This volume highlights unique features of L2 teachers' motivation, autonomy and career development in Far East counties (including Japan, South Korea and China), using diverse methodological research approaches incorporating both quantitative and qualitative paradigms. While much of current research focuses on students' psychology, this volume…

Natural disasters are frequently exacerbated by anthropogenic mechanisms and have social and political consequences for communities. The role of community learning in disasters is seen to be increasingly important. However, the ways in which such learning unfolds in a disaster can differ substantially from case to case. This article uses a…

This article presents a theoretical model of lesson study's impact on instruction, through intervening impact on teachers' knowledge, beliefs and dispositions, teachers' learning community, and curriculum. It also describes four different types of lesson study in Japan, pointing out their synergies in producing a system where local teachers…

Under neo-liberal policies in many countries, there has been an extensive trend of educational reform which intensifies competition. Such educational reform is underpinned by direct government control, seen in centre to periphery forms of policy administration and implementation with strong emphasis on managerialism and test-oriented…

Japanese Lesson Study has come under increasing attention from educators in the West and throughout South-East Asia since it was revealed outside Japan through the release of the TIMSS Video Study. In this paper we argue that Japanese Lesson Study provides a model for large scale, sustainable professional development. In particular, we draw on our…

Since the middle of the twentieth century waves of immigration have increased heterogeneity in American classrooms and contributed to new challenges and problems for both teachers and learners. These trends in the United States are, in fact, part of a global phenomenon of large-scale movement of people (Garcia Coll & Marks, 2009;…

This paper discusses John Ogbu and his work in the context of Japan. First, his interest in Japan, his interactions with Japanese educators and researchers, and their responses to his work are discussed. Then Ogbu's cultural model from the author's fieldwork experiences is examined and a relational and dialectic perspective is proposed to study…

Community learning centers (CLCs) are local educational institutions outside the formal education system that are usually established and managed by local people to provide various learning opportunities designed to empower individuals and promote community development for all community members regardless of age or socioeconomic group. CLCs…

In this research report we share results of a study of an adaptation of Lesson Study, a form of professional development typically used in Japanese elementary schools, with secondary mathematics teachers in the United States. We draw on Wenger's (1998) concept of "communities of practice" and Grossman, Wineberg, and Woolworth's (2001)…

The Communication Technology and Policy section of the Proceedings contains the following 15 papers: "The Virtual Sphere: The Internet as a Public Sphere" (Zizi Papacharissi); "Toward a Typology of Internet Users and Online Privacy Concerns" (Kim Bartel Sheehan); "Blind Spots of the Communications Decency Act Debate: A…

American schools might improve their performance by emulating certain successful businesses that, while distinctly American, have much in common with Japanese corporations. William Ouchi attributes Japanese business success to worker involvement; the typical Japanese corporation, he asserts, unifies its employees around a corporate philosophy…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…