Building teacher agency through collaborative lesson planning: Student teachers’ evaluative perspectives

This qualitative study explores collaborative lesson planning (CLP) in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher education program in Japan, with a focus on student teachers’ peer assessments. Amid ongoing education reforms that emphasize teacher collaboration and curriculum management, CLP serves as a platform for developing lesson design, curriculum alignment, and teamwork skills. This study investigates two key questions: (a) What aspects of peers’ work in CLP do student teachers evaluate? and (b) What justifications do they provide for their evaluations? Nineteen student teachers participated in a 10-week CLP task, designing a 50-minute English lesson and providing written peer assessments. Content analysis, integrating text mining techniques and constant comparison analysis, revealed that participants evaluated their peers from multiple perspectives. Patterns emerged regarding differences in evaluation tendencies based on sex and English language proficiency. Male participants tended to prefer formal verbal interactions, while female participants were more inclined to prioritize group cohesion and harmony. Participants with high English language proficiency emphasized logical reasoning and critical thinking, often assuming leadership roles, yet sometimes faced challenges in collaborative engagement. These findings underscore the importance of balanced group composition in supporting different collaboration styles and maximizing CLP effectiveness. This study highlights the value of rubric-free peer assessments in capturing diverse perspectives and nuanced evaluations, granting student teachers greater autonomy in defining effective collaboration. The results have broad implications for teacher education worldwide, advocating for structured CLP practices that cultivate both pedagogical and interpersonal skills essential for future agentic teachers.