2019 Volume 28 Pages 30-40
This paper elaborates how the initial teacher education in Japan has structurally changed due to the rise of the Neo-Liberal policies in Japan at the beginning of the 21st century. Policies deregulating the providers of the initial teacher education for primary school teachers in particular exhibits some typical issues brought by the neo-liberal policies.
Japan’s initial teacher education is known as the ‘Open System’. However, preservice training for primary school teachers has been one of five areas of preservice trainings that are exclusively restricted in order to keep a balance between demand and supplies. Therefore, it had been prohibited to launch a new provider or to increase the training capacity of existing providers since 1980s.
The Cabinet organized by Prime Minister KOIZUMI Junichiro (2001-06) has lifted the state regulation of the initial teacher education programme for primary school teacher as a part of the ‘Deregulation’ scheme. Since 2005, hundreds of new providers of programme for primary school teachers have been launched. Most of those new providers were private universities with relatively low prestige in urban areas. These universities launched the initial teacher education programme as a means to improve their financial conditions.
In conjunction with the deregulation, a governmental control of ‘course approval system’ by ministry against initial teacher education providers became stricter than before. However, the stricter control of ‘course approval system’ has not been an effective means for quality assurance of prospective teachers until now. Local education administration in urban areas has experienced difficulties in handling an increasing number of prospective primary school teachers. Some of hastily launched providers are insufficient in preparing competency of teacher candidates, local boards of education are forced to put tougher requirements on the initial teacher education providers.
It is ironic that the ‘Deregulation’ policy on the initial teacher education has failed to strengthen teacher competency of new graduates. Instead, the ‘Deregulation’ has ended up introducing much stricter regulations on the courses provided under the initial teacher education to ensure the competency of teachers prepared by rapidly launched providers of the initial teacher education. This study identified that such irony has turned into a crisis by weakening the autonomy of universities providing teacher education programme.
