Jean Lang

The World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS) conferences in 2020 and 2021 showcased a new age of online learning for pupils, teachers, and researchers, providing both challenges in managing something unexpected and opportunities to solve issues around how to carry out lesson study (LS) online. This study analyses 29 presentations and submitted abstracts which focused on online LS as these practices were developing. The presentations represent different cultures and educational systems. A challenge across these different systems and cultures was that regular practices needed to be transformed due to the pandemic, involving crossing boundaries between different perspectives and practices. The situation also brought forward innovative tools and strategies which we argue could have a lasting effect on the conduct of LS in the future.

This introductory chapter provides the background of this book and situates it in the current research literature and theoretical perspectives. An overview of the structure as well as a brief description of the chapters in each section is given.

Offering a rich, critical investigation of how technology can be used to strengthen and promote lesson study in both virtual and hybrid environments, this edited book presents insights into the numerous challenges as well as opportunities for supporting teachers’ and teacher educators’ professional learning in such a novel setting. Providing an international perspective, research in this book highlights on the one hand the necessity of exploring how the known theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches for researching on lesson study and effective characteristics of conducting lesson study can be adapted to the new environments. On the other hand, further analysis reveals the benefits of using various advanced technologies in lesson study, the new practice of professional development of teachers and teacher educators, and also documents related issues of conducting lesson study in such complex contexts. The chapters focus on online cross-cultural lesson study; the key aspects of conducting online lesson study and the effectiveness of it. Features of facilitation and the development of facilitators for online lesson study are explored, alongside the ways in which online lesson study can help address various problems of practice such as implementing equitable teaching, facilitating student interaction in virtual environments, and migration to remote teaching in STEM. This resourceful text provides needed support to both researchers and practitioners, from primary to higher education, with special attention to both teacher and student learning.

This concluding chapter synthesises the unique contributions of this book and discusses associated challenges in conducting online/hybrid LS. Finally, suggestions for further research in this field are considered.

Purpose: Finding ways in which technology can be used to modify, strengthen, scale up and sustain lesson study (LS) is an emerging field of research. It has become even more important due to a pandemic leading to teacher and student learning being delivered online. The purpose of this paper is to present research findings about experiences of online LS and identify issues for further research.Design/methodology/approach: A systematic search of articles from 2010 to 2020 identified 13 relevant papers, and through analysis, some major themes were identified. All papers in the special issue were synthesized from the lens of the identified themes; finally, further directions are discussed.Findings: In general, various online LS models were found to have features that resulted in positive effects on teaching and learning, but, whilst several characteristics of effective online learning were identified, some studies also highlighted issues.Research limitations/implications: There is a need for larger scale projects over an extended period to assess the effectiveness of online LS. Future research focused on carrying out learning study online as well as consideration of equity issues associated with online LS are also suggested.Originality/value: The studies presented in this issue address the opportunities and challenges of conducting online LS during a pandemic and beyond. Together, the literature review and contributory papers provide an international perspective of using online LS and identify important issues for further research.

This article presents two sequential case reports of how 60 schools in the London Borough of Camden used action research in three phases of development of their local school system reform, from a traditional council-led, top-down model of centrally based professional development and monitoring of schools, to one that is schools-led and ‘bottom-up’ in nature, but still in close partnership with its local council and community. The article uses a sociocultural lens through which to view this journey of self-reform, tracking change through three evolutions of the sociocultural model as professional learning becomes situated in classrooms and between schools in Camden, as motivations to develop and change become increasingly intrinsic and less driven by fear of failure or the consequences of failure. Of critical importance is the feedback-rich context created by adoption of enquiry- and coaching-based learning models at classroom, organizational and system levels. This both fuels and is fuelled by the strategic collaboration of head teachers and by system leadership also provided by middle leaders, whose increased cross-school agency builds improvement capacity and collaborative capital. The article does not report on the action research alone: unlike many accounts of action research for change, this account provides a narrative backdrop in which to locate both scientific and system developments. This is provided through three short vignettes that place the changes reported in a societal, political and community context, without whose energetic actors (in the form of local political and community leaders and school governors) the local ‘civic governance’ so strongly behind these reforms, would not have existed.