The World Association of Lesson Studies will host its 9th annual international conference in Gothenburg, Sweden from September 6-9, 2013. This is the first time the conference will be held outside of Asia. The conference aims to bring together teachers and researchers from around the world to share knowledge and experiences with lesson and learning studies. Presentation topics will focus on teacher professional development, action research, pedagogies, designing learning, and research on lessons across cultures. The deadline for submission of proposals and abstracts is March 1, 2013.

1. WELCOME MESSAGE
The World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS) will host its 9th Annual International
Conference at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, from September 6-9, 2013. This is the first
time the conference will be held outside Asia. It is a great honour to invite delegates from Asia
as well as other parts of the world to Europe. Our aim is to bring together teachers and
researchers from all over the world to share their knowledge and experience of practice-based
research on Lesson and Learning Study in the classroom.
WALS was founded at the Hong Kong Institute of Education by Lo Mun Ling, who at the time
was working closely with Professor Emeritus Ference Marton, a visiting professor at Hong Kong
University. Thanks to the fact that Ference Marton has been working at the University of
Gothenburg since the 1970s, Gothenburg has become the centre for Lesson and Learning Study
research in Sweden. From the very beginning, the University of Gothenburg has collaborated
closely with researchers in Asia in this field.
The concept “Lesson and Learning Study” has become increasingly familiar in Europe in recent
years. The 2013 conference gives teachers and researchers an excellent opportunity to discuss

2. common issues relating to teaching and learning across cultural boundaries. Teachers and
researchers in the Lesson and Learning Study field have acquired considerable experience since
Lesson and Learning Study was initiated many decades ago. They have also broadened their
interest to include other kinds of lesson and learning studies that have been conducted in
various European countries such as Sweden, Great Britain and Germany, to mention but a few.
We cordially invite researchers and practitioners working in the school environment and from
different parts of the world to join us for the WALS 2013 conference. As this is the first time the
conference will be conducted in Europe, we very much hope that participants from Asia will
attend and present their work. We also welcome researchers from other parts of the world who
are willing to share their interpretation of Lesson and Learning Study and how the field is
understood in their own particular cultural context.
We are proud to announce that Professor Xiangming Chen, Professor John Elliott, Professor
Ingrid Pramling-Samuelsson, Professor Ference Marton and Professor Ulla Runesson have
accepted our invitation as keynote speakers so far.
We hope you will also find our plenary sessions interesting as they are collaboratively organised
by researchers, teacher educators and school leaders drawn from the Lesson and Learning
Study field. The sessions will focus on topics of relevance for learning at school but also cover
such areas as special education, pre-school, large-scale educational development as well as
Lesson and Learning study as model for national school development. There will also be
opportunities to visit Swedish schools during the final day of the conference.
It is our sincere hope that you will join us at the WALS 2013 conference. We bid you a warm
welcome to Gothenburg and to Sweden.
Associate Professor Mona Holmqvist Olander, Chairperson
WALS 2013 Organizing Committee
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
IMPORTANT DATES
1 March 2013
Strict deadline for submission of proposals and
abstracts
12 April 2013
Notification of acceptance/rejection
The ‘Early Bird’ registration starts
14 June 2013
Deadline for the ‘Early Bird’ registration and payment

3. 31 July 2013
Final deadline for registration and payment
15 August 2013
Publication of the online program
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The committee for WALS2013 invites submission of proposals related to this year’s conference
theme “Lesson and Learning Study as teacher research”. The strands for WALS2013 are:
• Teacher Professional Development
• Action Research
• Pedagogies and Teaching Strategies
• Designing for Learning with Quality in Specific Subjects
• Research on Lessons in Different Cultures
• Issues about Leading Lesson and Learning Study
• Learning Communities for School Reform
• Developing Communities of Practices
• Creating Knowledge in Practice
• Student Learning and Development
• Lesson and Learning Study in Pre-School
• Lesson and Learning Study in Special Educational settings
Types of Sessions
Presenters have a choice of 4 types of sessions
1) Paper presentations (30 minutes)
Research papers and case studies are welcomed for this category of presentation. There will be
3 paper presentations for each parallel session. Each paper will be allocated with 20 minutes of
presentation time and 10 minutes of Q&A. The following types of papers are encouraged for
submissions:
a) Research Papers
Completed research papers in any of the strands listed above or related areas.
b) Student Papers
Research done by students in any of the strands listed above or related areas.
c) Case Studies
Case studies in any of the strands listed above or related areas.
d) Work-in-Progress Reports or Proposals for Future Research
Incomplete research or ideas for future research in order to generate discussion and feedback in
any of the strands listed above or related areas.

4. e) Reports on Issues Related to Teaching
Reports related to innovative instruction techniques or research related to teaching in any of
the strands listed above or related areas.
2) Symposium presentations (1.5 hours)
Participants are welcomed to organize symposiums consisting of papers on related topics. 90
minutes are allocated for each symposium. It is common practice for 3 inter-related paper
presentations to be grouped together for a symposium. Symposium organizers are advised to
elect a chairperson as well as a discussant for their symposium.
Examples of Symposiums
1) Researchers from the same field may wish to collaborate to organize a symposium consisting
of 3 research papers which covers inter-related topics.
2) A school may be interested to organize a symposium consisting of 3 presentations from
school leaders’ perspectives or teachers’ case studies.
3) Teachers may wish to collaborate across schools to present case studies of similar subjects or
focus.
3) Workshops: 1.5 hours
Workshops are informative, interesting and interactive sessions and may be targeted at the
general conference populace or designed for specific target groups (teachers, school leaders,
educators, researchers). Workshops are 3 hours in length and may consist of hands-on activities,
demonstration, and/or discussion. We welcome workshops in the field of the conferences
strands above.
4) Poster presentation: 1.5 hours
Posters may include reports of ongoing research or case studies of professional practices .
Research reports should clearly include the research topic, the research question(s), methods of
data collection, data analysis and preliminary research findings. Posters of good practices should
include relevant information such as the background of the school, the context of the case
study, data analysis (where applicable) and findings/recommendations. Presenters are
encouraged to prudently use texts and graphics in the layout of their posters.
Audio Visual and Technological Support
Each room will be equipped with a computer, an overhead projector and a whiteboard. The
computers at the conference will be able to support Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Reader.
Presenters are advised to save your presentation document(s) in a thumb drive and transfer the
file(s) to the local computers prior to the start of your presentation. To facilitate the smooth
running of the conference programme, the use of personal laptops is discouraged. Requests for
any additional technological equipment may be made in the online registration form.
Language of Presentation
English.

5. Submission of Abstracts
Each abstract should not exceed 350 words. Submit your abstract at www.walsnet.org.
Review Criteria
Paper/Symposium/Poster Proposals
• Clarity of aim/formulation/conceptualization
• Quality of writing and organisation
• Relevance of research topic for this conference
• For symposiums, a critical criterion is whether individual presentations are sufficiently inter-
related.
Workshop Proposals
• Appropriateness of topic
• Clarity of aim and design
• Presence of interactivity element
• Relevance to practice
Conference Registration
Early Bird Registration opens 12 April and closes on 14 June 2013.
Conference registration closes on 31 July 2013.
Note: All presenters and co-presenters must register and pay to attend the conference.
Membership Registration
If you are unable to attend WALS2013 but would like to join the World Association of Lesson
Studies (WALS) as a member, apply for membership at www.walsnet.org. Members of WALS will
receive access to full papers from past WALS conferences and online access to the International
Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies (IJLLS).
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEES
WALS2013 conference registration comes with a 2013 annual membership to WALS.
Membership includes the online access to the International Journal for Lesson and Learning
Studies (IJLLS).Memberships are entered on a calendar year basis (January-December). If you
register after Jan 1, 2013, you will be able to access all back issues from January 2013 until the
month you registered.
Conference fees depend on student status, and early vs. regular registration dates.

6. Early Bird Rate Regular Rate
(ends on 14 June 2013) (15 June to 31 July 2013)
Regular Registration 2 500 SEK 3 000 SEK
Student 1 700 SEK 2 000 SEK
- Conference registration will include access to all conference sessions, conference materials,
morning tea+lunch+afternoon tea on Day 1 and Day 2, and morning tea on Day 3.
- Student Rate: To qualify for the student rate you must be a FULL TIME student at the time of
the conference and a student ID is required for verification upon collection of name badge at
the conference.
SOCIAL EVENT AND EDUCATIONAL TRIP FEES
Fees
Social Function (optional) 400 SEK
School Visit (optional) 400 SEK
- The Social Dinner will be held on Day 2 (7 September 2013)
- The School Visits will be held on Day 4 (9 September 2013).