International Policy Borrowing and the Case of Japanese Lesson Study

• In Event: Lesson Study: The Challenges of International Implementation

Abstract

Objectives
This presentation explores translation of LS internationally, seeking to understand how and why it is adapted and how an understanding of national culture and implementation paradigms might support translation.

Perspective and mode of inquiry
This theoretical paper explores two bodies of literature which may support an understanding of how and why local LS adaptations occur and the likely effect on desired impact and sustainability in international contexts:
1. Implementation science (Durlak, 1998)
2. National cultural dimensions (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010)

Results and conclusions
The paper begins by examining evidence on adaptation and challenges of LS implementation internationally, finding both deviation from the seven components of LS (Seleznyov, 2018), and qualitative evidence of perceived challenges to successful implementation.

Implementation science (Durlak, 1998) reveals that full fidelity appears not to be amenable to the complexity of education innovations like LS, but that adaptation is fraught with challenges, with no linear pathway. Furthermore, Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov’s (2010) dimensions of culture enable us to hypothesise about how Japan’s culture might have framed development of LS, and to predict possible challenges when translated into a host nation.

This theoretical framework suggests that a consideration both of national cultural differences and of the chosen implementation paradigm, may prove useful for practitioners seeking to introduce LS into their own nation’s schools. This approach enables practitioners to weigh up the feasibility of implementing LS with fidelity, and to be cautious about expectations of impact and sustainability.

Scholarly or scientific significance
By combining evidence from research with theoretical perspectives, this presentation should yield new insights and understanding for educators in international contexts seeking to implement LS. It also offers a framework for researchers exploring LS or the international borrowing of teacher professional development approaches more broadly, in terms of an understanding of the complexity of implementation in different cultural contexts, as exemplified through a comparison of national profiles using Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov’’s (2010) six dimensions.

References
Durlak, J. (1998). Why program implementation is important. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the community, 17(2), 5-18.
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind (Vol. 3). London: McGraw-Hill.
Seleznyov, S. (2018). Lesson study: an exploration of its translation beyond Japan. International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, 7(3), 217-229

Authors

• Sarah Seleznyov, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

• Sui Lin Goei, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences