Takashi Yonezawa
Takumi Watanabe
Akane Yamasaki- Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
Currently, Japan needs to create a framework that facilitates improving teachers’ professional development—a situation in which teacher educators become vital. This study focuses on the role of the kenkyushunin (chief teacher of school research) in the professional development of in-service teachers through school-based training, lesson studies, peer mentorship, and student guidance. Extant literature was analyzed to enable an in-depth understanding of their role. The findings indicated that the roles of a kenkyushunin as a teacher educator could be categorized as that of a teacher of teachers, researcher, coach, curriculum developer, and a broker. However, their role as a gatekeeper could not be confirmed. Further, their behaviors in each of these roles were also discussed. It was found that, as a school-based teacher educator, the kenkyushunin conducts lesson studies and joint research relating to the practice of teaching with colleagues and undertakes the professional development of teachers.
1. Introduction
Professional development of teachers is essential to change educational practices in schools and improve children’s learning outcomes (Borko, 2004). In Japan, there is a pressing need to establish a system to improve teachers’ professional development. To that end, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology [Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), 2015)]—Japan’s education administrative body—has proposed policies for school-based training.
Middle and senior leaders play a major role in teachers’ professional development (Bryant et al., 2020). Nobile (2018) suggests that the development of human resources is one of the significant tasks of middle leaders as they are expected to fulfill the role of teacher educators. Even on an international level, the expectations for teacher educators to undertake the professional development of teachers are high, and there is an active discussion surrounding the role that teacher educators should play (Loughran, 2011; European Commission, 2013; Lunenberg et al., 2014; Marin, 2014; Taylor et al., 2014; Dengerink et al., 2015).
Among the middle leaders in Japanese schools is the kenkyushunin (chief teacher of school research). In Japan, the kenkyushunin is a teacher educator who contributes to teachers’ professional development (Kusahara and Iwata, 2021). In Japanese schools, the position of the chief teacher was institutionalized in December 1975 with the revision of the Ordinance for Enforcement of the School Education Act. This led to the establishment of school-based positions such as the gakunenshunin (chief teacher of a grade), kyomushunin (chief teacher of school affairs), and kenkyushunin. These occupations are held by teachers and conducted concurrently with their classroom duties. In particular, the kenkyushunin—the focus of this study—are appointed by the principal. Under the principal’s guidance and supervision, they are tasked with facilitating school-based training and lesson study and mentoring their peers on subject teaching and student guidance (Kihara, 2013). The roles of teacher educators, as defined in the framework suggested by Lunenberg et al. (2014), can be used to examine the role of the kenkyushunin in Japan: (1) teacher of teachers; (2) researcher; (3) coach; (4) curriculum developer; (5) gatekeeper; and (6) broker. Lunenberg et al. (2014) focus on teacher educators (university instructors) engaged in teacher training at universities. Notably, Lunenberg et al. (2014) point out that these roles themselves apply to teacher educators in various positions who are involved in the professionalism of teachers. The European Commission (2013) also notes that the work of training teachers is complex and that the term “teacher educator” is often perceived as referring to those who teach pedagogy at higher education institutions; this narrow definition has been discussed in many countries and institutions and has undergone transformations.
Based on these points, discussing the role of teacher educators at schools engaged in the professional development of currently employed teachers (fellow teachers), as the present study does, facilitates international discussions of the concepts of teacher educators and their roles. Previous studies have conceived of such roles in a one-sided fashion, as in, “Teacher educators are all those who actively facilitate the (formal) learning of student teachers and teachers” (European Commission, 2013, p. 8). However, Lunenberg et al. (2014) provide a more comprehensive review than other previous studies (Loughran, 2011; Marin, 2014; Taylor et al., 2014). The framework of Lunenberg et al. (2014) was also adopted by a subsequent study (Dengerink et al., 2015) that examined the six roles of teacher educators.
Thus, in discussing the roles of teacher educators in schools engaged in the professional development of currently employed teachers, the framework of Lunenberg et al. (2014) was adopted for this study. In addition, an attempt to apply the framework of Lunenberg et al. (2014) to the role of teacher educators in Japanese schools, where current employment training such as lesson study is the norm, is novel, and it is believed that this research will result in knowledge useful in deepening international discussions of the roles of teacher educators and contribute to the body of existing research.
Therefore, we reviewed academic articles focusing on the role of the kenkyushunin in Japan based on the framework of teacher educators’ roles proposed by Lunenberg et al. (2014). The aim was to analyze their roles and behaviors as teacher educators and highlight their characteristics. The research questions underpinning this study are as follows.
First, what are the roles and behaviors of the kenkyushunin as teacher educators responsible for teachers’ professional development in Japan? Second, based on the characteristics of the aforementioned question, what do Japanese kenkyushunin need to fulfill their roles as teacher educators more effectively in the future?
2. Materials and methods
In this study, we conducted a literature review of academic articles regarding the roles and behaviors of the kenkyushunin responsible for the professional development of in-service teachers in Japan. The present study states that teacher educators must take up the six roles discussed by Lunenberg et al. (2014). Thus, to discuss which sorts of roles teacher educators are expected to play at existing schools engaged in the professional development of currently employed teachers, literature (mainly Japanese) was collected per the procedure outlined below.
Japanese papers published through April 2022 were included in the review. The literature was collected using the CiNii Articles Database of the National Institute of Informatics (n.d.), a national research institution in Japan. CiNii Articles was discontinued and integrated into CiNii Research on April 18, 2022.
The search terms, which the three authors decided to select based on the thesaurus, were “kenkyushunin” (chief teacher of the school) and “gakko” (school) in Japanese. The database search was conducted in April 2022, using the title, abstract, and keywords as search targets. Consequently, 52 papers were retrieved, from which 31 duplicates were removed. In selecting the target papers, works like conference proceedings, practical reports on primary/secondary education and/or teacher education, and books were excluded. The excluded materials were textbooks and manuals targeting currently employed teachers concerning the performance of professional duties by kenkyushunin and were not products of academic research methods or procedures.
The contents of the remaining 21 were perused and discussed, and 13 articles were selected. The eight excluded materials were papers that did not address the role of kenkyushunin as a primary topic. Among these, one paper addressed the roles of shukankyoyu (leader teachers), administrators (principals), and university instructors as a primary topic. Five additional papers mentioned kenkyushunin as study participants or practitioners in the paper but did not address the role of kenkyushunin as a primary topic. Decisions on the papers to be excluded were based on the consensus of the three authors after close readings and repeated discussions of the results.
Subsequently, the selected papers were reviewed based on the framework by Lunenberg et al. (2014) to examine the roles and behaviors of the kenkyushunin as teacher educators in teachers’ professional development. The classification and analysis of the papers were carried out collaboratively through discussion between the three authors.
3. Kenkyushunin as teacher educators in Japan
A review of the 13 selected articles revealed that the kenkyushunin, who are responsible for the promotion of teachers’ professional development in Japanese schools, fall under 5 of the roles found in the classification scheme within the framework proposed by Lunenberg et al. (2014), except for the role of gatekeeper. In the following section, we discuss the characteristics of the roles and behaviors of the kenkyushunin as teacher educators.
3.1. Role of a teacher of teachers
Lunenberg et al. (2014, pp. 22–28) pointed out that teacher educators play the role of a “teacher of the teachers.” Their roles are arranged based on the following tasks and duties: (1) second-order teaching; (2) promotion of active learning; (3) modeling and making modeling explicit; and (4) dealing with tensions and dilemmas.
In Japan, the kenkyushunin—who are teachers themselves—promote the professional development of other teachers by offering advice and guidance to their peers—they are school-based teachers of the teachers. Further, in Japan, there has been little or no discourse on second-order teaching based on knowledge of adult learning. Regarding the “promotion of active learning,” Urano and Nanbu (2017) set up workshops for the kenkyushunin to encourage teachers to interact during school-based lesson study. Furthermore, Oyanagi (2008a, 2008b, 2021) demonstrated the creation of systems to facilitate the implementation of school-based joint research, involving the establishment of common themes to promote such research in schools and the organization of results for reporting to other schools and wider society.
Actual behaviors such as leading school-based joint research of educational practice conducted by a group of teachers based on a common topic of interest are an example of the “modeling and making modeling explicit” encouraged by the kenkyushunin (Oyanagi, 2008b). Finally, the specific coordination of the kenkyushunin regarding the cooperation between different schools and sharing of educational perspectives are an example of “dealing with tensions and dilemmas” (Oyanagi, 2008b; Noda, 2010).
3.2. Role of a researcher
Lunenberg et al. (2014, pp. 34–38) suggested that teacher educators must assume the role of “researchers.” The three main categories are as follows: (1) views of the role of a researcher; (2) practical elaboration of the role of a researcher; and (3) focus of research.
In Japanese schools, joint research of educational practices is commonly conducted by teachers. Each school conducts its own lesson studies (Kihara, 2013) and publishes research bulletins. The kenkyushunin are required to facilitate school-based training under the guidance and supervision of the principal (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), 2015). For example, Noda (2010) noted that the kenkyushunin commit to daily research activities, think about relevant issues such as the core of the research and related methods, and provide feedback to their peers. Oyanagi (2021) also noted that participation and presentation at conferences and workshops revolve around the role of the kenkyushunin.
Although the collection of examples of research-based practice is insufficient, it is essential to understand the importance of the role of a “researcher” in promoting the development of school-based lesson studies. Therefore, it can be stated that the kenkyushunin are predominantly expected to play the role of a researcher.
3.3. Role of a coach
Lunenberg et al. (2014) referred to the role of teacher educators who facilitate the learning process of student teachers as “coaches” (p. 21). The kenkyushunin in Japanese schools assume the role of coaches who facilitate their peers’ learning processes. Moreover, previous research has demonstrated that, as school-based facilitators, they exercise distributive leadership, collect and actively use evidence (Kihara et al., 2015), and highlight common goals to enhance teachers’ cooperation (Uehara, 2018). Further, by providing opportunities such as school-based training (Urano and Sato, 2008), they promote a school culture in which teachers can learn from each other (Shimada and Kihara, 2019). These indicate that a kenkyushunin serves as a coach who facilitates school-based professional learning communities (PLCs) through school-based lesson studies rather than a coach who facilitates the expertise of individual teachers.
3.4. Role of a curriculum developer
Lunenberg et al. (2014, p. 21) state that developing a curriculum for teacher education is a “specific professional role” required of teacher educators.
Curriculum development in in-service teacher education in Japan is linked to the implementation of school-based training (especially lesson study). Teachers plan and conduct it independently as part of their on-the-job training in Japanese schools to improve their ability to teach and provide educational guidance (Urano and Nanbu, 2016, 2017; Uehara, 2018; Takee and Iwasaki, 2019; Goto, 2021). In addition to voluntarily providing school-based training to ordinary teachers to help them become kenkyushunin, a mechanism, culture, and environment must be built to support such efforts. Kihara et al. (2015) analyzed school-based training from the perspective of creating school-based PLCs.
A case of curriculum development emphasizing “cooperation” among teachers has been reported (Urano and Nanbu, 2016, 2017; Uehara, 2018). For example, Uehara (2018) developed a model to conduct lesson studies to promote “collegiality and cooperation” among teachers because the teachers in the school where he served as a kenkyushunin were not highly motivated. He reported the status of such efforts based on the results of a questionnaire administered to teachers and guardians. Goto (2021) reported the case of a lesson study on moral education that he planned and developed while serving as a kenkyushunin from the perspective of integrating theory and practice and “constructing a theory unique to the school.” These scholars reported case studies in which the kenkyushunin themselves introduced and analyzed the practice of school-based training. Urano and Sato (2008) surveyed the needs of newly appointed kenkyushunin at elementary and junior high schools with regard to school-based training curricula. They pointed out the need to improve training methods for teachers to develop their own teaching material, create subject content, and provide student guidance (Urano and Sato, 2008).
3.5. Role of a broker
In the context of pre-service teacher education, Lunenberg et al. (2014) referred to the role of teacher educators as “brokers” who build partnerships between schools and pre-service teacher education institutions and facilitate cooperation among learners (p. 21). In the context of in-service teacher education in Japan, the role of a “broker” is linked to the planning and implementation of lesson studies. The concept of “cooperation” among the teaching staff was also highlighted (Noda, 2010; Matsuba et al., 2015). For example, Matsuba et al. (2015) qualitatively analyzed the kenkyushunin’s request to teachers in lesson studies to clarify the significance of the kenkyushunin’s role in implementing school-based training curricula (i.e., conducting lesson studies). In this way, the kenkyushunin serves as a “broker” who facilitates partnerships among colleagues within the school to promote cooperation among teachers as learners.
3.6. Role of a gatekeeper
Lunenberg et al. (2014, p. 21) pointed out that teacher educators play the role of a “gatekeeper,” which involves the responsibility of nurturing students into teachers. We could not confirm the availability of studies exploring the kenkyushunin’s role as “gatekeepers” in Japan. The kenkyushunin, as middle leaders, may visit and evaluate each other’s classes to advise teachers. However, as they are teachers themselves, they do not have the authority to act as “gatekeepers” toward their peers.
4. Discussion and conclusion
In this study, we reviewed Japanese academic literature based on the framework of the role of teacher educators proposed by Lunenberg et al. (2014). The results clarified the role of kenkyushunin as teacher educators in the professional development of teachers and their behavioral characteristics. While Lunenberg et al. (2014) focused on the role of teacher educators engaged in pre-service teacher education in higher educational institutions, their work can also be applied to other roles (except that of a gatekeeper) required of school-based teacher educators.
4.1. Suggestions for research on the role of teacher educators
Previous reviews, such as those by Lunenberg et al. (2014) and Dengerink et al. (2015), have discussed the professional role of teacher educators involved in teacher training in higher education institutions. Our study reviewed papers targeting kenkyushunin, a position found in Japanese elementary and secondary schools. A lead researcher is both a teacher and a school-based teacher educator who guides fellow teachers in their professional development. There is emerging empirical evidence to suggest that teacher educators in these schools also play professional roles as teachers of teachers, researchers, coaches, curriculum developers, and brokers. According to these studies, teacher educators in schools relied strongly on self-study for their own practices. Notably, Dengerink et al. (2015) have pointed out that self-study is a topic of rising research interest regarding teacher educator, which has also been explored for teacher educators in Japan (Saito et al., 2021). However, at the time of our literature review, we could not confirm any self-study conducted by lead educators. Therefore, expanding self-study by teacher educators needs a deeper discussion on the role of teacher educators in schools. However, there exist only a few quantitative survey studies on this matter. Therefore, data accumulation through comprehensive surveys is necessary.
4.2. Suggestions for teacher education practices
In Japan, lesson studies have been conducted extensively to build PLCs and promote teachers’ professional development (Iwata and Hamamoto, 2021). In this respect, the kenkyushunin, who are teachers themselves, act as school-based teacher educators to promote facilitation strategies among their peers and help build mutual relationships. Moreover, they conduct school-based joint research related to curriculum development and educational practice and are responsible for the establishment of PLCs and the professional development of teachers.
In recent years, the role of teachers in establishing PLCs has been noted to have an impact on student learning outcomes and has sparked interest in the role of middle leaders in teachers’ professional development (Koh et al., 2011). Following such research trends, the literature on kenkyushunin provides basic knowledge that could foster international discussions on the roles and behaviors of teacher educators. Against this background, case studies must be conducted to further clarify the role and behavior of teacher educators in schools through internationally-focused lesson studies. Moreover, future research must elucidate how the behavior of kenkyushunin is affected by their role as teacher educators and how they can foster the establishment of PLCs and professional development of teachers.
While the role and behavior of kenkyushunin as teacher educators have been discussed in prior research, no studies explicitly discuss how the kenkyushunin’s skills in their role as teacher educators must be nurtured. Therefore, through the case studies mentioned above, it is necessary to clarify how kenkyushunin can acquire and enhance their skills as teacher educators.
Author contributions
TY undertaken the conceptualization and design of the study. TY, TW, and AY performed the collection, selection, analysis, and interpretation of the literature. TW and AY written the paper’s section on the role of kenkyushunin as teacher educators in Japan, and TY primarily written the rest of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
Funding
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI under Grant Number JP 20H01724.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
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Keywords: teacher educators, middle leaders, Kenkyushunin, school, Japan
Citation: Yonezawa T, Watanabe T and Yamasaki A (2023) Middle leaders as teacher educators: The case of the Kenkyushunin (chief teacher of school research) in Japan. Front. Educ. 8:998550. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.998550
Edited by:
Manpreet Kaur Bagga, Partap College of Education, IndiaReviewed by:
Hui Yong Tay, Nanyang Technological University, SingaporeMandeep Bhullar, Bhutta College of Education, India
Copyright © 2023 Yonezawa, Watanabe and Yamasaki. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Takashi Yonezawa, ✉ yonezawa@hiroshima-u.ac.jp