The study investigates Lesson Study's (LS) potential to address challenges pertaining to classroom and behavioural management that teachers often face, such as students not paying attention during lessons or struggling to complete assignments independently. To examine LS for behavioural issues (LS-B), an exploratory study was conducted in seven primary schools in the Netherlands that implemented a school-wide framework known as School-Wide Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS). The question is whether LS can effectively assist teachers in enhancing their practices in managing behaviour and, as a result, contribute to their professional development. Research questions were: 1) To what extent does LS-B support teachers in learning how to address everyday challenging classroom behaviour? (2) What experiences do teachers report in conducting LS-B in their practices?
Seven facilitator-led LS-B groups of primary education teachers were formed to develop behavioural lessons aimed at preventing everyday problem behaviours from arising. The Dutch LS model (LSNL) was modified into seven 90-min facilitator-led sessions to be conducted bi-weekly. Observing the collaboratively designed behavioural lesson was done via video recordings. Participating teachers (n = 18) and principals (n = 5) were interviewed to evaluate the LS-B process and its outcomes.
Through data from interviews, we found that teachers believed that participating in LS-B sessions contributed to their professional development by equipping them with strategies for dealing with everyday challenging behavioural issues through collaboratively designing, enacting, observing, and evaluating behavioural lessons. The video recordings of these lessons provided teachers with the opportunity to reflect on their teaching and students' behaviour. In addition, composition of an LS-B team needs to be considered in order to be successful. LS-B is a powerful but labour-intensive way to collaborate on preventing problem behaviour by teaching students what behaviour is expected in specific situations.
Partly due to Covid-19 measures, the seven trajectories varied per LS-B team in several ways: sessions were virtual, online or hybrid, two or three research lessons were designed, trajectories varied in duration and team size. This could have influenced the outcomes. Given the fact that participating schools were used to regularly conduct behavioural lessons, as teaching behaviour as a subject is one of the key features of SWPBIS, further research is needed to explore the applicability of LS-B in other settings.
LS-B can support teachers in managing challenging student behaviour. To ensure success, it is crucial for the school to consider the composition of its LS-B team. In addition, a facilitator is important to guarantee progress and safety in the group, to help the team stay organised, encourage questioning and bridge the gap between theory and practice.
This study examines how LS can be adapted to focus on common challenging behaviours within the context of Dutch primary schools working with SWPBIS. It aims to evaluate to what extent LS-B contributes to teachers' professional development in dealing with these behaviours, such as transitions between lessons taking too long or students' careless attitudes to school materials. This small-scale study evaluates teachers' experiences in participating in LS-B. This study is also of interest because it uses a Dutch version of LS, where sessions are facilitator-led and “case students” are selected based on their behaviour. In addition, instead of live observations, video recordings were being used to observe the collaboratively designed behaviour lesson.
