conceptual links between the theory and practice of lesson study and the wider field of practice-based pedagogical research.

Multi-cycle Learning Study and multi-cycle Lesson Study are the main collaborative action research approaches for teacher professional development in Hong Kong. The sustaining of these Lesson Study innovations may be inhibited by many challenges. The purpose of this paper is to identify the strategies school leaders utilized to overcome challenges and sustain Lesson Study innovations successfully in a Hong Kong primary school.

In-depth case study was adopted as the methodological approach to explore how Lesson Study was implemented to improve teaching and learning in the school and what leadership practices were enacted to sustain Lesson Study in the case school.

It was found that the leadership team under study had adopted positive peer leadership to successfully implement Lesson Study activities. The strategies of positive peer leadership will be discussed in detail.

The paper concludes with implications for sustaining school development and professional development with Lesson Study and a checklist of positive peer leadership practices for school leaders, teacher leaders and teacher trainers.

This paper will enrich the understanding of successful leadership practices for sustaining Lesson Study innovations in schools, on which few empirical studies have been conducted.

The purpose of this paper is explore the relative effectiveness of people-based and information technology-based knowledge management (KM) strategies as implemented by principals in Hong Kong schools to facilitate and sustain Lesson Study for teachers’ knowledge sharing and internalization.

Data from 184 principals in Hong Kong were collected by a cross-sectional quantitative survey. Confirmatory factor analysis and reliability tests have been used to examine the constructed validity and reliability of the instrument. A structural equation model was applied to confirm the predictive effect of people-based and information technology-based KM strategies on teachers’ knowledge sharing and internalization through Lesson Study.

Results show that people-based KM strategy predicts knowledge sharing and internalization by and among teachers. However, while information technology-based knowledge management strategies predict teachers’ knowledge sharing, they do not predict how effectively they internalize knowledge.

Cultivating communities of practice, professional learning communities and mentoring schemes in schools can nurture a knowledge-sharing culture to facilitate and sustain Lesson Study for teacher learning. Institutionalizing an information technology system can help teachers to retrieve, share and store the school’s explicit knowledge.

The paper not only suggests school management strategies and practices for school leaders to facilitate and sustain Lesson Study, but also brings a new research dimension, KM, to the research area.