This study examines the program and contents of the teacher training in Singapore's National Institute of Education (NIE). As a part of the study of the program and its content, a survey was also conducted on In-service training. The following three points have been discovered to be applicable to teacher education in Japan.

The first point suggests a way to improve practice teaching system in Japan. In Singapore, practice teaching involves a mentor and a novice teacher working together at the same school. All the participants in the practice teaching program work closely together to develop students' educational experience. Based on this observation, it appears necessary to reexamination of Japan's practice teaching program to develop one in which all those involved are connected more closely.

The second point suggests an establishment of a teaching professional standard. In Japan, the recent year's educational reforms call for a teacher training program which clearly establishes teacher professional. In Singapore, the national standards for teacher education were first established in 2005 and revised in 2009. Japanese universities need to set and enforce the standards necessary to establish qualifications of future teachers.

The third point advocates the establishment of an individualized training program. In Singapore, according to a teacher's abilities and qualifications, a grade is prepared along with an appropriate training program In Japan, graduate schools which accept qualified in service teachers should be beneficial.

The purpose of this study is to develop descriptors based on the assessment language of English teachers. Three experienced Japanese high school English teachers with more than five years of teaching experience were asked to watch video clips containing short interviews between Japanese university students with varying levels of English and a native speaker of English and to write down their assessments on the students' vocabulary, grammar, fluency, and pronunciation. The teachers' raw assessment language is then examined with reference to proficiency scales previously developed according to a quantitative method by Nekoda, Nekoda, & Miura (2007). The performance characteristics which are not covered by the existing scales are developed into 16 new descriptors (four levels in the above-mentioned four analytic categories). These descriptors can now be verified in the next step of a broader research project.

The purpose of this study was to develop a checklist to improve parental reflections on early childhood rearing. The two-week parental reflection checklist was based on three layer model of three levels and three parts (the parents' self-reflection on their parenting, the parents' reflection on their children, the parents' reflection on others' parenting or another family's children). The participants of the study were 144 parents of 3- to 5-year old children. The questionnaires before and after the checklist was introduced included a reflection scale of the three parts mentioned earlier, and on various scales including: self-consciousness/ self-reflection, parent-child relationship, maternal consciousness, child-care attitude, and view of child. The scores of the questionnaires before and after the checklist suggest that the participants had improved their parent-child relationship after the parental reflection checklist. An increase of child-care attitude of the authority and a decrement of maternal negative consciousness were also suggested.

Young groups have been major concern in the developmental history of social education in Japan. Yamamoto Taikinosuke (1873-1931)played an important role in the development of Japanese youths. Focusing on his maiden work-Inaka Seinen-this paper aims to elucidate Yamamoto's early views on youth education. In Yamamoto's work, we discover the following facts. First, the form of youth education theory that Yamamoto espoused sought to cultivate young people who would help bring prosperity to the countryside. The aim was to build a sound country that balanced urban and rural power. Secondly, to foster the youth, Yamamoto advocated an approach-based on simplicity and frugality-that anyone could implement in their daily lives. Namely, he advocated youth education as a means to rescue young people in the countryside from the life of depravity they were currently leading. Thirdly, Yamamoto stressed the importance of self-reliance / critical thinking among the young. Rather than simply having them acquire existing knowledge, he felt that it was critical for young people to cultivate the ability to think critically and more deeply about issues, while maintaining concern for others / the society as a whole. The educational views that Yamamoto advocated in Inaka Seinen differs from that provided by traditional village youth organizations. By stressing the importance of allowing young people to enjoy independence and individuality, Yamamoto helped spark the dawn of modern youth education in Japan.

The practice of using media as materials for teaching literacy has been presented in Pre- World War II Japan. However, it was in the 1947 curriculum that the television media was positioned not as a means but as purpose and the content of Japanese language instruction. We can find the germ of media education for contemporary Japanese language instruction in 1947, when the development of students' communicative abilities were emphasized. The students' ability to communication clearly and function well as a part of their society was important not only for the their literacy education but the in Post-World War II society. In conclusion, the significance of 1947 curriculum will be discussed in detail, leading to a closer examinations of the objectives that may be appropriate for Japanese language instruction in the future.