In the fall of 2003, the author conducted research on the student teaching process in Japan. The basis for most of the lessons observed was rich mathematics problems. Upon returning to the US, the author used one such problem while teaching an algebra 2 class. This article introduces that problem, which gives rise to both linear and quadratic…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) reports that the mathematics teaching in Japan is distinctly different from that found in the United States. They attribute part of that difference to the professional development practice of Lesson Study. However, is the pre-service preparation of Japanese mathematics teachers also…

Evaluates the student teaching process in Japan through analysis of what student teachers write about critical events and their reflections in the context of everyday teaching experience. Results from 2 questionnaires given to 88 student teachers are provided revealing the most difficult incidents encountered, the incidents which were positive,…

Compared the student-teaching experiences of novice teachers in Japan and the United States to understand similarities and differences in acculturation. Student teachers from one Japanese university and student teachers and beginning teachers from one U.S. university wrote critical incidents summaries that researchers scored and coded. Results…

After brief histories of laboratory schools and comparable Japanese "attached schools," this article promotes preservation of university-controlled schools in a cooperating schools network that provides teacher training and experimentation sites. Although university-controlled schools may have professional development school…

The attached schools of national universities in Japan are comparable to U.S. laboratory schools. This article discusses the history of attached schools, their present condition, and restructuring the role of these schools to make them clinical schools, compatible with overall reform of clinical education for beginning teachers. (IAH)

This paper traces the reorganization of Japanese colleges and faculties of education in response to the educational reform movement. This response includes establishment of graduate programs of teacher education and curricular changes to improve teacher competence. The first section of the paper outlines the evolution of public policy aimed at…

Analyzes current education reform in Japan. Develops historical background, examining major educational reforms since 1868. Presents the National Council on Education Reform's stated objectives. Discusses lifelong learning, individuality (rather than standardization) in education and the reform movement's guiding principles responding to…

Part 1 of this article discusses changes in Japanese teacher education since 1949, particularly the arrangement and reorganization of teacher education universities and faculties and the establishment of graduate schools of education. Part 2 presents findings from three studies that examine the psychological adjustment of teacher education…

This study was designed to provide a rich description of the changing perceptions student teachers had about increased personal growth and enhanced global awareness as a result of teaching placements in foreign countries. The study included an examination of research on the impact of international student teaching (IST) experiences, description of…

This paper offers an overview and analysis of the status of teaching as an occupation and of teacher development in the United States. An opening section describes the development of the industrial-based education model that has been in place for this century and the reform movements that have started in the past two decades. A section on the…

This document is the final report of Phase I of a comparative study of teacher-training practices among 12 nation members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. The purposes of the study were to: (1) provide concrete, comparable descriptions of teacher-preparation systems useful to educators, researchers, and policymakers in all APEC member…