What higher education teachers talk about when they talk about their students: nature of their conversations during lesson study

Lesson study is acknowledged as a valuable practice for teachers' professional development. Recent studies analysing teachers' conversations during lesson study partially show that it tends to promote a student-centred approach to teaching amongst those who put it into practice. However, none has been conducted yet amongst faculty members in higher education. In this study, we conducted a multiple case study to approach this topic of research and present the content analysis of faculty members' conversations during lesson study. We discuss the topics that were conversed in relation to students (their engagement, their thinking, their potential learning, their discourse and interactions and general ideas about them), the relative frequency of these topics within the faculty members' conversations, how the faculty approached these topics and connected them to other topics of conversation, and the type of pedagogical actions and professional learning paths that were promoted through the discussion of these student-related topics. Findings of this research deserve to be taken into consideration when designing faculty development programmes, especially when they involve professional discussions.