Lesson Study effectiveness for teachers’ professional learning: a best evidence synthesis

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gather evidence for the effectiveness of Lesson Study (LS) for teachers’ professional learning. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review of relevant papers published between January 2010 and April 2018 was performed. To accomplish the best evidence synthesis, relevant studies were selected based upon well-chosen keywords and inclusion criteria. Afterwards, the quality of the remaining studies was assessed by using a critical appraisal checklist combined with a strength and weakness analysis. Data sources included relevant articles identified through digital searches on Education Research Information Centre and Web of Science, as well through snowball sampling and personal contacts. A total of five studies meeting inclusion criteria were retained for this review. Findings These five studies describe LS as a powerful professional development approach because of its positive impact on teachers’ professional learning. A significant improvement or change for knowledge, skills, behaviour and beliefs has been reported among teachers. Originality/value Only studies with a design that shows high effectiveness were selected. The sample of relevant studies is currently small. As a consequence more large-scale and long-term research which illustrates the short and long-term effects of the LS approach on teachers’ and students’ learning is desirable.

Teachers’ perceptions of a lesson study intervention as professional development in physical education

“…Consequently, LS is expected to impact on teacher learning (Sato et al, 2019), which has been the subject of investigation of several studies (Cheung and Wong, 2014;Coenders and Verhoef, 2018;Vermunt et al, 2019). Most of these studies, however, were small-scale (Cheung and Wong, 2014;Willems and Van den Bossche, 2019) and lacked a clear 'theory of improvement', consequently providing insufficient insight into how and why certain LS elements led to teacher learning (van Veen et al, 2012). Nevertheless, the few studies that did employ a theory-informed research design, with adequate sample sizes, have shown promising results (Willems and Van den Bossche, 2019).…”

“…Most of these studies, however, were small-scale (Cheung and Wong, 2014;Willems and Van den Bossche, 2019) and lacked a clear 'theory of improvement', consequently providing insufficient insight into how and why certain LS elements led to teacher learning (van Veen et al, 2012). Nevertheless, the few studies that did employ a theory-informed research design, with adequate sample sizes, have shown promising results (Willems and Van den Bossche, 2019). For example, Schipper et al (2018), in a quasi-experimental study with 48 teachers, found LS to positively impact on feelings of efficacy for inclusive teaching, enhanced classroom management and instruction clarity.…”

“…Notwithstanding academic progress, research on the effectiveness of PE-CPD is scarce, especially regarding teacher and student learning (Parker and Patton, 2017;Tannehill et al, 2020). A promising approach to CPD that is becoming increasingly popular worldwide, but is not yet frequently applied within the PE domain, is lesson study (LS) (Elliott, 2019;Willems and Van den Bossche, 2019).…”

Understanding sustainable professional learning communities by considering school leaders’ interpretations and educational beliefs

“…Lesson study teams have been found to improve teachers' knowledge and skills (e.g. Vermunt et al, 2019;Willems & Van den Bossche, 2019), which in turn can affect student learning (Dudley et al, 2019).…”

Examination of Mathematics Study Strategies of Secondary School Students From the Perspective of Multiple Variables

“…Students should know what to do and how to do it at all times in addition to studying hard. One of the main factors in achieving this is that students should be proficient in effective study strategies and methods (Willems and Bossche, 2019).…”