Lesson Study in One Ontario School District: Using Lesson Study to Enhance In-service Mathematics Learning for Intermediate Teachers
Bibliographic record
Abstract
This study explores a case of lesson study as a form of in-service professional learning for intermediate mathematics teachers in one Ontario school district. Amid ongoing challenges within K–12 mathematics education reform and the need for effective professional development (PD), this study addresses three research questions: (1) What are teachers’ beliefs about their efficacy in teaching mathematics before and after participating in lesson study? (2) How does the lesson study process affect teachers’ beliefs about students’ mathematics learning? and (3) How does lesson study compare, in teachers’ view, to other forms of PD in which they have participated? The study employs a conceptual framework grounded in teacher belief systems, self-efficacy theory, and collaborative inquiry, focusing on a hybrid version of the Japanese lesson study cycle. Data were collected via pre- and post-lesson study cycle interviews, reflective journals, observation notes, student artefacts, and research lesson transcripts. A qualitative case study methodology was used, with trustworthiness ensured through triangulation, member checking, and a chain of evidence. Findings indicate that lesson study enhanced teachers’ sense of efficacy in mathematics instruction, strengthened their mathematics content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and deepened their responsiveness to student thinking. Teachers reported increased confidence in teaching mathematical concepts, particularly algebra, and developed richer insights into student thinking. They perceived lesson study as more effective than traditional workshops and general collaborative inquiry because of its structured, collaborative, and job-embedded design. Two central themes emerged across all research questions: collaboration and time. Teachers stated that lesson study cultivated trust, professional inquiry and a shared sense of purpose, while also requiring substantial time commitments to be effective. This study contributes to the literature on teacher in-service PD by demonstrating the potential of lesson study to influence teacher beliefs and instructional practices in K–12 mathematics education. It recommends that school boards consider adopting lesson study as a sustainable, job-embedded PD model that aligns with curriculum reform goals and supports deeper instructional change. Future research should examine the scalability of lesson study across various mathematics content areas and grade levels, and investigate its long-term effects on teacher practice and student learning.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.002 | 0.005 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.011 | 0.004 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.003 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.004 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.004 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".