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In 1988, the Japanese National Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture (Monbusho) introduced a new program of teacher induction for newly appointed teachers--that is, those in their first assignments as full-time teachers--in national and public elementary schools, lower and upper secondary schools, and schools for the disabled. This program was mandated and financially authorized through a revision in Japanese education law. Phased in over four years beginning in 1989, the program requires all newly appointed teachers to participate. As a result, all new teachers now spend at least 90 days of their first year in activities directly linked to teacher induction. In addition to this high number of training days, another significant aspect of the first-year experience is the amount of support the new teachers receive, both formally and informally, from guidance teachers and other instructional staff members. Although in place for only a few years, the program is well received by teachers, school principals, and other educators and policy makers. They believe it accelerates and systematizes the acquisition of knowledge and skills that in previous years had to be gained on a much more informal, and sometimes haphazard, basis.
While Monbusho has the authority to establish educational policy, the boards of education of the 47 prefectures (provincial level) and 12 specially designated cities are responsible for implementing those policies at the local level. In contrast to the Northern Territory (Australia) and New Zealand, schools and classes are more similar throughout the country. As a result, students are likely to face very similar schedules, curricula, and textbooks; classes tend to be of the same size and structure; and teachers will have undergone very similar training and certification processes (although teaching certificates are awarded by prefectures and designated cities).
All schools in Japan can be divided into three groups according to the type of organization responsible for their administration: national, administered and supported solely by the national government; public, administered by prefectural boards of education and supported by both prefectural and local funds; and private, administered and supported by private foundations. The vast majority of schools are public, with the exception of kindergartens, which are predominantly private. Within prefectural boards of education, compulsory education and upper secondary schools are administered separately.
At school, it is common for a class to stay together with the same teacher or set of teachers for more than one year. Class sizes range from about 30 students in the elementary schools to 40 in lower secondary schools to 50 in upper secondary schools, although Monbusho is making reduction of class size a priority for the next several years. Within classes, students are often separated into groups that serve as the basis for many academic and non-academic activities. The emphasis on group activities forms a bond between students of the same class year, which can have relevance throughout their lives.
In addition to academic course work, teacher education programs require a practicum. People wishing to become elementary school teachers spend at least four weeks in a teaching practice situation and those intending to become lower and upper secondary school teachers spend at least two weeks. The practicum is usually preceded and followed by a total of 15 - 30 hours (one credit) of related instruction. The national teacher training universities have model schools attached to them for the purpose of teacher training. In other cases, the institution makes special arrangements with the prospective teacher's alma mater or other cooperating school.
Many teachers also have responsibility as supervisors of school clubs, such as sports teams or the school band. This responsibility is heaviest at the lower secondary school level, where almost all teachers are associated with a particular student club.
In addition to their responsibilities to their classes and clubs, teachers have many responsibilities as members of the school faculty. Most importantly, the teachers teaching the same grade level work together daily. Teachers' rooms in Japanese schools are designed to facilitate collaboration. Typically, all teachers sit together in one large room with their desks grouped by grade level. In most schools, the day begins with a meeting of all the staff where the day's schedule and major events are announced. Teachers then may have the opportunity to meet within their grade level groups for a few minutes and discuss particular concerns. Longer sessions are often scheduled at other times throughout the week to discuss the study plan for the next week and discuss any issues which have arisen in the classrooms. To accommodate these duties teachers in Japan have fewer contact hours per week (15) than teachers in many Western countries, such as the United States (20-25) (White, 1994).
In contrast to teachers in many Western countries, teachers in Japan are not isolated from one another. A teacher's day is more balanced between teaching students and working with other adults to improve their teaching and the school's program.
Teachers also collaborate with the group of teachers teaching the same academic subject. They too will sometimes hold planning and discussion sessions, and may have responsibility for coordinating certain events, such as a model demonstration class that will be observed by other teachers or supervisors from outside the school. Most schools also have several faculty committees, such as student guidance, research, and school events.
Teachers in Japan, like those in the other APEC members studied, spend long hours at the school building or home to accomplish their job. It is not unusual for lower secondary school teachers to be at the school building between 60 and 70 hours per week. For instance, one writer describes an average teacher’s day beginning at 7:30 a.m. and lasting until at least six in the evening, not including Saturday classes and house visits (White, 1994). (This is comparable to hours spent by many teachers in the Northern Territory, Australia and New Zealand). Often it is the younger teachers who put in the longest hours.
Traditionally, with these responsibilities comes a relatively high degree of respect in the eyes of the community. One indication of teachers’ rank in society is that their level of remuneration is generally equivalent to or slightly higher than other public employees with similar academic backgrounds. Public school teachers' salaries are established and paid by the prefectural or local boards of education, based on national standards, with allowances made for number of dependents, housing, transportation, assignments to outlying areas, and administrative positions (MESCC, Graphic, 1994).
Japanese teachers are well-respected when compared to teachers in other societies. Teachers interviewed feel that, while respect is high compared to teachers in other societies, there has been a decline in the respect accorded teachers over the past several years. Traditionally, one reason teachers in Japan were well-respected was that they possessed a high level of education in comparison with other people in the community. According to the teachers and administrators interviewed, as education levels of the general public have increased over the past several decades, this distinction no longer exists. Additionally, some noted that, in general, the Japanese people are becoming more likely to question traditional figures of authority.
In recent years, the media have focused on the problems associated with Japanese school life, such as high levels of stress among both teachers and students, increased rates of violence in the schools, and most recently, the problem of groups of students or entire classes singling out a particular student for harassment and bullying. Although these incidents may not be as widespread as media suggest, certainly there is increased public concern about the school environment. One teacher stated that the most common reaction when people hear he is a teacher is not, "Oh, that's impressive," but rather, "Oh, that must be very difficult." Similar sentiments were equally common in the Northern Territory, Australia and New Zealand.
Traditionally, newly employed teachers have been helped to adapt to their new situations by the informal support of the other teachers in the school. This climate of support can be found in almost any type of organization in Japanese society, where it is the responsibility of the senior members of a group to ensure that the junior members adapt successfully.
What Were Some of the Challenges and
"Being fresh out of college, there was a lot I didn't understand about the world of work. The preparation I received in college was very focused of the theory of teaching and subject specific matters. The things that surprised me most and gave me the most difficulty were the large amount of non-instructional matters, such as administrative work and the challenge of dealing with students." |
In more recent years, boards of education of prefectures and designated cities developed special training sessions to help newly employed teachers adapt to their new lifestyles, but they were conducted on a much smaller scale than the current teacher induction program. With partial financial support from Monbusho, Boards of Education conducted ten-day training sessions for newly appointed teachers. These then days were usually spread over the course of the teachers' first year and had a prominent focus on observing other teachers' lessons. In addition to differences in content and the number of days of training, one major difference between these training programs and the Teacher Induction Program introduced in 1988 is that the ten-day training programs were not mandated by national law, and their implementation was not as closely monitored.
The basic principles of the present system of teacher induction, including the goals and methods, were proposed in 1986 in the Second Report of the Prime Minister's Ad Hoc Council on Education. The following year, the Minister of Education's Standing Subcommittee on Teacher Training issued a report entitled, Measures to Improve the Abilities of Educational Personnel. In addition to recommendations regarding teacher appointment and certification policies, the report outlined detailed recommendations for a system of teacher induction. Aspects of the program addressed included: general goals and content, length of training, out-of-school training, in-school training, the use of guidance teachers to mentor the newly appointed teachers, the provision of supplemental teachers, and the roles of various educational bodies. These recommendations were developed by a working group of school principals and university presidents.
In 1988, the National Law on Special Regulation for Educational Public Service Employees was revised to require that all newly employed teachers--those in their first assignments as full-time teachers--at national and other public elementary and secondary schools participate in a one-year training program during their first year of employment. Provisions of the law include the use of guidance teachers and relief teachers to ensure that schools have adequate staffing to compensate for the time devoted to the training of new teachers.
The teacher induction program was phased in over four years, starting in 1989 with all elementary schools. The program was implemented in all lower secondary schools in 1990, in all upper secondary schools in 1991, and in all schools for the disabled in 1992. For each level, in the year prior to implementation, work groups were convened and 30 prefectures selected to pilot model programs. Since initial implementation, Monbusho has retained, with minor modifications, its guidelines for the program.
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[Chapter 4 (part 2 of 3)]