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To present a review of the current state of lesson study (LS) in initial teacher education (ITE) in Europe.

A systematic search, combined with heuristic and hermeneutic analysis, was conducted in both English and Spanish using indexed academic databases to collect research and experiences of LS in ITE across Europe. The core areas or analysis categories included sustainability, observation and tutoring, the connection between schools and universities, the value of pedagogical knowledge and LS models.

LS in ITE has seen significant growth in Europe since 2015, particularly in universities where it has established a strong presence. The variety of proposals reflects how institutions have adopted and expanded LS models, indicating a stronger connection between universities and schools. The sustainability of LS hinges on the efforts of a core teaching and research group that not only transforms teaching but also explores learning processes in LS. There is growing interest in improving observation strategies and incorporating pedagogical knowledge in LS, although more in-depth analyses of the learning and teaching processes from both perspectives are still needed.

Searching for references in English and Spanish may limit the visibility of relevant research conducted in other languages and regions, potentially excluding important experiences from non-English or non-Spanish-speaking countries.

This work is the first review of literature on LS in ITE focused on Europe, engaging with and building upon the latest global reviews in ITE and LS while introducing new areas of contrast.

This paper focuses on analysis of the incorporation of a Lesson Study cycle within the university training proposal, as a teaching strategy in initial training in the Infant Education Degree.

Qualitative research was conducted through a case study methodology.

Proposing training strategies based on this methodology encourages both the reconstruction of future teachers' practical knowledge and also adequate professional development from initial training.

The main constraint in the study was the cost-benefit ratio, since this experience has required significant practical and emotional dedication by the people involved, while the expected results have only been partially evident in the students. This would seem to imply that the strategy requires continuity over time in order for future education professionals to take it fully on board.

More continuity in such experiences would be required in order to fully analyse their actual value. To this end, the experiences need to be more closely related to the university curriculum, and there must be greater coordination between the subjects in order to ensure a holistic approach to LS.

This article sets out an LS experience as a collaborative action-research strategy that promotes the reconstruction of students' practical knowledge and their professional development in initial training.

The purpose of this paper is to show the relationship between lesson study (LS) and the reconstruction of teacher dispositions (practical knowledge).

This work consists of an exhaustive qualitative study, analysis and interpretation of the practical knowledge of an infant school teacher before and after her participation in a training process based on LS.

This work offers a response to this resistance to change and to progress in education. It demonstrates the potentiality of LS for the transformation of schools in the twenty-first century and the construction of a reflected, shared, emerging pedagogical capital for teachers.

The analysis focusses on practical knowledge (knowledge-in-action, (Schön, 1998); implicit theories (Pozo, 2006; Marrero, 2009); phronesis (Kinsella and Pitman, 2012); tacit knowledge (Contreras and Pérez de Lara, 2010)) because in accordance with the latest theories deriving from cognitive neuroscience, most of the resources the authors use in their action come from unconscious mechanisms. Hence, the procedures and mechanisms of qualitative research have been used to carry out in-depth analysis through prolonged daily observation of practice under a series of previously established dimensions (knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and emotions).

The purpose of this paper is to discern and discuss links and connections between the ideas and insights contained in the articles published in Issue 6.2, in a way which portrays the key features of lesson study in an international context, its conceptual relationship with the ideas of Lawrence Stenhouse, and its analytic potential to effect pedagogical transformation in a global context.

To create a basis for a fruitful discussion about the critical features of Lesson and Learning Studies as it globalises between readers and the authors of the eight texts published, three of which are authored by practicing school teachers.

The author pinpoints four critical implementation issues that should provide a focus for further deliberation about how to realise the potential of lesson and learning studies for improving the quality of teaching and learning in educational institutions. These are: developing methods of analysis that disrupt and challenge the cultural scripts that shape teaching and learning in educational institutions; developing conditions and support systems that enable teachers not only to develop their practice through lesson and learning study, but also to participate in the development of theories that can powerfully inform such study; creating sustainable programmes of high-quality lesson and learning studies in educational institutions when they may stand in a state of tension with the prevailing organisational culture; and exploring the potential of creative methodological mixes, using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, for improving the quality of teaching and learning through lesson and learning study.

This editorial review provides a criterial framework for evaluating the quality of programmes of lesson and learning studies in educational institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to show, from a theoretical point of view, the promising relationship between the processes generated by Lesson Studies (LS) and the development of practical thinking in in-service teacher training, derived from two pieces of research.

The authors propose broadening the focus of LS in order to not only improve the “lesson” or “teaching” – in short, practice – but also to reconstruct and improve the practical knowledge of teachers. The core issue of the paper is the discussion about the relationship between the practical knowledge, the knowledge that every teacher uses in his or her daily practice, theories-in-use, mostly unconscious, and the conscious and explicit knowledge, practical thinking, explicit theory, they use to describe and justify their practice.

Knowing our practical knowledge intuitive Gestalt, and building a new conscious and informed way of thinking is not enough, we need to build through systematic new practice a new way of doing, a new way of perceiving, interpreting, taking decisions and acting, coherent with our new theories. LS reinforces these two complementary movements: the practical theorizing movement, the reflexion on action to discover the implicit believes, habits, attitudes and emotions underlying the practice, and the experimentation of the new theory to form the new habits, beliefs, attitudes and emotions that support the development of a new form of teaching. This second movement needs more time and adequate teaching context, confirming the long spiral cycle of LS.

With emphasis on the dialectical relationship between practical theorizing and the experimentation of theory, this paper could set out a new approach for LSs as a method of teacher training which can improve practice through the reconstruction of the practical thinking of those involved.

The purpose of this article is to explore lesson and learning study as a form of ongoing teacher training which allows teachers the opportunity to reconstruct their practical thinking.

This document begins with a theoretical introduction in which the author explains the nature and dimensions of practical thinking, its importance for the professional development of teachers, followed by the lesson studies themselves, outlining the case of a teacher involved in a research group based on this type of ongoing training.

With the subtle differences and changes proposed for the Spanish context, lesson studies can be a valuable tool in terms of encouraging reflection and the critical questioning of personal values, beliefs and assumptions about teaching, whilst also enabling the reconstruction of teachers’ practical knowledge, in particular their hidden beliefs, habits and emotions.

This article offers a new approach for lesson studies as a method of training which can improve practice through the reconstruction of the practical thinking of those involved.