Promoting a professional school culture through lesson study? An examination of school culture, school conditions, and teacher self-efficacy

Abstract

Professional school cultures, which can be characterized by teachers who take an inquiry stance and in which exchanging knowledge and collaboratively developing classroom material is common practice, receive increasing attention. However, teachers in many schools still often work in isolation and generally do not critically examine their practices. This could lead to decreased feelings of self-efficacy and could negatively impact teacher learning. To counteract such an isolationist school culture, Lesson Study, known for its integration of collaborative and inquiry-based features, could play an essential role. Using a quasi-experimental design (N = 60) including two questionnaires, this study explores whether participating in Lesson Study influences teachers' perceptions of the school culture and conditions in their schools (such as leadership and collegial support), as well as their feelings of self-efficacy. The results reveal significant between-group differences in terms of efficacy in student engagement and significant within-group differences in the intervention group in terms of teacher autonomy and support from the school department leader as well as all teacher selfefficacy. This study could support school leaders who wish to implement, sustain or upscale Lesson Study practices in order to promote a professional school culture in their schools.

Lesson study in Dutch initial teacher education explored: its potential and pitfalls

“…As researchers around the globe have increasingly started to examine LS in different educational contexts and settings aiming to determine its successful mechanisms and effects on teacher and student learning (Dudley et al, 2019), the knowledge base around LS is growing rapidly. However, although the impact of participating in LS on teachers' knowledge, skills and attitudes (Vermunt et al, 2019), the school context (Schipper et al, 2020), and student learning becomes more evident (Lewis and Perry, 2017), LS in initial teacher education (ITE) has received relatively little attention in research, despite a recent peak of publications (Cajkler and Wood, 2020;Larssen et al, 2018). Moreover, LS in Dutch ITE has not been thoroughly examined yet, and we argue that this article is one of the first studies that explores this context.…”

“…The authors argue that, due to the variety of adaptations and a lack of the theoretical and practical reasons of these adaptations, "there was no universally held understanding of, or explanation for, the process of observation, how it should be conducted, and who or what should be the principal focus of attention" (Larssen et al, 2018, p. 8). As such, school conditions that foster or hinder LS application should also be taken into account when examining how LS participants learn (Schipper et al, 2020). To structure these conditions, a distinction can be made between structural and cultural school conditions (Imants and Van Veen, 2010).…”

“…Given this background, this study aims to explore the benefits and constraints of applying LS in Dutch ITE. LS in Dutch ITE is still in its infancy, though LS in the Netherlands is growing rapidly (De Vries et al 2016;De Vries and Roorda, 2019;Schipper et al, 2020;Wolthuis et al, 2020). Little is known about the application of LS in this context and the learning of studentteachers and teacher educators participating in LS.…”

Teachers’ perceptions of their schools changing toward professional learning communities

“…Formal forms of leadership also significantly contributed to the prediction of various PLC elements. These findings indicate that school leaders may directly affect teachers' collaborative work and learning by showing enthusiasm for new ideas and projects and offering teachers time and space to put it into practice (Admiraal et al, 2016;Hargreaves, 2019;Schipper et al, 2019). Yet, the literature also points at the risk of hierarchical relationships between school (middle) management and teachers, which can contribute to teachers' mistrust of (top down imposed) projects, making collaboration problematic (Brodie, 2019;Hargreaves and O'Connor, 2017;Hipp et al, 2008).…”

Internalization of School Culture to Foster Awareness of Pancasila Values in Elementary School Students

“…On the other hand, the quality that is carried out by professional teachers in the learning process also greatly contributes to the school culture towards a more collaborative direction [12]. Teachers can investigate and exchange knowledge together to develop learning material that can be used as a tool to promote school culture [13].…”