Purpose – It has been proposed that lesson study creates joint and sharable knowledge products in terms of lesson plans that could be used and developed by other teachers in other school contexts (Morris and Hiebert). The purpose of this paper is to report on a study with the aim of examining how such a knowledge product produced in a Hong Kong school could be communicated and appropriated by a group of Swedish teachers.

Design/methodology/approach – A report from a successful Learning Study – a revised version of lesson study, based on a theoretical framework of learning – was brought to a group of three teachers. On the basis of this report, they planned and conducted two lessons in their own classes. The analysis draws on data from three of six video recorded lessons and was framed within a variation theory perspective. The focus of the analysis was on the object of learning.

Findings – It was found that the Swedish teachers used the documented Hong Kong lessons as a resource. They adapted the insights gained by the Hong Kong teachers to the specific group of learners and other conditions in the Swedish context.

Originality/value – The article is a contribution to the discussion about teachers as knowledge producers (c.f. Stenhouse).