Purpose: The number of international faculty members in universities is increasing worldwide, and Japan is no exception. However, despite this quantitative expansion, these faculty remain peripheral. Though recent studies have identified various challenges faced by international faculty, they have focused on international faculty's individual…

In-class group work activities are found to promote the interpersonal skills of learners. To support the teachers in facilitating such activities, we designed a learning analytics-enhanced technology framework, Group Learning Orchestration Based on Evidence (GLOBE) using data-driven approaches. In this study, we implemented the algorithmic group…

In the twenty-first century, the use of standardized tests as the primary means to evaluate schools and teachers in the United States has contributed to severe dilemmas, including misleading information on what students know, lower-level instruction, cheating, less collaboration, unfair treatment of teachers, and biased teaching. This article…

We examine the distinction between teaching and teachers as it relates to instructional improvement. Drawing from work outside of education on improvement systems and from analyzing the Japanese system of lesson study, we contend that a focus on teaching can shape a coordinated system for improvement whereas a focus on teachers, common in the…

Teaching style has been a popular concept for many years. Teaching style refers to the distinct qualities displayed by a teacher that are persistent from situation to situation regardless of the content. The Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS) has been used extensively in the West for measuring teaching style in relationship to the adult…

This paper describes a strategy for successfully implementing the teaching portfolio in higher education institutions in Japan. The teaching portfolio has gained recognition in Japan in the last few years as an effective instrument for improving and showcasing teaching performance. It is well known that the implementation process is very important…

Contrary to what many people assume, writes Stewart, a high-quality teacher workforce is not the simple result of some traditional cultural respect for teachers that exists in some countries. Rather, it requires deliberate policy choices. In a tour of seven countries that traditionally score high on international tests of student performance…

This study focuses on aspects of the Changing Academic Profession survey of 2007-08 that describe the place of faculty in their institutions. The authors examine the following aspects of institutional life: (1) the faculty role in institutional governance; (2) who evaluates their teaching and research; (3) the locus of their loyalties as between…

Over the last few years, almost all local education boards in Japan have redesigned their teacher evaluation methods. Consequently, questions then arise as to whether the new policies and practices are control measures for teachers' performance and competence or do they represent an opportunity for authentic professional development? With this in…

The present paper attempts to examine the possibilities of the Classroom Language Assessment Benchmark (CLAB) as a professional development tool for EFL teachers in Japan. Two questionnaire surveys were carried out several months after the last day of the graduate course (both in 2006 and 2007) where CLAB was used as a self- and peer-assessment…

A new reform movement in Japanese tertiary education has emerged which is more economy centered, more market sensitive, and more influenced by a government shift towards decentralization. With the dramatic decline in the 18 year old population, a buyer's market has led to the introduction of student evaluation of teaching surveys (SETs) partly as…

This article, written as a memo to the author's friend in response to an earlier conversation, compares the American education system with that of Japan. First, the author examines cultural differences between Japan and America as a lens through which to look at these two countries. Then, Japanese and American schooling are compared in terms of…

The effects of Physical Education Teacher Education program modifications upon selected characteristics identified with effective teaching were assessed utilizing the Teacher Work Sample (TWS). Data were collected from all student teacher candidates during the 2002 student teaching sessions. Based upon the 2002 data, interventions were made to a…

A study group from a Wyoming school and nearby university delve into the Japanese process of lesson study, learning the differences between the Japanese and U.S. education systems and how the process can work--and does not work--in an American context. The group's understandings highlight ways that lesson study can be adapted for use in the United…

Analyzes some examples of classroom interaction from observation of English as a second language (ESL) teachers in Japanese classrooms. Analysis of the data shows that lessons often seem to pass from meaningless activity to silence and that ESL teachers continue to emphasize form over meaning and accuracy over communication. (SED)