Purpose Inclusive education highlights the need to address students' diverse cultural, linguistic, social and cognitive backgrounds to ensure equitable learning for all students. This study aims to examine how an adapted lesson study model supports pre-service biology and geology teachers in developing awareness and knowledge related to inclusive teaching. Design/methodology/approach Implemented within a master's program in initial teacher education, three lesson studies were developed collaboratively by pre-service teachers, two university teacher educators acting as facilitators and three cooperating teachers who implemented the research lessons in their secondary classes. Each lesson study involved collaborative planning of a research lesson, with specific goals, observation and reflection on the lesson. Data were collected through pre-service teachers' written reflections, questionnaires applied before and after the process, and interviews with both pre-service and cooperating teachers. Findings Results indicate that the lesson study promoted essential pedagogical competencies, such as detailed lesson planning considering the diversity of students, the value of collaborative work and deepened reflective practice. A key insight into the development of inclusive teaching awareness was the benefit of observing in-service teachers as they adapted instruction in real time, which helped pre-service teachers reflect on strategies for pedagogical differentiation. The study also specifies how pre-service teachers can be supported to notice the relationship between teacher actions, classroom organisation and students' opportunities to participate in inclusive classrooms. Originality/value These findings support the value of adapted lesson study models as important strategies for preparing pre-service teachers to engage with diversity and promote inclusion in the classroom.
Purpose The purpose of this article is to share a research proposal from a Lesson Study focused on elementary science, while analyzing the cycle through Kager et al. 2023 framework. Design/methodology/approach Our approach was to conduct a Lesson Study cycle influenced by the Mills College Lesson Study Group and the Chicago Lesson Study Alliance. Findings We found that students' ability to use argumentation to models to learn science. When teaching, we found that bansho, notebook writing and using student discourse help students learn. We found that we can effectively plan Lesson Study through Zoom. Originality/value This article contributes to the goal of including teacher voices first-hand as knowledge producers within the Lesson Study community. It adds value by increasing the number of examples of Science-based Lesson Study in the literature.
Purpose This editorial introduces the special issue on koshi (講師) in communities of lesson studies and explores how individuals came to assume this role (became), how they experience it in practice (being) and how they continue to develop it throughout diversified educational and cultural settings (becoming). Design/methodology/approach The editorial combines narrative reflection with a literature review. Drawing on the editors’ experiences as koshi, relevant scholarship and the articles included in this special issue, it examines the role of koshi through the interconnected ideas of “became, being and becoming”. Findings The editorial argues that koshi should not be understood merely as outside experts or knowledgeable others who advise teachers. Instead, the studies in this special issue portray koshi as professionals who learn through ongoing participation and dialogue, and reflect within communities of lesson studies. “Became” depicts the different, often informal pathways people take to enter the role. “Being” focuses on the relational and context-dependent dimensions of supporting teacher learning, particularly the tensions between expertise and collaboration, while emphasising continued professional reflection. “Becoming” points to the ongoing processes of self-questioning and identity reconstruction through which koshi evolve over time. Across the articles, koshi work appears as deeply relational, culturally situated, shaped through everyday practice and continuously evolving through time. Originality/value This editorial contributes to lesson study scholarship by stressing koshi themselves as learners and developing professionals. By bringing together the editors’ narrative reflections with international perspectives of the authors’ lived experiences, it offers a more humanistic and practice-based understanding of koshi as professionals who continually learn through lessons and learning studies.
Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of the lesson study model on the professional development of religious culture and moral knowledge (RCMK) teacher candidates and the learning outcomes of their students. Design/methodology/approach Before starting the study, ethics review board clearance (numbered 06.03.2025–186257) was obtained from Mus Alparslan University’s ethics review board. Adopting a mixed-method, quasi-experimental design, the study was conducted with 5th-grade students assigned to experiment and control groups, with pre- and post-tests administered to measure learning gains. Additionally, qualitative data were collected from participating teacher candidates through semi-structured interviews during the LS cycle. Findings Findings indicate that lesson study significantly enhanced student achievement while also contributing to teacher candidates’ instructional skills, understanding of student needs, and development of effective teaching strategies. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to information obtained from 20 students in 5th-grade, middle school and RCMK teacher candidates. Therefore, further studies could be conducted on what kind of outcomes would emerge among students in other grades or teacher candidates in different fields. The information is limited to the data provided by the data collection tools (structured interview form and achievement tests) prepared by the researchers. New information may be presented by other researchers using different data collection tools on the subject. Practical implications To achieve the desired success in lesson study, teachers who apply this model must possess the ability to work together, have acquired a culture of criticism and tolerance and be sensitive to student uniqueness. Originality/value The study highlights the potential of LS as a powerful model for improving both RCMK teacher candidates and student outcomes in religious education.
Purpose This study examines how integrating ChatGPT into a lesson study cycle (CollabAI) influences the professional development of pre-service English teachers, with a focus on pedagogical reasoning, classroom practice and reflective collaboration.Design/methodology/approach An exploratory qualitative case study was conducted with six pre-service English teachers in an eight-week lesson study cycle. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, lesson planning and reflection meeting transcripts, classroom observation notes, and AI interaction logs. The lesson study followed a plan-teach-observe-reflect cycle, with ChatGPT embedded as a mediational resource during planning and reflection. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis supported by qualitative analysis software, with triangulation, member checks and peer debriefing to enhance trustworthiness.Findings The CollabAI model supported more creative and student-centered lesson planning, improved classroom management routines, and deeper reflective dialogue. Participants shifted from surface concerns (e.g. time management and discipline) toward more principled discussions of pedagogy and learner needs. ChatGPT functioned as a cognitive and reflective scaffold, prompting alternatives and justifications, while participants maintained critical judgment over AI suggestions. Collaboration and feedback culture were strengthened across cycles, alongside gains in professional confidence and teacher identity.Research limitations/implications Findings are based on a small, single-context sample and short-term implementation; comparative and longitudinal studies are needed.Practical implications Embedding generative AI within structured collaborative models can enhance planning efficiency, reflective depth, and professional learning in teacher education.Social implications The study highlights how AI-supported collaborative learning models can reduce teacher isolation and anxiety, fostering a culture of shared growth and resilience. Participants built a safe, feedback-rich community that normalized struggles and celebrated successes, enhancing emotional well-being and group efficacy. By reframing AI as a creative partner rather than a threat, the model encourages ethical, human-centered technology integration. The findings suggest that emerging teachers, when supported with AI and peer collaboration, can cultivate reflective and inclusive mindsets essential for 21st-century classrooms. CollabAI contributes to the broader dialogue on equitable, innovative, and sustainable professional development practices in teacher education.Originality/value The study conceptualizes generative AI not merely as a tool but as a mediational "collaborative partner" within a community of practice, offering an original AI-supported lesson study framework (CollabAI) for pre-service teacher education.
Purpose This study explores how koshi, knowledgeable others in Japanese lesson study, learn to support teacher learning by examining their own facilitation practices. Although koshi play a key role in sustaining lesson study, relatively little is known about how they develop the judgment, relational awareness and knowledge needed for this work. Viewing koshi as teacher educators, this study focuses on their professional learning through an approach we describe as "lesson study about lesson study," in which facilitation itself becomes the focus of inquiry.Design/methodology/approach Four university-based koshi formed a small professional learning community and examined a full lesson study cycle facilitated by one member. Following the observation, we engaged in a recorded reflective dialogue structured as a post-lesson discussion. Using an inductive, iterative approach informed by grounded theory, we analyzed how facilitation decisions were articulated, questioned and reinterpreted through interaction. Data included dialogue transcripts, video recordings and field notes, allowing for triangulation across multiple sources.Findings Koshi learning unfolded through interactional processes in which facilitation became visible as pedagogy. Through these processes, we articulated tacit reasoning, engaged with differences in interpretation, reconsidered our positioning as both experts and co-learners, and developed more context-sensitive understandings of facilitation. These processes highlight the ethical, relational and cultural dimensions of facilitating teacher learning.Originality/value This study shifts attention to koshi as teacher educators, introduces "lesson study about lesson study" as a design for examining facilitation, and provides an empirical account of how tacit facilitation knowledge becomes visible through collaborative reflection.
Purpose This study aims to examine preservice early childhood teachers' experiences of Lesson Study within Communities of Practice framework. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a case study design. Twenty-three preservice early childhood teachers participated regularly for 12 weeks in the Lesson Study process going through the stages of collaborative planning, simulation, peer observation and feedback, classroom implementation, and re-planning. Data were collected using self-assessment forms. The four dimensions of Wenger's (1998) Communities of Practice were used to systematically analyze the self-assessment forms. Findings The findings indicate that Lesson Study contributed to preservice teachers' learning experiences, specifically examined through the lens of the four interrelated learning dimensions, including community, meaning, practice, and identity. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that incorporating Lesson Study into early childhood teacher education programs can foster preservice teachers' sense of belonging, shared meaning-making, practice-based competence, and professional identity development. Given the limited number of studies examining such models in early childhood education, teacher education programs may consider adopting and adapting these approaches to strengthen practice-oriented and community-based learning opportunities. Originality/value This study offers empirical insight into preservice teachers' multidimensional learning within the Lesson Study process in early childhood education. By focusing on community, meaning, practice, and professional identity, it extends current understandings of how collaborative, practice-based learning environments support preservice teacher development.
Purpose This study investigates how lesson study (LS) has been sustained in Indonesia beyond external project support under conditions of reform instability. It examines how university-based teacher educators acted as key mediators in maintaining continuity across changing policy environments.Design/methodology/approach Drawing on longitudinal qualitative fieldwork at two university-based LS hubs in Indonesia, the study uses semi-structured interviews, field notes and documentary materials. The analysis adopts an interpretive, inductive approach to examine how LS was sustained across shifting institutional and policy contexts.Findings LS persisted in Indonesia not because reform environments became stable but because key actors - especially university educators - continuously mediated its meaning, form and legitimacy across policy, university, district and school arenas. The analysis identified four interrelated forms of mediation: moral, pedagogical, institutional and relational. Sustainability, therefore, emerged not as a condition of stability but as an ongoing negotiated accomplishment through which LS was preserved, adapted and legitimized under conditions of reform instability.Research limitations/implications The study focuses on two university-based LS hubs and does not provide detailed classroom-level analysis. Future research should examine how negotiated sustainability is enacted in classroom practice and across a wider range of institutional contexts.Practical implications The findings suggest that sustaining LS depends not only on program design or policy alignment but also on universities' capacity to build long-term school partnerships, support mentoring arrangements and maintain spaces for pedagogical inquiry across institutional boundaries.Social implications By framing sustainability as a negotiated process rather than a technical achievement, the study highlights the role of intermediary actors in sustaining collaborative professional learning under conditions of reform instability.Originality/value The study offers a process-oriented account of sustainability in LS. It advances the concept of negotiated sustainability and demonstrates how universities can function as mediating actors in sustaining collaborative professional learning over time.
Purpose This editorial introduces the special issue on koshi ((sic)(sic)) in communities of lesson studies and explores how individuals came to assume this role (became), how they experience it in practice (being) and how they continue to develop it throughout diversified educational and cultural settings (becoming).Design/methodology/approach The editorial combines narrative reflection with a literature review. Drawing on the editors' experiences as koshi, relevant scholarship and the articles included in this special issue, it examines the role of koshi through the interconnected ideas of "became, being and becoming".Findings The editorial argues that koshi should not be understood merely as outside experts or knowledgeable others who advise teachers. Instead, the studies in this special issue portray koshi as professionals who learn through ongoing participation and dialogue, and reflect within communities of lesson studies. "Became" depicts the different, often informal pathways people take to enter the role. "Being" focuses on the relational and context-dependent dimensions of supporting teacher learning, particularly the tensions between expertise and collaboration, while emphasising continued professional reflection. "Becoming" points to the ongoing processes of self-questioning and identity reconstruction through which koshi evolve over time. Across the articles, koshi work appears as deeply relational, culturally situated, shaped through everyday practice and continuously evolving through time.Originality/value This editorial contributes to lesson study scholarship by stressing koshi themselves as learners and developing professionals. By bringing together the editors' narrative reflections with international perspectives of the authors' lived experiences, it offers a more humanistic and practice-based understanding of koshi as professionals who continually learn through lessons and learning studies.
PurposeThis study examines the impact of lesson study (LS) programs on the professional development (PD) of primary education student teachers (PEST) at Farhangian University. Using an exploratory mixed-methods approach, the research explores student teachers' experiences with LS and develops a structural equation model (SEM) to identify key factors influencing their PD. By assessing LS's effectiveness in fostering pedagogical skills, collaboration, and reflective teaching practices, the study aims to provide insights into optimizing PD programs for student teachers, ultimately improving their integration into the teaching profession and enhancing educational outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed an exploratory mixed-methods approach to evaluate the role of lesson study (LS) in the professional development (PD) of primary education student teachers (PEST) at Farhangian University. The qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews with 21 student teachers, analyzed using thematic analysis (TA). The quantitative phase surveyed 224 participants using a validated questionnaire, with data analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). The study ensured credibility through triangulation and expert validation. By integrating qualitative insights with statistical modeling, the research aims to identify key factors influencing PD and enhance teacher training strategies.FindingsThe second-order CFA model confirms the validity of five professional development (PD) components-curriculum planning, reflection, teaching methods, self-awareness, and educational technology-using standardized path coefficients. The results indicate that lesson study (LS) had the strongest impact on teaching methods (0.97) and the least on curriculum planning (0.51). LS also significantly enhanced educational technology (0.9), self-awareness (0.81), and reflection (0.73). Covariance estimates for error terms were optimized, ensuring model reliability. Goodness-of-fit indices validated the empirical model, reinforcing LS as an effective framework for PD in teacher training.Originality/valueThis study uniquely explores the impact of lesson study (LS) on the professional development (PD) of primary education student teachers (PEST) in Iran, applying a mixed-methods approach. By integrating qualitative insights with quantitative validation through structural equation modeling (SEM), the research identifies key PD components-teaching methods, curriculum planning, educational technology, reflection, and self-awareness. The findings provide empirical evidence supporting LS as an effective PD framework, highlighting its capacity to enhance pedagogical skills and reflective practices. This study contributes to the discourse on LS by offering a context-specific perspective on its role in teacher training.
PurposeThis study examines whether a structured, collaborative professional development model can help EFL teachers move beyond superficial technology use and develop the integrated knowledge needed for meaningful digital integration in language teaching. Design/methodology/approachTen EFL teachers in Taiwan participated in an 18-week technology-facilitated lesson study (TFLS) cycle. This model integrates technology in two key ways: (1) using digital tools to enhance language instruction and (2) employing collaborative technologies to support the planning, observation and reflection phases among teachers. Data were collected through surveys, lesson plan evaluations, classroom observations, reflective essays and interviews. Analysis focused on measuring changes in teachers’ competencies and documenting their experiences with the TFLS process. FindingsThe intervention was associated with improvements in lesson planning and technology integration. Teachers expanded their instructional strategies, designed more student-centered activities and used digital tools more effectively for differentiation. They developed a more deliberate approach to selecting technologies based on pedagogical purpose rather than novelty and reported increased technological confidence and instructional efficacy. Research limitations/implicationsFindings are limited by the small sample and single context. Future studies should involve more diverse participants and explore long-term effects on student learning. Practical implicationsThe study offers a replicable professional development model that integrates Lesson Study with technology use. Additional support is recommended for designing assessments for technology-enhanced lessons. Social implicationsStrengthening CALL/TPACK competencies through TFLS can boost teacher confidence and learner engagement in digitally mediated classrooms. Originality/valueThis research provides empirical evidence for a sustainable professional development model that unites LS, technology integration and teacher collaboration to support meaningful educational technology use.
PurposeTransition problems between institutions are well-known and sometimes difficult to address in educational research. Lesson study is often described as a professional development tool for teachers within a school institution and so would not immediately be helpful to overcome transitions between two institutions. In this article, we present the new format of "bi-institutional lesson study", developed and experimented with to explore the potential of this amended form of lesson study to develop teachers' knowledge of transition problems, and also methods and efforts to overcome them. We report findings from a year-long experiment with the format in Danish secondary school mathematics.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a year-long experiment with the bi-institutional lesson study (BILS) format, involving teachers from Danish lower and upper secondary schools. Within this format, teachers from both institutions collaboratively planned, conducted, observed and reflected on the research lessons. Data was collected through audio recordings of planning and reflection meetings.FindingsThe experiment demonstrated that BILS enhanced teachers' awareness and knowledge of transition problems between the institutions. The Danish case, among other things, illustrates that teachers from upper secondary school mainly contribute knowledge about students' needs and task designs related to the algebraic skills required in upper secondary school. Lower secondary school teachers contribute by linking these needs and ideas to what 9th-grade students have been and are being taught, mainly in arithmetic.Originality/valueThis article introduces "bi-institutional lesson study" as a new format of lesson study, extending its use from a single school to collaboration across institutions. By engaging teachers from lower and upper secondary schools, the study presents a Danish case illustrating how BILS can develop teachers' awareness of transition problems and methods for addressing or working with them. This contribution offers both a practical model for teacher development and a novel approach to tackling the well-known transition problem between neighboring institutions.
Purpose This case study examines how primary teachers develop Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) on fractions within the Transformative Lesson Study incorporating Open Approach (TLSOA) model. It identifies key PCK characteristics and how TLSOA model fosters them. Design/methodology/approach A Lesson Study team of six members (two student teachers, two in-service teachers, one researcher, and one expert) engaged in weekly cycles of collaborative planning, observation, and reflection across 10 fraction lessons in a Thai primary school. Data were collected through lesson planning sessions, classroom observations, reflections, and semi-structured interviews, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings Teachers' PCK was characterized and developed through designing “problem situations” centered on students' mathematical thinking as a PCK integration unit. The TLSOA model facilitated teachers' PCK integration, anchored collaboration in students’ ideas for design, observation and reflection. Teachers improved their anticipation of students’ thinking and enhanced classroom practice on part–whole relationships and fraction operations. Research limitations/implications The study examined only one year of fraction instruction, with teachers having limited experience. Participation across multiple years and varied professional learning communities (PLCs) with experienced reflection teams could enhance teachers' PCK awareness and development through broader collaborative experiences. Practical implications The use of the TLSOA model in developing teachers' PCK on fractions through student-centered collaborative lesson design strengthened the effectiveness of teacher professional development approaches in mathematics education. Originality/value This study demonstrates how collaborative PLCs foster dynamic integration of content and pedagogical knowledge in mathematics education, contributing to PCK literature by showing the TLSOA model's specific mechanisms for developing fraction instruction through student-centered collaborative practice.
PurposeThis study investigates the factors that enable or constrain the adoption and sustainability of Lesson Study as a professional learning activity among teachers in the Philippines. It aims to provide insights into the experiences of teachers who have implemented lesson study and the perspectives of those who have not, to identify both enablers and barriers to its sustained practice.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a descriptive qualitative content analysis of open-ended survey responses from educators with lesson study implementation experiences and those who had none. Categories were developed inductively and their salience summarized as percentages of coded references. We then interpreted these categories using the Interconnected Model of Professional Growth (IMPG) to theorize entry and sustain pathways for lesson study as recurring, professional development-embedded practice.FindingsFindings reveal nine key enablers and eight constraints affecting lesson study implementation. Practitioners emphasized intrinsic factors such as teachers' attitudes, collaboration, and commitment, while nonpractitioners pointed to extrinsic factors like leadership support, training access and time constraints. Both groups acknowledged the importance of leadership, school culture and resource availability. Participation in lesson study led to gains in professional growth, instructional improvement and collaboration.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the limited research on Lesson Study sustainability in developing countries, particularly in Southeast Asia. It integrates Lesson Study practitioner and nonpractitioner perspectives, supported by a theoretical framework, to inform policy and implementation.
PurposeThe study aims to identify a hierarchy of conceptions of competence in baking that can serve as a foundation for applying learning study and improving teachers' professional development in teaching pastry and bakery modules. The study was guided by the question: Using phenomenography, what are the qualitatively different ways of experiencing competence at work among apprenticeship students, teachers and expert practitioners in baking?Design/methodology/approachUsing the interpretivist perspective, this phenomenographic study draws on semi-structured interviews with 25 participants, including apprenticeship students, teachers, and bakers or pastry chefs in Brunei Darussalam. Participants were purposefully selected to represent varied experiences, with data collected over six months.FindingsFrom a phenomenographic analysis of all the interview transcripts, an outcome space of four categories of competence in baking was revealed. From these, we can see that the categories represent four qualitatively different ways of experiencing competence in baking, which also reveal the students' conceptions and misconceptions of baking. This approach provides a foundational framework for structuring a learning study within pastry and bakery modules.Originality/valueBy revealing how students understand baking, the study offers actionable insights for teachers. By applying variation theory and learning study, teachers can design targeted interventions to shift students' conceptions. This supports more effective teaching and enhances competence development in technical and vocational education.
Purpose As visualisation becomes increasingly important in mathematics education, preservice teachers (PSTs) must develop awareness of the didactical decisions involved in formulating and solving arithmetic word problems (AWPs). This study examines how their use of external visualisations in planning and teaching AWPs supports sustainable problem-solving strategies and shapes their reflective practice. Design/methodology/approach Integrating variation theory and reflection theory, the study conceptualises critical aspects and patterns of variation as tools for making problem structures visible. Twenty-two first-year PSTs worked collaboratively in six groups within simulated teaching scenarios. Data from lesson plans, recorded discussions and enactments, and reflective reports were analysed using a combined deductive–inductive approach. Findings The results show that PSTs used diverse visualisations, such as bar models, ratio schemas, pie charts, and drawings, to make problem structures and relationships visible. These supported reflection-on-, in-, and for-action across planning, enactment, and future-oriented evaluation. The use of visualisations became productive sites for collaborative reflection and informed instructional decisions. Sustainability in problem-solving did not emerge automatically but depended on structured opportunities for critique, comparison, and iterative refinement. Research limitations/implications Small sample and simulated contexts limit generalisability but indicate visualisations support PSTs' reasoning. Practical implications The findings have practical implications for mathematics teacher education, showing how visualisations can support conceptual understanding and teaching skills. The study concludes that using visualisations as a reflective tool links theory and practice, and helps PSTs to develop sustainable problem-solving strategies. Social implications Promotes equitable, concept-focused mathematics teaching. Originality/value This study demonstrates the dual role of visualisations as instructional tools and reflective resources in mathematics teacher education. It introduces a functional-analytic, theory-informed framework that links visualisation, reflection, and the development of sustainable problem-solving strategies.
PurposeThis research aims to reveal the lived experiences of a novice facilitator within the Irish context with a particular focus on the different facilitator roles assumed when guiding lesson study (LS) in a rural primary school.Design/methodology/approachTo gain in-depth insights into the various facilitator roles within this case study, interviews were conducted both before and after each cycle, complemented by data from the researcher's field notes across collaborative meetings and reflective journal entries.FindingsThis study offers empirical insights into the multifaceted role of facilitators, with a particular focus on the challenges encountered in rural settings. The analysis reveals various obstacles the facilitator must negotiate, including teacher resistance, building trust, coordinating external professional development and fostering a research-oriented culture among staff, all while prioritising children's learning. The findings also underscore the critical role of supportive leadership in facilitating these processes.Research limitations/implicationsDespite being a case study focused on the novice facilitator in one LS group, the findings regarding the diverse roles of the facilitator in the rural school setting and the theoretical insights gained offer valuable contributions to other researchers and novice facilitators generally, most particularly in rural settings.Originality/valueThis study addresses the need to explore how novice LS facilitators can be supported to effectively enact their many roles. This paper also contributes findings to a currently under-researched area, unpacking the LS facilitator role in a rural context.
PurposeThis study aims to investigate how a researcher supported early childhood (EC) educators in integrating spatial thinking into the curriculum through lesson study (LS). It was conducted in a context where both LS and spatial reasoning were unfamiliar. The study explores the facilitation strategies that initiated and sustained teacher dialogue about case pupils' spatial thinking. It further examines how these strategies contributed to professional learning across dimensions of satisfaction, knowledge, instructional practice and school-level change.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative case study approach was used, drawing on audio recordings of LS meetings, pupil artifacts, researcher reflections and field notes. Reflective thematic analysis traced how the researcher scaffolded teacher thinking and interaction across LS phases, with particular attention to discussions focused on case pupils' spatial reasoning.FindingsResearcher support evolved from directive reassurance during the workshop to more facilitative prompting as teacher confidence increased across the LS cycles. Key mechanisms included reassurance, strategic questioning, mindset reframing and structured protocol for debriefing session and observation sheets to anchor discussions in pupil learning. Constraints such as staffing shortages and LS unfamiliarity were addressed with adaptations in the LS process.Practical implicationsFindings inform LS facilitation training by emphasizing gradual autonomy, structured reflection and teacher-led inquiry. The study also offers guidance for sustaining LS in under-resourced settings.Originality/valueThe study offers new insights into multi-role LS design and facilitation in EC education, especially for unfamiliar areas like spatial thinking. It shows how researchers can support teacher learning and facilitate processes that make such content visible, actionable and embedded in classrooms.
PurposeThis study reinterprets a year-long Lesson Study dataset to examine how instructional vision is collaboratively co-constructed. Using a retrospective conjecture map and an operational matrix that links elements, mechanisms, and indicators, the theory of change is made explicit for tracing vision management across cycles.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative secondary analysis of an existing corpus (lesson plans, observation notes, videos, artefacts) from a one-year Lesson Study in a Japanese elementary classroom. The analysis preserves the original coding pipeline and aligns data excerpts with E/M/I identifiers.FindingsAcross four phases, collaborative construction and inclusive epistemic expectations primarily supported equitable talk moves (I1/I2); flexible adaptability enabled the relaxation of time-bounded rules (I2/I4); and role-switching routines widened entry points (I3). Mechanisms overlap and reconfigure rather than progress linearly, forming a mechanism-centred process model of teacher learning and vision evolution.Research limitations/implicationsA single-site, single-teacher case based on retrospective analysis provides existence-proof support for several observed links among elements, mechanisms, and indicators, while leaving others provisional for future testing. Findings are framed for analytic rather than statistical generalisation.Practical implicationsThe contribution is procedure-level: teams can adapt routines (co-authored norms, paraphrasing before adding, time-bounded relaxations, rotated roles, and public criteria discussion) within local constraints to address the exact mechanisms and indicators. These serve as resources for co-design, not programme prescriptions.Social implicationsMaking mechanisms for equitable participation visible and discussable can support inclusive classroom cultures through collaborative inquiry, without assuming uniform effects across sites.Originality/valueThe paper integrates Utopian Pedagogy with Lesson Study to offer a mechanism-centred, traceable account of instructional vision management.
