Induction Program For Newly Appointed Teachers: Case Studies Of Japan And England

Newly appointed teachers is a special group in the teaching forces, the induction and transition of whom into their profession is critical to their professional development and the overall improvement of the schools where they teach. Focused on the Induction Program for the newly appointed teachers, this article analyzes two successful cases in this area: one is Newly Appointed Teacher Induction Program in Japan, the other is Newly Qualified Teacher Statutory Program in England. The background, establishment and development, structures and contents, management and monitoring systems of both Induction Programs are studied in the analysis. And based on the comparative studies of them, we can get some implications and further make some suggestions on how to establish Induction Program for the newly appointed teachers in our own country.This article can be divided into five parts:The first part is to analyze why Induction Program is so important and necessary first, and then clarify what is Induction Program by definition and general feature description. Also, based on the studies on the Induction Programs across a great many countries, the article presents three basic models of all: Basic Orientation Model, New Appointed Teacher Development Model and Transformative Induction Model.In the next two parts, the two Induction Programs in Japan and England are introduced with detailed information of their background, establishment and development, structures and contents, Institutions and personnel involved and corresponding responsibilities, management and monitoring systems, and the effectiveness, from which we can learn general picture and characteristics of both programs.Comparative Analysis between the two programs is followed in the fourth part. Both programs, which are established and mandated on the country-level with the aim to promote the professional development of the newly appointed teachers, have clearly articulated induction goals; the responsibilities of personnel involved are clearly defined and various induction strategies are employed as well; political and fiscalcommitments are sufficient to ensure the implementation and maintenance of the programs. All of these characteristics result in the positive outcomes. On the other hand, the two programs, which are born in the different cultural backgrounds and guided by the different goals respectively, are found differentiated in many factors, such as induction goals, induction contents, the focus of the induction, the role of assessment, specific induction strategies and collaboration with higher education, and etc.In the last part, based on the studies as noted, the article presents some implications on how to set up the induction program for newly appointed teachers in our country: establish clearly articulated induction goals, accumulate sufficient political and fiscal commitment, make individualized induction plan, pay attention to the continuum of the professional development, give the role of the mentors into full play, strengthen the coordination and collaboration between different institutions and agencies involved, build up the program monitoring and evaluation systems, and construct the culture of support and shared responsibilities in the schools.In a word, the essence of the Induction Program is to promote the professional development of the newly appointed teachers, based on which the overall quality of the teaching forces can be improved accordingly. To take lead in the development of Fundamental Education in the new century, we should learn from the successful practices of Japan, England and other countries and try to surpass them, so that we can establish systematic and well-structured Induction Program for the newly appointed teaches in our own country to ensure a good beginning in their career development.