On the Way to Collective Professionalism: A Systematic Review on the Effect of Lesson Study on Teachers’ Professional Development

Rasa Nedzinskaite-Maciuniene, Agne Juskeviciene and Egle Dauniene

Summary:  This paper presents a systematic literature review of the empirical studies on lesson study (LS), examining the impact of this methodology on teachers’ professional development. The review is based on an analysis of relevant papers published between 1999 and 2019 and extracted from the electronic Clarivate Analytics and EBSCO databases. This paper analyses a selection of 16 studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The analysis revealed four areas where LS has a positive effect on teachers’ professional development. The reviewed studies illustrate that the LS methodology facilitates teachers’ professional development by impacting the competencies related to (i) teaching and learning processes, (ii) content knowledge and (iii) student personal development, while also affecting (iv) teachers’ attitudes and beliefs. Furthermore, this literature review identifies some strategies for how LS could be applied in different subjects and fields. Finally, the review identifies research gaps, calling for different methodological, long-term (e.g., longitudinal) study approaches to deepen the understanding of the specific benefits facilitated by LS.