Japanese Teachers’ Perceptions of Standards-Based Teacher Education: Balancing Policy, Occupational Culture, and Professional Identity

• In Event: Becoming Teachers: Navigating Identity Across Borders and Boundaries

Proposal

1. Introduction
Since the 1980s, Standards-based teacher education (SBTE) reforms have been introduced worldwide to specify professionalism and enhance teachers’ professionalisation. However, several studies suggest that standards play conflicting roles in these purposes (Sachs, 2005). From the developmental approach, the standards ensure teachers' professionalism. From the regulatory approach of de-professionalisation, criticisms arise against the backdrop of neoliberalism and ongoing NPM reforms; SBTE can be used as a tool for excessive performance evaluations (Anderson & Cohen, 2015).

The contents of standards and their implementation vary depending on national circumstances (e.g., McGarr & Emstad, 2022). Therefore, the acceptance of SBTE reforms is highly influenced by the system, occupational culture, and teachers’ professional identities. To evaluate whether standards function developmentally or regulatively, it is necessary to examine how teachers in different cultural and structural contexts perceive, interpret, and enact SBTE.

In 2017, the Ministry of Education (MEXT) in Japan required local boards to produce and implement the teacher standard, aiming to enhance continuous professional learning among teachers. This was the first nationwide introduction of teacher standards. However, Japanese teachers’ culture emphasises school-based collegiality and apprenticeship for professional development. Teaching is viewed as a craft learned through apprenticeship, in-service education, and interactions with colleagues (Shimahara, 1997). This school-led occupational culture may cause tension with policy-driven SBTE.
At the same time, teachers’ professional identities shape how they interpret and enact standards. The conflict between collective occupational culture and external policy, as well as individual identity, is reflected in teachers' perceptions of standards. Studies suggest that these perceptions and interpretations during policy implementation play a key role in its success (Spillane, 1999; Hill, 2001; Holloway & Brass, 2017). By examining perceptions among Japanese teachers who have used standards for several years, this study focuses on the interplay between occupational culture, individual identity, and SBTE.

RQ1: How do Japanese teachers, situated in a culture of collegiality and apprenticeship, perceive and accept SBTE?
RQ2: How do teachers’ professional identities—shaped by diverse school-based roles and experiences—influence the acceptance and interpretation of SBTE?

2. Theoretical framework: socio-cultural approach
To improve teaching quality, professional standards must be considered in relation to teachers' stance toward these standards and their perception of their applicability. However, Teachers' perceptions are not static, but rather a dynamic process shaped by the interrelationship between individuals and their occupational environment. Therefore, this study employs a sociocultural approach to examine the interrelationship between perception and culture, history, and institutions (Wertsch et al., 1993). This approach allows analysis of both the perceptions of Japanese teachers and the broader culture and institutions of teaching in Japan. Through this lens, RQ1 examines how the cultural traditions of collegiality and apprenticeship influence teachers’ initial perceptions of SBTE. RQ2 extends the analysis to teachers’ professional identities, which evolve through the diverse roles and responsibilities inherent in Japanese schools.

３． Methodology
To investigate the above research questions, this study employed a qualitative research design focused on teachers' sense-making, identity commitment, and prior experiences. Depending on the theory, teachers are not “policy receptors”, but rather “policy shapers” who make sense of the policies to understand, interpret, and implement them (e.g. Spillane, 1999; Hill, 1999; Coburn, 2001). Furthermore, teachers' identity, commitment and past experiences influence their agency in enacting policy (Tao & Gao, 2017).

The nine study participants participated in the qualitative, three-wave longitudinal study. They were in-service teachers, each with more than ten years of practical experience. focus group interviews and in-depth individual interviews were conducted, which were primarily focused on how the teachers viewed and applied the teaching standards to their practice. In addition, depth interviews were conducted with six individuals. Subsequently, another focus group interview was conducted to identify changes among the participants. All interview data were recorded with consent and transcribed, with the consequent data analysis process following an inductive process. The raw data were coded based on the participants’ narratives and refined.

４． Findings & Conclusion
This study found the following results. 1) Despite changes in teacher training systems since the introduction of SBTE, teachers did not perceive significant changes in daily practice. This is not simply because they were unaware of institutional changes, but because they selectively engaged with SBTE while maintaining autonomy. 2) Teachers recognized that professional standards and the new training system did not fully capture their professional learning. Drawing on their own experiences, they emphasized informal learning, such as knowledge gained from experienced colleagues and collaborative interactions. Taken together, these findings suggest that SBTE did not directly conflict with the occupational culture of Japanese teachers. Instead, cultural practices and teachers’ professional identities mediated how standards were interpreted and enacted, allowing teachers to balance policy requirements with personal and collective commitments.

Theoretically, this highlights the importance of understanding the local reception of global reforms by attending to the interplay between occupational culture and individual identity. Practically, SBTE reforms should be contextualized to account for how teachers’ identities and occupational culture shape their interpretations and use of standards. This Japanese experience has global relevance, as respecting both national culture and individual identity is crucial in diverse educational reforms.

Ultimately, this study contributes to the CIES 2026 theme by illustrating how Japanese teachers navigate global SBTE reforms within their local cultural contexts. By focusing on the interaction between external standards and professional identities, it illustrates how education can bridge divisions and support peacebuilding in diverse contexts.

Authors

• Masashi Asakura, University of Tsukuba

• HIROMI KAWAGUCHI, Hiroshima University

• Yuko Fujimura, Shiga University