Jugyou kenkyuu is one area that we believe has been overlooked and yet has the potential to make a significant impact upon teaching and learning．Jugyou kenkyuu is a collaborative research on the teaching and learning process．The Nagoya University group translates jugyou kenkyuu as collaborative research on classroom activities．American and British scholars use the term。lesson study”．
Recently a number of American researchers and educators have suggested that jugyou kenkyuu might be a very benef

lmplementation Research
From our point of view we need more action based research．This means research projects that consciously intervene in the development process and gain knowledge from the participants' observations and the reflection of these processes．Purely theoretical or only descriptive work and experiments under laboratory conditions may lead to a well-founded basic knowledge；however this only rarely includes the investigation of implementation conditions．The implementation of reform thoughts and models is necessary for the improvement of in-service training and the whole school practice． It does not seem possible to implement lesson-study conceptions on a broad and lasting level unless their introduction is professionally organised and accompanied by research．
A great chance of these conceptions，however，lies in the fact that they Can be initiated during the fwst stage of teacher training by making the observation and analysis of lessons a central principle of school-practical periods and by thus cultivating an“attitude of research”among prospective teachers(see Crawford in this volume)．This might be done in close cooperation with the training teachers at schools and， thus，misht at the same time open a door towards the teaching staff at schools．Activity research needs exchange and the view from outside． International research communities like jugyou kenkyuu help to discover and understand national"teaching and learning cultures"and thus give incentives for change． Many Japanese educational practices have been examined by western educators for possible application in the United States and other nations in the world；some，such as cleaning classrooms， longer schools years and serving lunches to younger peers，are actually quite trivial．However，the on-going professional development of teachers is a very imporant area which has real meaning．
Jugyou kenkyuu is one area that we believe has been overlooked and yet has the potential to make a significant impact upon teaching and learning．Jugyou kenkyuu is a collaborative research on the teaching and learning process．The Nagoya University group translates jugyou kenkyuu as collaborative research on classroom activities．American and British scholars use the term。lesson study”．
Recently a number of American researchers and educators have suggested that jugyou kenkyuu might be a very beneficial approach for teachers who are interested in critically examining their classroom practice．In addition，since 2000 the Learning Study Center at the Hong Kong Institute of Education has been examining jugyou kenkyuu as a powerful tool for teachers’professional development．
Jugyou kenkyuu created widespread interest in the late 1 990s with the publication of Stigler and Hiebert’S The Teaching Gap.

Introduction

Chapter 1：Lesson Study in NoAh America：Progress and ChallengesCatherine C．Lew／s(7)

Chapter 2：Transnational Learning：The Integration 0f Jugyou kenkyuu into Iranian Teacher Training Mohommad Reza Sarkar Arani(37)

Chapter 3：Issues and Problems in Pre-service Teacher Education in Japan：Teachers’Perspectives Takeyuki Ueyama(76)

Chapter 4：Lesson Study and tlle Study of Educational Method in JapanKazumitsu Nakano(99)

Chapter 5：Education Reform and School-Based Lesson Study in ChinaGao Xia

Chapter 6：Learning Study-the Hong Kong Version of Lesson Study：Development，Impact and Challenges Lo Mun Ling(133)

Chapter 7：Mentoring in the Initial Training and Professional Development of Teachers in England：Conceptual，Epistemological and Methodological Issues Marion Jones(158)

Chapter 8：The Process of Teacher Professional Development in England：an Overview Keith Crawford(189)

Chapter 9：Lesson Study：Impulses for Teacher Education and In-service Training in Germany Friedrich Gervand Astrid Kehder-Miirrle(218)

Chapter 10：Lehrkunst(Teaching Art)：a German Version of Lesson Study?Examples from Science and Humanities Education Hans Christoph Berg and Tilman Grammes(239)
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