Lesson Study in its original context: exploring Japanese teachers’ perspectives on an export hit of the Japanese education system

Lesson Study (LS), a professional development approach originating in Japan, involves teachers collaboratively designing, observing, and reflecting on a lesson focused on a shared research topic. Widely regarded as an effective approach to stimulating teacher learning, LS has become a prominent export of the Japanese education system and a textbook example of international policy borrowing. However, despite efforts to define the core principles of LS and faithfully replicating them in new international contexts, the existing knowledge base on how LS is implemented and understood in its native Japanese context remains limited. This study addresses this gap by interviewing 15 Japanese teachers from different educational settings and regions to explore their perspectives on LS. Using the theoretical framework of policy borrowing, we compare our findings with international descriptions of LS, contributing to the ongoing discourse on the effective and sustainable implementation of LS in new contexts.