Japan's Ministry of Education and boards of education in each prefecture have been emphasizing collaborative activities between elementary, junior high, and high schools. However, it has been pointed out that collaboration between schools has not progressed very well. This may indicate the need for collaborative activity research in English education between different school types is greater than ever. Yamamoto (2019) conducted an interview survey of teachers who initiated a collaborative project in English education of a private school cooperation in western Japan (the first-generation teachers). He found out that what they seek is a "lean connection" and that setting consistent achievement goals is essential in connecting education of different school types. The project has continued, although the core members have changed. Based on Yamamoto (2019), the presenter set the following research questions and conducted interviews in 2021 to compare the attitudes of the second-generation teachers at elementary, junior high, and high school with those of the first-generation teachers. (1) Do the second-generation teachers have different mindsets from the first-generation? (2) How have collaborative activities centered on creating and revising a consistent achievement goal chart affected them? The results show that, unlike the first generation, the second generation has a more concrete and multifaceted perspective in their awareness of lesson planning, student understanding, and self-examination. The results also suggest that collaborative efforts centered on the goal chart have functioned as an opportunity for teacher development, fostering an awareness of collaboration among different school types and improving the quality of information exchange.

Authors:
Takashi Yamamoto, Tenri University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Mr. Takashi Yamamoto is an Associate Professor at Department of Foreign Languages, Tenri University, Japan. His current research focuses on collaborative activities among schools in English education in Japan and Hawaii, U.S.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/takashiyamamototenri

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Takashi_Yamamoto23/research

Additional website of interest
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8584-8833

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