[Info. File] Current Status of Systems for Teachers’ Professional Learning

Based on the CCE’s Report “Comprehensive Measures for Creating an Environment to Secure High-Quality Teachers Who Will Support ‘Japan-Style School Education in the Reiwa Era’”

Support for Early-Career Teachers Highlighted

On August 27, 2024, the Central Council for Education (CCE) released its report “Comprehensive Measures for Creating an Environment to Secure High-Quality Teachers Who Will Support ‘Japan-Style School Education in the Reiwa Era.’” In this report, it was stated that it is necessary to promote in an integrated manner three key measures: “accelerating work style reform in schools,” “improving teachers’ working conditions,” and “enhancing school guidance and management systems.”.

Source: Compiled by the author

Among the three measures, “enhancing school guidance and management systems” is closely related to supporting young teachers. In recent years, due to a wave of retirements and large-scale new hiring, the number of young teachers has increased. From the early stages of their careers, teachers bear heavy responsibility for the education of children and students. However, young teachers in particular tend to spend long hours at school beyond regular working hours, and their rate of taking leave due to mental health issues is also high. The recommendation therefore calls for reducing the number of classes assigned to young teachers and strengthening student guidance systems in order to ease the burden on teachers—including young ones—and to support their growth as highly specialized professionals in learning.

Regarding the improvement of teachers’ qualifications and competencies, major institutional changes have taken place since 2022. In July 2022, the teacher license renewal system was abolished in an “evolutionary” manner, and since April 2023, the central mechanism has been the “encouragement of participation in training based on dialogue utilizing training records” (hereafter “dialogue-based training encouragement”). Under this system, a training record is created for each teacher, and principals and other school administrators provide guidance and advice on professional learning based on those records.

Source: Compiled by the author

Under the license renewal system, teachers’ learning tended to be driven by the external factor of license renewal requirements. By contrast, the dialogue-based training encouragement scheme aims to shift toward a system that emphasizes teachers’ autonomous choices. Since FY2024, the “National Teacher Training Platform (Plant),” an information system, has enabled both the participation in and integrated management of training programs provided by diverse actors.

Emphasis on balancing teacher autonomy with professional standards

At the same time, when principals and other administrators provide guidance and advice, they are expected to use teacher development indicators and training plans as reference points, reflecting an intent to ensure professional standards appropriate to each teacher’s responsibilities and experience. In the Ministry of Education’s guidelines on this system, principals and other administrators are also requested to consider mandating training as a job duty in cases where a teacher’s level of participation in training is deemed to fall significantly short of the expected standard.

Thus, the Comprehensive Measures for Creating an Environment to Secure High-Quality Teachers Who Will Support “Japan-Style School Education in the Reiwa Era” establish a system that emphasizes the balance between teacher autonomy and professional standards, with the expectation that it will create effective opportunities for professional learning, especially for young teachers.

However, there are also challenges in making dialogue-based training encouragement function as intended.

Source: Compiled by the author

First, school principals and other administrators who provide training encouragement must have the instructional capacity to ensure that their guidance does not devolve into one-sided orders or, conversely, into neglect. Second, depending on the size of the school, it may be necessary for senior teachers to take on part of this role instead of administrators. Given the declining number of mid-career teachers, the development of middle leaders is an urgent task. Third, with the correction of long working hours being a pressing issue, securing sufficient time for training and professional learning remains a challenge. Fourth, while the launch of Plant has greatly expanded the range of available training programs, the diversity of providers makes it necessary to build a system that guarantees the quality of training.

It can therefore be said that, in the context of ongoing work style reforms, the refinement of mechanisms for teacher learning must also be pursued in an integrated manner.

(Published with additions and revisions in the November 2024 issue of "EN-ICHI FORUM")

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