Preparing Teachers for Japan's Classrooms. Fastback 394.

Overview & Synopsis

This volume reviews the development of teacher education in Japan from 1868 to the present. The first section examines teacher education in Japan from 1868 to 1945, covering the development of normal schools; the Tokyo Normal School, Japan's first modern teacher education institute, founded in 1872; conservative reaction during the 1880s and the resulting changes in normal schools; conditions in the early 20th century; and the influence of military control from 1931 to 1945. The second section covers postwar teacher education from 1945 to the present, focusing on: teacher education reform, teacher supply and demand, and Prime Minister Nakasone's reform strategy in the 1980s. Instead of soliciting recommendations from the existing Central Council on Education, the Prime Minister created a National Council on Educational Reform (NCER). As part of its work, NCER proposed major teacher education reforms: strengthening of preservice education, including an emphasis on graduate education; an internship program; and a program of alternative certification. (Contains 19 references.) (ND)