Progress and resistance in the LS movement

The way in which both lesson and learning studies are conducted around the world, varies. As we see, sometimes they are conducted in a qualitative way and sometimes they are not. The success of learning studies is not always guaranteed due to some contextual factors. For example in Learning Studies in Sweden, we sometimes notice that the lack of time will stop teachers from participating in learning studies whole-heartedly. The lack of knowledge about what to focus on in identifying the content, and how to vary the content will also be an obstacle. Besides, the supervisor’s competence in the theories of learning and how to lead the learning studies is another significant factor shaping the success of Learning Studies. In the U.S., progress has been made with designing materials that support teachers doing lesson study; for example, materials give support with elements including in-depth discussion of content and its teaching, with norms and processes for conducting lesson study, and so forth. Some research indicates that these materials improve both the quality of lesson study as perceived by teachers, its positive impact on teacher’s beliefs (such as the belief that students can learn) and teachers’ improvement of their content knowledge. With respect to resistance, most lesson study in the US is still done by volunteer groups of teachers; it has not emerged school-wide in many sites, nor has it been institutionalized. In Hong Kong, Learning Study has been promoted in different teacher development programmes. Although Learning Study is perceived by school teachers as effective, its successful application by teachers is shaped by many contextual factors, including teachers’ workload in the school, the support from the school leaders and other teachers, availability of relevant teaching resources, funding from the government and so on. We can see that Lesson and Learning Studies conducted in qualitative ways, gives good results. Through these studies, teachers often change their way of seeing teaching and develop their teaching to be more effective. It would be a pity if this would fade out, so how can we keep the LS movement strong over time?