Prior to World War Ⅱ，there were a variety of institutions training secondary school teachers in Japan. While national universities and national normal schools produced many "elite" teachers, private universities and colleges/schools also made a valuable contribution to the supply of teachers. Previous studies have recognized the critical role of private institutions in training secondary school teachers. However, the career paths of these teachers have not been investigated in detail. Therefore, on the basis of alumni lists obtained from four private institutions, this article investigates the career paths of such teachers graduating at the beginning of the Showa era. The author conducted a quantitative analysis to compare graduates from four private institutions with those from three national institutions.

  The results showed that all the four private institutions produced many teachers at the secondary education level. However, graduates of private universities' and colleges' faculties of literature had a greater tendency to pursue teaching at the university level, and many private institution evening course graduates became elementary school teachers. Private institutions' graduates often taught in vocational schools（jitsugyo-gakko）, which were considered to be subsidiary in secondary education. However, the general high schools（chugakko and koto-jogakko）in which many taught had comparable prestige in terms of their tradition and size to those that employed their national-institution-trained counterparts.

  However, very few of the private-institution graduates could hope to become principals of secondary schools. Moreover, the proportion of private-school graduates returning to their hometown to teach was higher than that of the national-school graduates. National-institution graduates frequently moved from one school to another for a better salary and status. Private-institution graduates, on the other hand, had limited opportunities to do this for various reasons. The author investigates the reasons why they returned to their hometown and concludes that most of them tried to find a role as teachers of the students of their hometown because they could not expect to increase their prestige in the hierarchy of teachers.

  Faced with a difficult situation, some teachers are overwhelmed but others can survive. What makes the difference? In an attempt to answer to this question, this paper investigates the structure and function of "teacher resilience". Resilience is the ability to adapt oneself to a difficult situation which could, in the absence of sufficient resilience, produce maladaptation. Teacher resilience in this paper refers to the development of a teacher's ability to adapt in their stressful everyday life.

  This study attempts to explain teacher resilience as a phenomenon with avoiding "burnout" and maintaining "teacher efficacy" and "job satisfaction" as the outcome variables because teacher resilience may prevent teachers from becoming burnt out or help to prevent reduction of efficacy and satisfaction, despite negative experiences in their lives that can be risk factors. The present study also investigates the effects of positive events in their lives, since positive experiences help to prevent teachers from burning out and strengthen their efficacy and satisfaction.

  In order to examine teacher resilience, a questionnaire survey of 386 in-service teachers was conducted. The authors developed a questionnaire based on a "Teacher Resilience Scale", a "Burnout Inventory", and a "Teacher Life Event Scale". The data was analyzed using factor analysis, analysis of variance, and covariance structure analysis.

  From the results, it can be said that the phenomenon of teacher resilience reflects the relation between teacher resilience as a personal quality and daily experiences in the teacher's particular environment, and it can function to protect him/her against becoming burnt out or feelings of helplessness. Moreover the results may suggest some useful insights into stress management strategies and teacher supports.

  The form of teacher education is changing dramatically. It is being transformed from the transmission and accumulation of knowledge and skills related to teaching to teacher development through the use and creation of practical knowledge that is generated from various experiences in the classroom. This means a teacher's practical knowledge is crucial and is a functional resource for school-based teacher education. Furthermore, a key point for practical teacher education is reflection by the teacher. The aim of this paper is to describe the process of a teacher's reflection concretely and to explain the function of a mentor in that process by a case study.

  The major functions of a mentor are the following. First, a mentor transmits to a novice teacher knowledge and skills that have been built up through various experiences. However, a mentor who is an expert teacher is not a mere transmitter of knowledge. Novice teachers not only receive useful knowledge and effective skills from a mentor but also establish their "framework" for teaching through reflection on their own teaching, which can be the basis for their practical knowledge for the next lesson. In this sense, it can be said that reflection is a process for reviewing or reorganizing their practical knowledge and their framework for teaching. The collaborative relationship between a mentor and novice teachers functions as an important factor in encouraging them better in their development.

  The teacher education program in this paper is a case rich in suggestions because the main purpose of this program is to encourage novice teachers to develop their teaching skills through being mentored. It provides some descriptions of individual teachers' process of reflection and being mentored. The groups in this program are composed of three to five teachers working in different schools. This point is an outstanding feature of this program and gives participants the opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas about their teaching in different situations. Finally, this paper tries to suggest the effectiveness of the collaborative relationship by describing this case in some depth.

  The purposes of the present study were to develop a teacher efficacy scale for students majoring in education, to examine the reliability and validity of the scale, and using the scale, to examine the effect of teaching practice on teacher efficacy. 130 students（121 undergraduates and 9 postgraduates）participated in the first group, 92（all undergraduates）in the second.

  Three factors were obtained by factor analysis of the teacher efficacy scale："classroom management efficacy", "instruction efficacy" and "student understanding efficacy". Examined for reliability and validity, the teacher efficacy scale was found to score high for both. Using the scale, it was found that all of the post-test ratings on the three scales were significantly higher than the pre-test ratings. These results showed that the teaching practice experience enhanced the teacher efficacy of students majoring in education.

  Teachers' main roles are generally thought to be teaching and evaluation in their classrooms. In addition to these, a teacher is required to take on three new roles in the Period for Integrated Study: "team-player" in a collaborative teaching unit, facilitator for collaborative work with local people, and co-learner with his/her pupils. However, these three new roles have been paid little attention in previous research, which did not deal with this issue or relate it to the success of their educational practice in the Period for Integrated Study.

  This paper discusses the relation between these new roles of teacher and successful practice in the Period for Integrated Study based on the results of the questionnaire responses of 623 primary school teachers and 304 junior high school teachers.

  From this survey, some important findings are drawn. First, there was a good chance of teachers achieving success in the Period for Integrated Study if they played these three roles fully even when the teaching environment was not very supportive to their educational practice. Second, among these three roles, that of co-learner with pupils was strongly connected to the success of his/her educational practice. Third, parents' support was an important element both for teachers and pupils. Fourth, conducting school-based workshops at regular intervals was a key factor for the success of practice, especially in junior high schools.

  These results suggest that it is important to create an educational community formed by the teachers and local people in order to support educational practice and to share information about the children. The teachers' new roles discussed above may also help them to create an educational community.

  For the Period for Integrated Study to be more successful, the policy regarding the Period for Integrated Study and teacher education for the above new teacher roles needs to be reviewed taking these points into consideration.

  The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors influencing the "competencies required for working in society" of college students, especially the effect of volunteer activities. Today it is important to provide education which enhances these "competencies" of students both on college courses and on teacher education courses, and volunteer activities are attracting attention as an important part of college life.

  A questionnaire survey was carried out in 25 private universities and colleges in the Chugoku-Shikoku area in 2005. Usable responses of 1,532 students were statistically analyzed. "Competencies required for working in society" were classified into four categories: self-management, interpersonal relations, planning, and practical conduct. The author considered five factors influencing their "competencies", that is volunteer activities, club activities, part-time jobs, the "care experience" program, and "commitment to study".

  The main findings suggest three important factors. First, students doing volunteer activities tend to commit not only to those activities but also to their study in classes and to evaluate both positively. Volunteer activities affect "competencies" relevant to interpersonal relations and intellectual activities. Second, "commitment to study" is the most significant factor influencing "competencies" of college students. Third, extracurricular activities have a relatively weak influence, though some research has pointed out that the graduates reported feeling an effect from those activities.

  The results of this survey seem to show that participation in volunteer activities and involvement in classes stimulate one another. Also from the analysis it seems that some creative ideas and means for delivering lessons, such as discussions and interactions between the teaching staff and students, are essential to enhance the "competencies" of students in order to help students' learning.

  The purpose of this paper is to explore the new development of chartering the entities that provide educator preparation programs through an analysis of the Accountability System for Educator Preparation（ASEP）in Texas, USA.

  Since the 1990s, the spread of alternative routes to teacher certification in the USA has increased the diversity of educator preparation programs. While colleges and/or universities have maintained their teacher education courses, community colleges, private bodies, and school districts have established alternative educator preparation programs.

  In 1996, the State Board for Educator Certification（SBEC）in Texas launched the ASEP to ensure that all educator programs are held accountable in certifying the individuals completing the programs. The assessment criteria adopted in the ASEP focuses on the propotion of applicants successful in the Texas Examinations of Educator Standards（TExES）. Most educator preparation programs are rated as "Accredited", "Accredited-Under Review" or "Not Accredited". If a program is "Accredited-Under Review" for two years, the ASEP committee can intervene in that program with the right to hire, fire, and transfer staff. The SBEC withdraws the charter from those rated as "Not Accredited".

  Besides the output control based on the ASEP, the SBEC requires all entities to submit a Curriculum Matrix based on the Educator Standards provided by the SBEC. The Matrix specifies what a teacher should know and be able to do. Thus, all programs have to achieve a satisfactory success rate in the TExES and establish an appropriate training curriculum based on the guidelines established by the SBEC and the Texas Education Agency.

  From the above description, it can be seen that a new structure for teacher education in Texas is being established. That is to say, the state educational administration bodies are in the process of developing a system for accrediting the entities providing educator preparation programs in addition to chartering them.

  This paper deals with the issues around how we trained pre-service teachers at a private university of arts between 2003 and 2006.

  A curriculum based on the model of pedagogical reasoning and action proposed by L. S. Shulman was planned and delivered in the teacher education course. Our three purposes in using this model were to have the students:（1）experience "a cycle of pedagogical reasoning and action";（2）become more autonomous as student teachers;（3）develop practical professional skills. In the case method, student teachers were asked about their selection of the teaching materials, in order to test their pedagogical content knowledge, and they were asked to respond as if they were professionals. This aims at making the teaching practice provide an opportunity for students to think and act as professional teachers.

  The present article deals with three detailed cases of students teaching art lessons in public junior high schools. These two students taught more actively, deciding the subject matter and objectives of learning, creating teaching materials and methods, evaluating and reflecting on their lessons. This evaluation and reflection led them to find out their own problems about subject matter, goals of learning, and their own teaching, which made them redesign their next lesson. What they did was to encourage the students to truly appreciate their art lessons. Two of the student teachers developed their pedagogical content knowledge in their teaching practice. The other one had to teach a particular lesson unit to junior high school students and did not decide the objectives of learning and teaching materials himself. Nevertheless, a meeting with a music teacher in the teaching practice became an opportunity for him to reflect on his own teaching and develop a new understanding of it.

  All of them were able to adapt their teaching to the "assembly-line method" of normal lessons, but they were unable to fully utilize what they had learned from their teaching practice through reflection on their own teaching. From this study, it can be said that students need to reflect on their own teaching in order to develop understanding of pedagogical method and principle. As a conclusion, the paper points to the need for a reorganizing of curriculum based on "a cycle of pedagogical reasoning and action", as a suggestion for the improvement of teacher education.