English Edition
No. 8

December 2012

Thinking about a Stance on Approaches to“Practical Seminar for Teaching Profession”“Guarantee of Outcomes” and “Guarantee of Opportunities for Reﬂection”
Hatsuo Mitsuishi

Full-scale implementation of “Practical Seminar
for Teaching Profession” from the second semester of 2013
In accordance with revision of the Enforcement
Ordinance of the Education Personnel Certiﬁcation
Law in November 2008, all students enrolled in andafter the 2010 academic year have become
obligated to take “Practical Seminar for Teaching
Profession(Kyosyoku Jissen Ensyuu)” as a teachingsubject . In the case of four-year universities, thepolicy will take eﬀect beginning with the second
semester of 2013. However, as in junior colleges, it
has already been implemented at Hirosaki University and University of the Ryukyus as 2007 model
projects for MEXT teacher education reform and at
Hyogo University of Teacher Education and otheruniversities as the 2008 advanced implementation.
Nonetheless, it is apparently not necessarily easy
to organize and to implement the related contents
and classes because the subject as a teachingsubject has features that are not found in existing
subjects available at universities. From the need to
examine the subject from aspects of the “guaranteeof outcomes” and the “guarantee of opportunities
for reﬂection” that “Practical Seminar for Teaching
Profession” includes, herein we examine and comment practical problems.
Setting the subject as a “Grand sum” of teachingsubjects = Making a “multilayer” of teachingsubjects ？
“Practical Seminar for Teaching Profession” wasexplained in a report of the Central Council for
Education (July 11, 2006) as follows:“(Practical Seminar for Teaching Profession is) a
subject to conﬁrm deﬁnitively whether qualiﬁcations and abilities that students have acquired
through learning of some subjects in a teachertraining course and various activities were organically integrated into and formed as minimum

Curriculum Center for Teachers, Tokyo Gakugei University

qualiﬁcations and abilities required for teachers
in line with teachers model through which theuniversity provides approval programs and thegoals the university seeks to attain.”
Additionally in the Annex 1 of the report, it isexplained that ʻin a sense, it is a subject to bepositioned as a “Grand sum (generalization/ reconﬁrmation) of learning trajectory” through all
years at university.ʼ Student is “expected to become
capable of starting their lives as a teacher moresmoothly by “realizing what problems they face inbecoming teachers in the future, making up for
insuﬃcient knowledge and skills as needed, andtrying to establish them” (the point and aim of thesubject).
That shows the “Practical Seminar for Teaching
Profession” diﬀers from other subjects in terms of its
twofold meaning. It is a compulsory subject to obtaina teaching certiﬁcate and also a subject to make a“Grand sum (generalization/reconﬁrmation)” of“qualiﬁcations and abilities that students haveacquired through learning of other subjects in ateacher-training course and various activities”. One
might say that the multilayered constructive
principle of subjects was introduced into teachingsubjects. For teacher-training faculties and universities where the completion of teaching subjects isa requirement for graduation from university, it has
been a subject with a much heavier meaning(approval or denial of graduation). In the precedingcases, it is the case that the “diploma policy in ateacher-training course” at universities is layered
with the goals of “Practical Seminar for Teaching
Profession” to be attained. How do, or can we makesuch subject with a special “heaviness” be substantive? For students and university staﬀs in charge ofclasses, creating a common understanding of that“heaviness” is an important challenge.
(Cont'd on page 3)

Introduction of a new guest scholar
Curriculum Center for Teachers has the privilege of having Professor Chen Xinfrom Northeast Normal University as a Visiting Associate Professor of 2012 ﬁscal
year since December. He will study the quality assurance of teacher education at
our center until next May.

In 1996, I started my academic career as an
Assistant Professor at the Institute of International and Comparative Education at Northeast Normal University (hereafter NENU) after I
obtained a master degree in education at
NENU. In 2005, I earned my Ph.D. in education
at the Graduate School of Education, Hiroshima University, supported by the Japanese
Government Scholarship. At present, I am
working at the Faculty of Education, NENU as
an Associate Professor.
I have mainly been conducting comparative studies on higher education. During thedoctoral program, I studied undergraduate
curriculum reform in China from a comparative and historical perspective. Concretely, I
examined the principles and characteristics ofcurriculum reforms in the following four periods, Soviet-imitation period, Great Cultural
Revolution
period,Four-modernization
period,andMarket-economy-transition
period, and characterized them as diﬀerent
curriculum types.
One project that I have conducted in recent
years is an “international comparative study
about accountability system in higher education.” With a focus on the higher education in
the U.S., the U.K., Netherlands and Australia, I
and my partners have examined the ideas ofaccountability, investigated the historicaldevelopment of accountability, analyzed thestructure and functions of accountability
system, and elucidated the similarities anddiﬀerences among the nations. The otherproject is “a comparative study of liberal education in universities of Japan and China.”
Liberal education has been a topic drawing
increasing global attention in higher education and a focus for higher education reformin Japan and China respectively. However, interms of curriculum development in liberal
education, the orientations of Japan and
China might be contradictory. It is important
to clarify the principles, characteristics, andproblems of each countryʼs liberal education
through critical comparisons on a number of
aspects, such as historical development andcurrent conditions, theories and practices, andso on.
As one faculty member of NENU, one ofwhose major missions is teacher education, I
have recently been interested in the professional development of teacher educators. The
quality of teacher educators is key to theimprovement of teacher education and training. Through the cooperation with membersof the International Collaborative Research
Project on Quality Assurance in Universitybased Teacher Education in East Asia, I wish I
could advance the research related to theprofessional development of teacher educators.
In addition, I have been the Associate Deanin charge of international exchanges at theFaculty of Education, NENU since this April. I
would like to take this chance to further theacademic and educational exchanges
between Tokyo Gakugei University and NENU.
Finally, I would like to thank you from thebottom of my heart for having provided theopportunity of Visiting Associate Professor tome. This presents a new challenge to me. I will
do my best to fulﬁll my roles and responsibilities. Thank you for your advice and support.
Chen Xin, Ph.D
Northeast Normal University

(Cont'd from page 1)

Course registration chart = Standardization or
Normalization of making a learning history？
From the aspect of a “Grand sum(generalization/reconﬁrmation) of learning trajectory”, a new learning support system, in which each
student views and reﬂects the learning content ofteaching subjects as a whole and prepares opportunities to explore possibilities and problems asteachers, is needed as a device for making “Practical
Seminar for Teaching Profession” a substantive
subject. The system is the setting for media, such asa course registration chart (rishu karte) and a portfolio, and for interviews using them. We must set
what contents should be included in the course
registration chart and a portfolio and how andwhen to use them. Speaking in greater detail, when
we say a “Grand sum” of “qualiﬁcations and abilities
that students have acquired through learning ofother subjects in a teacher-training course andvarious activities”, the following issues for examination come to mind: What to do about 1) the extent
of each studentʼs “learning trajectory” (the extent ofteaching subjects at university, the extent of all
subjects to be taken at university, and the extent ofself-directed learning and experience); 2) the evaluation method used for them (not only criticalremarks, but also with or without comments on
studentsʼ learning status and its notation method);3) how to reﬂect studentsʼ self-evaluation; and 4)
how to use the data in the learning process after
entering university (e.g. interviewing students). It
might be the case that the more such a system
becomes fully equipped and elaborated, thegreater standardization or normalization of making
oneʼs “own learning history” might occur. Whenlooking at such a state from the outside, a “compulsion for reﬂection”-like function will come to mind.
As pointed out by Prof. Takahiro Endo of Universityof Fukui at a research topic session in the 2012
meeting of National Association for the Study of
Educational Methods, this point appears to be an
important issue for examination.

Terminology of Teacher Education

Teacher as a lifelong learner
Regarding the “policies for developing teachersʼ
total competence throughout the teachersʼ career”
by the Central Council of Education (August 28,2012), which are intended to raise the level ofteacher training education to that of a masterʼsdegree, it is notable that they enshrine “teachers as
lifelong learners” (constantly updating knowledge
and skills throughout the whole teaching career) onthat basis. In this Central Council of Education, tograsp teachersʼ training before and after becoming
a teacher, a special session as well as a previous
teachersʼ pre-service training session was set up for
discussion.
Regarding pedagogical studies in Japan, getting
rid of the means to distinguish pre-service teacher
training from in-service teacher training, it was not
until the 1980s that a comprehensive survey of“teacher education” could be taken. Additionally in
China, almost simultaneously, a tendency to understand “teacher education” throughout both normal
education and continuous education was seen.
These policies by the Central Council of Education
might show a gap of about 30 years necessary for
research tendencies to be reﬂected in policies.
(Yasuyuki Iwata)

Multiple teachers in charge and a guarantee ofdiverse opportunities for reﬂection
In other words, the challenge exists of how weguarantee the content and quality of studentsʼ
“opportunities for (self-) reﬂection”. Regarding theaim of “Practical Seminar for Teaching Profession”,
when we mention “― become capable of starting
their lives as being teachers more smoothly by “realizing what problems they confront in becoming teachers in the future, making up for insuﬃcient knowledge and skills as needed, and trying to establish”(report of 2006), it seems to suggest “supplementary
guidance” (report of 2006) for insuﬃcient partsstrongly, as indicated with the underlined parts(which were added by the author). It can be called a“defect model”-like teacher education theory. How
are the “supplementary guidance”-like education
theory and the image of “ever-learning teachers”(report of the Central Council for Education on
August 28, 2012), “teachers are those who have an
inquisitive mind and keep on learning”, connected ina consistent manner? We must ask this question
radically.
At the same time, questions to ask ourselves arealso becoming readily apparent. In the “Practical
Seminar for Teaching Profession”, for which staﬀs incharge of specialized subjects and those in charge ofteaching subjects are assumed to “cooperate” andhave responsibility, we must confront diﬃcult problems ahead: how we make a connection withstudentsʼ individual learning, encourage extraction ofchallenges, and form an attitude to explore their own
challenges after becoming teachers, not taking a
stance that each staﬀ in charge of classes supplements “insuﬃcient parts” in class. Furthermore, when
making and managing not necessarily large classcontents, through so-called “cooperation”, we will bequestioned as to how we reconstruct the content ofeducation and research that we have cultivated as
researchers and seekers in this scene. How can we
exercise multiple knowledge and wisdom of “specialization (analysis) and generalization (synthesis)”which we have cultivated as a researcher and seeker?
This seems to be the point that demands the closest
consideration.

Book
Review

Masashi Tsujimoto, Yuan Zhenguo, Hirotaka Nanbu and
Gao Xia (eds.)
Japanʼs Education of the East Asian Era: Dialogue with
China (in Japanese)(Kyoto Daigaku Gakujyutu Shuppankai, 2012)

Li Zang
Tokai University Junior College
Visiting Professor, Curriculum Center for Teachers

As a comparative study of modern educationʼs problems, joint research by the Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University (Japan) and the National
Institute of Education Sciences (China) are attracting
attention. Diﬀerent from common research joint
topics exclusively introducing each countryʼs circumstances and characteristics, this book, focusing on
Japanʼs education, in which the Chinese perspective
is ﬁrst discussed from its own standpoint and then theside of Japan answers it, places value on “dialogue,”combining discussions of researchers of both countries. As for teacher education, both sides are
premised on ensuring the high-level teacher training
and qualities. On the other hand, whereas the
Chinese side is practice-oriented, focusing on Japanʼs
recent policies such as a graduate school for teachingprofession aimed at higher education and practicalpower and license renewal systems to ensure teachersʼ total competency, the Japanese side emphasizes“learning of a profession,” which takes top priority inensuring public beneﬁts in education and values theaccumulation of knowledge and technology bycooperation and aﬃliation between universities andeducational sites and the evaluation and certiﬁcationof teachersʼ ability to respond to civil society throughcompetitive principles. Characteristics such as discussion dependent on “dialogue” between both sides
are interesting.

Sites Where Teachers
Are Nurtured
Yoko Yamasaki (Professor, PhD)
Mukogawa Womenʼs University

Head of Department of Education, Graduate School of Letters,
Deputy Head of Undergraduate Department of Education

The department of education to which I belong isa large department providing for 1078 undergraduate students (27 faculties), together with
311 students in the department of pre-school
education of our aﬃliated junior college (12 faculties), and 17 graduate students, as of May 2012.
Our constant challenge therefore is to ensure
detailed learning. However, our studentsʼ “interest, motivation and attitude” in becoming teachers are very good and their volunteer spirit forsociety is also notably high. These characteristics,
combined with an education practice-oriented
curriculum, have helped send many female
teachers into schools (the actual number ofsuccessful applicants for 2012 ﬁscal year elementary teacher examination is 90). Considering that
graduates from private universities account for
fewer than 60%, and female graduates for morethan 60%, of elementary school teachers in Japan,
educating and training so many female elementary teachers entails a great social responsibility,
imposing a heavy burden on academics in chargeof both research and professional preparation.
What should be recalled here is the meaning ofteacher training in higher educational institutes.
In my view the key criteria in conferring Bachelorof Education degrees are the following: (1) toacknowledge the fundamental dignity of ʻhumanbeingsʼ who have developed language, culture
and science; (2) for them to understand our own
and other nations historically and socially; (3) onthat basis, to express in their mother tongue what
they feel, hear, question, and think precisely in“matters and circumstances around education (orpedagogy)”; (4) to have an ability to identify
issues for critical examination and to discuss anddescribe them logically. Included in this process is
a discussion of the politics of education, ideologies and attitudes, and opportunities for educational change and development. Discipline andlogical thinking for social change are important
especially in these years of global expansion.
Our university drew up a declaration for educational

advancement, education of women withautonomy, rationality, and practical skills anddispositions for work. We therefore aim to send
independent and conﬁdent students out into
society, so that the educational outcomes of mydepartment lie in independent logical thinking
by individuals. In this sense, we hope to avoid
accepting uncritically the recent trend that places
excessive emphasis on “educational practice” as it
is. Indeed, a survey of graduates (25 sophomore
teachers of elementary schools, in a project commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology in Japan) has
revealed high satisfaction with skill practice andpractical training in college, but identiﬁed problems in systematic comprehension of lesson
content across subject disciplines and especiallyin oﬀering instruction in moral education or
special activities. Incidentally, 25 mid-career
teachers pointed out the importance of theirknowledge of educational philosopy andprinciples, looking retrospectively at their undergraduate years. In addition, 25 principals of
elementary schools looked to the teacher training
curriculum to developed social understanding
and knowledge that is the preserve of higher
educational institutes. These research results, well
worth our careful attention, might suggest a neworientation for departmental reform.
Taking these circumstances into consideration,
the department of education, identifying suchdevelopment as a pressing issue, seeks reformthat is conducive to “improving teachersʼ overall
competence” by aﬃliation and cooperation
between teacher-training university and boardsof education. Aﬃliation and cooperation countbecause sites in which students grow into teachers and the sites, in which teachers grow further
in intellectual and professional development, areclosely and inseparably connected and continuous. This fact is conﬁrmed in a report stating thatthe “awareness of mid-career teachers is developed further through joint activity with new andaspiring teachers” (“Teacher Training Model
Program” at Mukogawa Womenʼs University
sponsored by Japan National Center for Teacherʼs
Development in 2012). In other words, to enjoy alife of well-being as a teacher, it is necessary tomaintain an environment in which teachers cancontinue to learn and explore issues with juniorcolleagues. In the future, we anticipate continuing departmental reforms acknowledging andimplementing these principles.

Rescheduled Date for the 13th Annual Symposium
New date: Saturday, January 12, 2013
Venue:
Room N411, Koganei Campus,
Tokyo Gakugei University

Staﬀ of Curriculum Center for Teachers
Director

TAKESHI, Kensho(Professor, Music Education)
Center Reseachers[Division of Curriculum Reseach and Development]
MITSUISHI, Hatsuo (Professor, Curriculum Studies)
KANEKO Mariko(Associate Professor, Educational Sociology)[Division of Teacher Preparation Research and Development]
IWATA, Yasuyuki(Professor, Historical Studies of Teacher Education)
UESUGI, Yoshimi(Associate Professor,Media Education)[Division of Research and Development for In-service Teachers]
MAEHARA, Kenji(Associate Professor, Educational Administration)

The CCT is produced by the Curriculum Center for Teachers,
Tokyo Gakugei University.
Editor: Yoshimi Uesugi
Designer: Tsukasa Aoyama and Emi Oura
(Aoyama Lab., Calligraphy and Arts, Tokyo Gakugei University)
Curriculum Center for Terachers, Tokyo Gakugei University
4-1-1 Nukui-kitamachi Koganei, Tokyo 184-8501 Japan
Tel: 81-42-329-7776 Fax; 81-42-329-7786
Email: currict@u-gakugei.ac.jp
Website: http://www.u-gakugei.ac.j/~currict/english/index.html