King, David
(2018)
Preparing for 2020 through Action Research: The
Development and Installation of an In-Service Training
Programme for Japanese Elementary School Homeroom
Teachers in Japan.
[Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)]
Abstract
As instructed by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and
Technology (MEXT), from 2020, elementary school homeroom teachers in Japan will be
expected to teach elementary school English lessons, a subject they are neither trained for
nor experienced in. MEXT is set to implement reforms that will see an increase in English
lessons for fifth and sixth graders (ages ten to twelve) from thirty-five to seventy classroom
hours a year. Despite the significant lack of support, MEXT has stated that homeroom
teachers for the fifth and sixth grade will be responsible for teaching the increase in English
classes. This has resulted in an overwhelming sense of anxiety amongst teachers which is
not being addressed by those responsible, namely MEXT, prefectural and local boards of
educations, and school principles. As such, this paper set out to investigate two research
questions, firstly, what impact on Japanese HRTs’ English teaching abilities can the
development and implementation of a 6-week in-service action research training programme
provide, and to what extent is action research an appropriate methodology to explore
elementary school homeroom teacher anxiety. Conducted at the local scale, with scaffolding
provided by the author, this research was carried out with five homeroom teachers, three from
the fifth grade and two from the sixth grade. Action research began through initial semistructured
interviews focused on the homeroom teachers’ backgrounds, opinions on current
elementary school English education including their classroom role, and their opinions on the
2020 MEXT reforms. Research concluded with a semi-structured interview focused on
homeroom teacher feedback and impressions a of the action research, and progress made in
English teaching. This research concludes that through action research, homeroom teachers
were able to take greater leadership over both classroom material preparations, including
lesson plan development, as well as become more confident in teaching English. This was
possible due to the suitability of action research as the chosen methodology in this research.
Despite a lack of support and interest shown towards the research by those who should be
taking leadership, all homeroom teachers, were able to directly address individual areas of
teaching anxiety and concern, and thus were able to take the first steps towards becoming
elementary school teachers of English.
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