Learning to facilitate lesson study: koshi as teacher educators in a “lesson study about lesson study” inquiry

Purpose This study explores how koshi, knowledgeable others in Japanese lesson study, learn to support teacher learning by examining their own facilitation practices. Although koshi play a key role in sustaining lesson study, relatively little is known about how they develop the judgment, relational awareness and knowledge needed for this work. Viewing koshi as teacher educators, this study focuses on their professional learning through an approach we describe as “lesson study about lesson study,” in which facilitation itself becomes the focus of inquiry. Design/methodology/approach Four university-based koshi formed a small professional learning community and examined a full lesson study cycle facilitated by one member. Following the observation, we engaged in a recorded reflective dialogue structured as a post-lesson discussion. Using an inductive, iterative approach informed by grounded theory, we analyzed how facilitation decisions were articulated, questioned and reinterpreted through interaction. Data included dialogue transcripts, video recordings and field notes, allowing for triangulation across multiple sources. Findings Koshi learning unfolded through interactional processes in which facilitation became visible as pedagogy. Through these processes, we articulated tacit reasoning, engaged with differences in interpretation, reconsidered our positioning as both experts and co-learners, and developed more context-sensitive understandings of facilitation. These processes highlight the ethical, relational and cultural dimensions of facilitating teacher learning. Originality/value This study shifts attention to koshi as teacher educators, introduces “lesson study about lesson study” as a design for examining facilitation, and provides an empirical account of how tacit facilitation knowledge becomes visible through collaborative reflection.