This study investigates the characteristics of Japanese primary school mathematics lessons that adopt a problem-solving approach. We argue that these characteristics are reflected in three key aspects: collective teaching and learning, the lesson as a "drama" (i.e., its structured flow), and the focus on mathematical knowledge. In this…

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss the significance of teacher authorship ("jissen kiroku") developed during "jugyo kenkyu." Specifically, it explores the structural conditions of "jugyo kenkyu" that enabled the flourishing of "jissen kiroku." Design/methodology/approach: To find how "jissen…

Though overshadowed by their Japanese counterpart, Taiwan's and South Korea's comics industries produce illustrated tales that represent and speak back to their host cultures, even when employing common Japanese manga conventions. As Japanese manga is popular with North American youth, Taiwanese and South Korean comics present a potential…

Purpose: This study aims to develop a self-reflection scale useful for teachers to improve their skills and to clarify the Japanese teachers' characteristics during mathematics lesson observation (MLO). In MLO, it is important to understand the lesson plan in advance to clarify observation points, and we aim to develop a scale including these…

This article presents the findings of a mixed-methods study measuring the efficacy beliefs of Japanese English-as-a-foreign-language teachers regarding student engagement, instructional strategies, classroom management, and lesson planning. The study sought to identify relationships between levels of self-reported efficacy among these teachers and…

In this paper, we analyse a grade 8 (age 13-14) Japanese problem-solving lesson involving angles associated with parallel lines, taught by a highly regarded, expert Japanese mathematics teacher. The focus of our observation was on how the teacher used carefully planned board work to support a rich and extensive plenary discussion (neriage) in…

This study aims to develop a conceptual framework regarding practitioner knowledge and describe how one mathematics teacher generates her practitioner knowledge based on the framework. The characteristic of this framework is a combination of static and dynamic aspects of knowledge based on the teacher's perception and interpretation. The research…

Lesson study is a Japanese concept to improve teaching and learning mathematics through a particular form of activity in which a group of teachers works collaboratively to plan, implement, observe, and reflect on the proposed research lessons. Although lesson study is internationally acknowledged as providing key learning opportunities for…

A highly distinctive and structured approach to teacher development, Lesson Study emerged in Japan but has since been adopted much more widely and now sees growing interest in the UK. Tony McConnell, Davinia Daley, Rebecca Levy, Lisa Waddell and Richard Waddington describe the process by which their school first investigated and then adopted…

This research is based on an approach that looks at cross-cultural research design as a "lens" for a deeper understanding of what goes on in the classroom. The research question is how a cross-cultural study like this one can lead to identifying the cultural script of teaching and help educators reflect on their practice. In this…

This paper investigates how Japanese mathematics teachers produce and share didactic knowledge together. It is a case study of a post-lesson reflection meeting so-called "open lesson." The crucial idea of this study is the dialectic between the "specific" and "generic" level of "foci" of the participants'…

International comparative studies on mathematics teaching and learning often provide unitary and harmonious images of classroom practices. This paper aims to complement those studies by describing the complex aspects of those practices. Adopting activity theory as a framework, this paper considers classroom teaching and learning of mathematics as…

In this paper we use novel data to test the direct and indirect paths between teacher self-efficacy and student outcomes. This includes how teacher self-efficacy is linked to student, teacher, and expert rater views of lesson quality. Our results illustrate how the link between teacher self-efficacy and instructional quality is sensitive to how…

It would be difficult to find any pedagogical story that is comparable to that of "jugyou kenkyuu" (or lesson study in English) that has been practised for over a century in Japan in isolation and became a method that was used worldwide in less than 10 years. Because of its uniqueness and its history, it is an irrefutable challenge to…

In this paper, we explore theoretical approaches to Japanese teachers' lesson designs involving the adaptation of mathematics textbooks for instructional change. In Japan, although most teachers use textbooks as the main resource for lesson planning, called "kyouzai kenkyuu," the ways in which they use textbooks can differ. In a…