Report Summary: The 7th International Symposium on Teacher Education in East Asia

Documents of the 7th International Symposium on Teacher Education in East Asia

The 7th International Symposium on Teacher Education in East Asia was held at Garden City Shinagawa in Tokyo on November 3 and 4, 2012 (see attachment 1 for the symposium program). About 140 university presidents, vice presidents, as well as scholars of teacher training from universities of education in Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan gathered to discuss “Quality Assurance of University-based Teacher Education in East Asia.”

Akira Izushima, director of the Student Affairs Department of Tokyo Gakugei University, served as facilitator of the proceedings on the morning of November 3. Tokyo Gakugei University President Yasuko Muramatsu opened the symposium with an address as president of the host university. This was followed by addresses by guest speakers: Kumiko Bando, director-general of the Higher Education Bureau of Japan’s Ministry of. Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Wang Binglin, vice president of Beijing Normal University, and Sihn Hang Gyun, president of Seoul National University of Education.

Next, the three keynote speeches were given: Suh Mancheol, president of Kongju National University, gave a speech titled “Cooperation between School and University for Training World’s Leading Teachers.” On behalf of Liu Yi-chun, president of Northeast Normal University, Rao Congman, executive vice director of the Academy for Research in Teacher Education at Northeast Normal University, delivered President Liu’s speech titled “On the Trends of Construction of Teacher Education Quality Assurance System in China in an Open Context.” Finally, Chizu Sato, associate professor at Tokyo Gakugei University, spoke on “Quality Assurance in Teacher Education in East Asia: Implications of Experience of Japan, Europe and the United States.”

In session 1 in the afternoon, the focus turned to the international collaborative research project. From fiscal 2011 through fiscal 2014, Tokyo Gakugei University is undertaking the International Collaborative Research Project on Comparative Study on the Current Condition of and Future Outlook for Quality Assurance Systems for University-based Teacher Education in East Asia. This project was selected by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for funding under the project division of the special education and research expense segment of the operating expense subsidies to national university corporations. The coordinators of the three research groups (RG) that compose the project—Yasuyuki Iwata, professor at Tokyo Gakugei University (RG1), Yasuhiro Owaki, professor at Osaka Kyoiku University (RG2), and Yoshimi Tanaka, executive director (vice-president) of Tokyo Gakugei University (RG3)—each gave a midterm report on their respective research group.

After the poster session by graduate students and young scholars, the International Workshop jointly hosted by Tokyo Gakugei University’s Office of Promoting International Strategies and the Curriculum Center for Teachers was held as session 2. Professor Yasuyuki Iwata facilitated this workshop on the theme of “The Partnership between University and School on Teacher Education.” Participants were divided into eight groups and enjoyed lively group discussions.

On November 4, Makoto Shimoda, associate professor at Tokyo Gakugei University, facilitated session 3. Twenty-three participants in the international collaborative research project discussed the current status of and future plans for the research.

Through this two-day symposium, discussions related to quality assurance in university-based teacher education in East Asia were furthered and various topics for further consideration were identified. In addition, ties among universities of education in East Asia were strengthened. It is hoped that exchange among faculty as well as undergraduate and graduate students at universities of education will become even more dynamic in the future through the International Consortium for Universities of Education in East Asia.

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