Japanese Beginning Teachers' Perceptions of Their Preparation and Professional Development

Abstract

The perceptions of ® rst, second and third year Japanese beginning teachers about their initial preparation and induction into primary and secondary teaching are investigated. The complete population of 657 primary and lower secondary beginning teachers of Hiroshima prefecture were asked to rate the extent to which their initial training had developed their knowledge, skills and attitudes for teaching. Replies were received from 304 teachers (46% of the population). Analysis of mean ratings shows that higher ratings are associated with both nature and length of professional experience. Issues for initial teacher education are discussed and implications are explored for teacher education reform to promote professional development of teachers.

In-Service Teacher Raining in Japan and Turkey: a Comparative Analysis of Institutions and Practices

“…The boards of education provide induction training for beginning teachers. This training takes place at education centres and within schools (internship training programs) under the guidance of experienced teachers selected by the school heads (San, 1999).…”

Beginning early childhood education teachers’ classroom management concerns

“…Nonetheless, the teachers found themselves in situations where what they had learned during the teacher education programme, such as not punishing children, did not work, meaning that they needed to come up with other strategies, such as the giving of rewards. Although teachers appreciated what they had learnt in the teacher education programme, they were unable to use their gained knowledge in their teaching, and this can be considered a reflection of the theory-practice gap that teacher education programmes most of the time fail to close (Maandag, Deinum, Hofman, & Buitink, 2007;San, 1999). There were two sides to this gap in the ECE teacher education programme for the participants: first, the way the content of the courses in the programme were addressed reflected more theoretical perspectives rather than practical implementations; and second, the ineffective practicum experiences gave the participants little opportunity to implement what they had learned in the programme courses.…”

A Comparison of Perceptions of Knowledge and Skills Held by Primary and Secondary Teachers: From the Entry to Exit of Their Preservice Programme

“…According to the study by San (1999), Japanese beginning primary teachers are concerned with more education-related items such as class management, student guidance, understanding students, school management and relationships with home and community issues. Secondary school teachers, on the other hand, tend to be more concerned with subject related items such as subject knowledge, basic teaching techniques and the study and use of teaching aids.…”