Lesson Study in Professional Learning Communities 2014-2016

This study explores teachers’ experiences with Lesson Study (LS) in the Netherlands in the context of two cross-school Professional Learning Communities for teachers of Dutch language and mathematics of 13 secondary schools (2014-2017). Drawing on the research on effective teacher learning, the paper reports a quantitative study on the feasibility and value of Lesson Study as a vehicle for teacher learning in the Dutch context. In the school years 2014-2016, some 30 teachers carried out four Lesson Study cycles in teams of 3-6 persons. After each cycle teachers filled out an evaluation questionnaire. The findings show that teachers experience Lesson Study as feasible and valuable. Differences between the Lesson Study-teams were also found, in particular in the first year, due to interpersonal and conditional factors. The project so far demonstrates that LS has potential in the Dutch context as a model for teacher learning; however, interpersonal and conditional factors have to be respected if its use is to be expanded