Social Studies Teacher Education and Research : Japanese Social Studies Education Researcher's Voices from the United States(International Symposium)

Abstract

The author teaches elementary and secondary social studies methods and other various education courses in the School of Education at Indiana University Kokomo. His elementary social studies methods course focuses on integration, rational-building, and assessment outcomes and value-added student learning. His students are required to complete a comprehensive field experience in an elementary classroom, progressing from observation, aiding the teacher, instruction of the existing curriculum, to the design and implementation of an integrated social studies and science curricular project. His secondary social studies methods students are also required to complete a comprehensive field experience in a secondary social studies classroom, Students are required to develop lessons of which some were to be taught in the middle or high school classroom, pre/post evaluation of student learning, multimedia approach to the concepts, rational, and summative evaluation. The author's focus in international studies through the lens of social studies education, diversity and multicultural education, and social studies education in the United States has afforded him the opportunity to conduct several research studies with scholars from the United States and abroad. He has published various articles in peer-reviewed international and national journals. In addition to those publications, he has made numerous research presentations at international, national, and state/regional conferences. His three international presentations were at the invitations of the Japanese Educational Research Association for the Social Studies and the Japanese Civic Education Association, and the majority of his other research presentations were at the National Council for the Social Studies and the American Educational Research Association conferences, both of which are highly respected professional gatherings in the field of social studies education and educational research. Through presenting and attending international conferences, participating in international and cross-national research projects, reading and writing research articles in international journals, the author has come to recognize the great differences between the social studies education research traditions of the United States and Japan. The United States has largely inherited the western epistemological tradition, which holds an analytical view of the world, typically characterized through empirical investigation, but the Japanese research tradition seems to be rooted in the introspective and to focus more on curriculum and lesson development for teachers. Since Japan and the United States have different cultural and historical backgrounds, the author believes how different epistemological traditions shape social studies education research. In the current era of globalization, many researchers in social studies education want to gain rich insights from comparative studies in varied national contexts. More researchers are becoming interested in conducting and interpreting comparative and international research with scholars in other countries. The author believes that understanding another country's research practices and methodologies can better enable researchers to acknowledge the major concerns and issues that exist across countries. As boundaries between national borders continue to blur, this understanding can help researchers better interpret and present their findings with greater international relevance.