Duração: 2025 – 2026

Principal Researcher

Marisa Alexandra Ferreira Quaresma

CI&DEI´s Principal Researcher

Margarida Rodrigues

Team Members

Bianor Valente
Paulo Maurício

Funding

FCT

Research line:
Educational Policies, Didactics and Training

This research project aims to explore the potential of lesson study (LS) for the development of pre-service teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), with a major focus on Inclusive Education, and the necessary adaptations of this formative process for initial teacher education in several subjects, from primary grades (1-6) to secondary grades (7-12). The project is based on carrying out lesson studies, collecting data and studying the learning of the participating future teachers.

The object of interest is the development of the PCK of future teachers, with a focus on Inclusive Education, in terms of: 1) lesson planning, with special attention to the aims, diagnosis of students’ knowledge, structure and flow of the lesson taking into account the interests and needs of all students; 2) design of tasks suitable to promote all students’ learning; 3) knowledge of the strategies and difficulties of different students working on the tasks; 4) handling classroom communication, with emphasis on moments of whole-class work valuing what each student can do; and 5) observation and evaluation of students’ learning, focusing on the idea that each student should have the opportunity to reach the maximum of his/her potential.

The project will promote and analyze the realization of lesson studies in Mathematics, Biology/Geology, Physics/Chemistry and Physical Education at primary and secondary education, regarding the development of the PCK of future teachers, with a focus on Inclusive Education. Future teachers in these subjects will take part in eight lesson studies organized into four stages: 1) preparatory study: studying the curriculum and students’ understanding of a topic they usually struggle with and setting learning goals; 2) planning: developing a lesson plan that anticipates students’ strategies and difficulties and subsequent teacher actions; 3) research lesson: teaching a lesson with careful observation of students’ activity; and 4) post-lesson reflection: discussing the effectiveness of the lesson in promoting students’ learning and possible ways to improve it and other relevant implications for teaching practice.

The characteristics of the lesson study will be adapted to the different courses and institutions (year in the program, curricular unit) taking into account: size of the lesson study group, participation of the cooperating teacher, roles of the preparatory study, the research lesson and definition of who teaches it, post-lesson reflection, and the way in which the lesson study is conducted.

The project involves four higher education institutions: IE-ULisboa (which prepares secondary school teachers of Mathematics, Biology/Geology, Physics/Chemistry), FMH-ULisboa (which prepares Physical Education teachers for all school levels), ESE de Lisboa and ESE de Setúbal (both of which prepare primary teachers to teach Mathematics and Science – grades 1-6). In addition to researchers from these institutions, the project also involves doctoral students with experience as mathematics, science or physical education teachers.

The project is organized into four tasks: task 1, in-depth literature review of critical issues related to the research questions and development of procedures and instruments for data collection and analysis; tasks 2 and 3, lesson studies with future primary and secondary school teachers; task 4, integration and dissemination of results. Task 1 is based on a review of the literature and drawing up guidelines for the lesson studies. Tasks 2 and 3 include the main activities related to the lesson studies to be developed with future teachers. Task 4 carries out a cross-analysis of the results obtained in tasks 2 and 3 and the preparation of the dissemination of results to various audiences.

The project seeks to study in depth the potential and conditions for carrying out lesson study with different types of participants, as there are still few consistent research results regarding the potential for developing PCK with regard to the integration of Inclusive Education, in different subjects and levels of education, as well as the characteristics of a lesson study and the type of dynamization that can be most effective in initial teacher education.

This is an innovative project, both at a national and international level, as it allows new learning about the relationship between the use of lesson study in initial education and the development of a PCK addressing Inclusive Education to be implemented in different subjects, a topic that, to our knowledge, was not researched before. It is also expected to create interest in the use of lesson study in initial teacher education, to produce a support guide for facilitators and to introduce lesson study into public policies on initial teacher education in Portugal.