TEACHER INDUCTION IN JAPAN

How Have You Benefited from the Induction Training?“More so than content, the best thing about the training was that I was able to meeton a regular basis with others in the same situation. Although not everything Ilearned last year was applicable then, this year I can see the usefulness of much ofwhat I learned last year.”High School Teacher (2nd year)“At first, I was worried that I was struggling more so than I should have been.However, in the group discussions at the out-of-school training, I was quite relieved tosee that I was not unusual and that many others were in the same situation — it wasonly natural that I was having these problems.”Elementary School Teacher (1st year)“In the group discussions, even though we didn't have much experience, we wereable to work together to come up with ideas for dealing with different issues. In oneparticular instance, there was a discussion about how to get boys and girls to interactbetter. This was a problem I was having at the time. One suggestion that came upwas to make sure that when groups were made within the class for various activities,they include both boys and girls and not to let the students divide themselves. I didthis for a school-wide activity and it worked very well.”Elementary School Teacher (1st year)“The residential training workshop was very useful. Through some of the morephysical activities, such as the recreation and the orienteering, I got in touch with myphysical self, which although not directly applicable to instruction, helped me tounderstand that learning is not just a mental activity.”Elementary School Teacher (1st year)“The most difficult thing was dealing with the children. It's very difficult to strike abalance between teaching to the group and to the individual. These type of problemswere addressed directly by my guidance teacher in the consultations I had with herand in the topical discussions at the outside-school training.”Elementary School Teacher (1st year)“My biggest difficulty was classroom management. During class the students wouldconstantly barrage me with things not always related to the lesson. Some studentswould say whatever came into their head. One senior teacher at the school inparticular talked with me about stating clearly to the students the rules for the class,establishing from the beginning things that were relevant and things that were not.As the year progressed, the students got better about following the rules for askingquestions and sticking to the topic.”Elementary School Teacher (1st year)One unintended benefit of frequently leaving the school building reported by severalteachers is the sense of sanctuary provided by the out-of-school training. All teachers, butespecially teachers in their first year of employment, can feel overwhelmed at times by thefast pace of school life. Attending the out-of-school training allows the beleaguered122 “The training year”