Journal of International Social Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012, 91- 99.

Corresponding author email: moou@tb3.so-net.ne.jp
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International Perspectives Commentary

The Effectiveness of Service Learning Practice for Teacher Education in Japan:
For the Support of a New Subject Called, Houshi, for a High School in Tokyo

Takeshi Miyazaki, Soka University, Tokyo, Japan
___________________________________________________________________

Abstract: This study presented practices based on Service Learning that gave pre-service teachers ideas
about the significance of Service Learning and the challenges that exist. They made lesson plans for
“Houshi” (=Service) and conducted them in a high school in Tokyo’s public school system. Service Learning
is one of the effective methods in which students improve their academic learning and develop social and
civic skills through structured service activities that meet the needs of the community. Service Learning
was introduced to Japan in the 1990s. Educators in Japan are interested in the application of Service
Learning in grades K-12, and also in some colleges and universities in Japan. However, the introduction of
Service Learning into teacher education programs is relatively new in Japan. The study particularly focuses
on these three questions: (1) What impact does the project have on teacher development?; (2) What
challenges exist in overcoming the difficulties in the ongoing Service Learning project?; (3) What are the
positive results of the experience?
According to the study, in order for this program to succeed, it is important for the students to be given
responsibilities, to understand social and educational values, and to develop a spirit of teamwork. The
introduction of Service Learning in teacher education fosters teacher's abilities and teaching skills, and
gives them a sense of personal growth. They can incorporate these ideas and methods from their
experience of Service Learning after having after become teachers. The teachers will be encouraged to be
leaders in introducing these concepts of Service Learning in their schools.

Key words: Service Learning; pre-service teachers; teacher education; “Houshi”

Service Learning was introduced to Japan in the 1990s as both an educational philosophy and as
an instructional method imported from the United States. As an educational philosophy, Service
Learning reflects the belief that education should develop social responsibility in students and
prepare them to be involved citizens in a democratic society. As an instructional method,
Service Learning involves a blending of service activities with academic curricula, which allows
students to learn through active engagement while addressing real community needs.
Educators in the field of social studies are interested in the application of Service Learning in
grades K-12 in Japan. The Social Education Act and School Education Act were revised in 2001,
with the stated provision “To endeavor to improve social volunteer work activities” stipulated in
the legislation. National high school curriculum standards were ratified in 2009 to promote
social volunteer work activities as an important part of high school education. The introduction
of Service Learning has been used in the first-year experience of students in some colleges and
universities in Japan, and also has been encouraged by the central government. However, the
introduction of Service Learning into teacher education programs is relatively new to Japan.

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Literature Review

According to a survey by Anderson and Erickson (2003), 59 percent of teacher education
programs taught pre-teachers about Service Learning strategies, only 24 percent indicated that
all students participated in Service Learning as part of the program, and 18 percent of programs
had pre-service teachers develop lesson plans for Service Learning in the United States. The
impact of the learning experience on the student might not be maximized and sustained if the
service does not include a well -crafted opportunity for reflection and integration with academic
content (Hatcher & Bringle, 1997; Hess et al., 2007; Petkus, 2000; Wallace, 2000). Simons and
Cleary (2006) utilized a combination of quantitative and qualitative strategies to study the
impacts of Service Learning on 140 students enrolled in undergraduate psychology courses.
Students mentored or tutored elementary-age students at three sites for a total of 16 hours.
Subjects showed gains in their community self-efficacy, which carried over to stronger
intentions to become involved in the community in the future. These positive effects of Service
Learning varied little between the two activities (mentoring or tutoring) and across the three
placement sites (elementary school, after-school program, or community learning center). Root
and Anderson (2010) examined the impacts of Service Learning on pre-service teachers in over
25 studies. They organized these studies into five categories looking at impacts on; (1) fostering
academic learning, (2) understanding of and care of students, (3) knowledge of the teaching
profession and professional skills, (4) understanding and appreciation of diversity, and (5)
motivation, knowledge and skills needed to implement Service Learning as a teaching method.
Furco and Ammon (2001) examined the challenges of experiences in pre-service teacher
education in the United States. According to their research, one of the challenges to teacher
education is the need to respond to accountability requirements, ranging from No Child Left
Behind, to standards of national accreditation organizations. Another challenge is that many
teacher educators remain confused about the distinction between practica or student teaching
and Service Learning.
In Japan, interest in Service Learning has increased at higher education institutions, but
research connecting it to teacher education is still limited. In one study that pertained to
teacher education, Toda (2010) showed that pre-service teachers mentored or tutored with
Service Learning methods at an orphanage from 2006 to 2010, a total of 20 days. The students
grew to have the capability of seeing children’s personality and fully recognized the importance
of communication with them. The challenge of the study showed the difficulties in adapting the
activities to curriculum and teaching practice.

Overview of the project “Learn by doing”

Background of the project
High schools in the Tokyo public school system created a new subject Houshi (Service), in 2007.
That is now required of all public high schools in Tokyo, although the meaning of Houshi is
voluntary. Concerns expressed about Community-Service when it was forced into schools in the

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United States in the 1990s were also seen in Japan (Miyazaki, 2011). Teachers are required to
teach this subject since its enactment even if they are against it individually. A survey of the
Tokyo teachers union reported (2008) that the reasons why teachers took passive attitudes
toward teaching this subject were that they couldn’t agree on the purpose of the subject and
they were too busy to do additional work (Miyazaki, 2011). Therefore, common service projects
were often simply uncomplicated or “routine” projects such as cleaning parks near schools,
which have very little relevance for learning. As a result, there are literally no more spaces for
this type of service learning activity. Under these conditions, it is necessary to learn service
learning from other countries, particularly the United States, to develop teaching strategies
from the point of view of civic engagement, and to provide more opportunities and resources
for teachers, administrators, and community members.

Theoretical framework

The theoretical background of Service Learning is based on the action-reflection theories of
David Kolb, who developed the Experiential Learning Cycle, a learning process in which
knowledge is created through the transformation of experience (1984). Kolb illustrates the
process of reflection in the Experiential Learning Cycle (1984). Similarly, Hatcher and Bringle,
showed that effective reflection activities (1) link experience to learning objectives, (2) are
guided, (3) occur regularly, (4) allow feedback and assessment, and (5) include the clarification
of values (1999).

Relationship between this project and Social Studies’ education
The National Council for the Social Studies (2007) states that, “Service Learning greatly
enhances the potential for social studies teachers to complete their mission of educating
informed and active citizens, who are committed to improving society through the democratic
process”(n.p.). The aims of Social Studies’ education are to prepare students to be involved
citizens in a democratic society, and to develop social responsibility, and the capability for social
change. Houshi means to foster a sense of caring for others, however, its similarity to “charity,”
raises many concerns in Japan about extreme patriotism or even jingoism, which could be
thought of the government or cultural arrogance as blind. Nonetheless, adding aspects from
social change education to Houshi gives it balance. Therefore the practice is focused on project
development and social change along with charity (Morton, 1995).

Participating in the project: “Learn by doing”
Class: The seminar class of 2009-2010
Make-up of students:
Sex: 2 males and 7 females
Grade: 3(2009) and 4(2010) of pre-service teachers (undergraduate college students),
majoring in social studies education
Career after graduation: 5 elementary school teachers, 4 part-time teachers (expected full time
teachers next year)

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Participants: 2 graduate students from teaching profession (junior high school teacher: 20 years
of experience, high school teacher: 16 years of experience) and one coordinator from the local
area.
School: A public high school in Tokyo which is “typical” of high schools in that city. Seven classes
of 1st graders, 2 teachers who are in charge of Houshi.
Term: From Sep. in 2009 to Mar. in 2010. 2 to 4 hours of class for 10 days.
Involvement: Pre-service teachers cooperated with teachers from the high school directly.
Graduate students of teaching profession made suggestions when pre-service teachers needed
some advice about making lesson plans. Students were required to write the goal before every
activity and reflect after every activity. The faculty attended the reflection meetings.
Learning Cycle: The Kolb Learning Cycle (Kolb 1984) was applied to practice to combine action
with reflective thinking, to develop greater understanding of the content being studied. This
learning cycle involved cooperation with high school teachers; making a lesson plan; trial lesson;
remaking a lesson plan; practice; reflection and feedback. Reflection took place alone, with
classmates, with high school teachers, and with community partners and involved reflection
before action, during action, and after action.
Table 1: Sequence and pre-service teachers’ roles

Sequence The roles of pre-service teachers

1. Orientation Presentation: Taking charge of each class
2. Introduction Presentation: Taking charge of each class
3.Sharing experiences of disasters,
such as ’95 Earthquake

Presentation & facilitates: Taking charge of
each class

4. Experience of rescue operations
(AED)

Coordinate the activities

5. Experience of distributing food Coordinate the activities
6.Pre-guidance to visit institutions Presentation & facilitates: Taking charge of

each class

7. Visiting institutions
－preschools, elementary schools
and special-needs schools

Company and support

8.Reflection of visiting institutions Facilitates: Taking charge of each class
9. Preparation of high school
students’ presentation(about their
experience)

Facilitates & support: Taking charge of each
class

10.High school students’
presentation

Coordinate the assemblies

11. College students’ presentation Presentation & coordinate the assemblies

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Purpose of the study and research questions

The study was designed to trace the impact of Service Learning practice on a select group of
pre-service teachers, who made teaching plans and conducted them in the classes. This
research will present practices based on Service Learning that give prospective teachers ideas
about the significance of Service Learning, and the challenges that exist. The research seeks to
confirm pre-service teachers’ commitment to service. The study particularly focuses on these
three questions:
What impact does the project have on teacher development?
What challenges exist in overcoming the difficulties in the ongoing Service Learning
project?
What are the positive results of the experience?

Method
The approach involved analysis of previous studies that apply Service Learning to teachers’
educational practices. Participating students were then given questionnaires before service, in
the middle of service, and after service. Reviewing interviews involving note making and
recording of responses of participating students were held. Additionally alumni who
participated in this practice six months ago and became teachers; and alumni who participated
in a similar practice four years ago and became teachers were likewise interviewed.
The Interview Structure
Several open-ended questions were sent out in advance by e-mail. Students and graduates
were informed that the interview was being used for the study in order to improve the quality
of higher education, and that they could give criticism or negative comments freely.
Group 1
The students who took part in the above project were interviewed in March of 2011,
immediately prior to their completion of teacher training and university graduation. Interviews
were conducted as semi-structured face-to-face conversation, but in the middle of them, Tokyo
was hit by strong earthquakes (The East Japan Great Earthquake) therefore part of the
interviews was continued by telephone. About 60 minutes were required to complete each
interview per person.
Group 2
Group 2 was made up of 5 of the 9 students who formed part of group 1, who were now
teachers. They were comprised of three elementary school teachers, one part-time elementary
school teacher and one part-time junior high school part-time teacher. The interviews were
conducted by telephone in October 2011. About 20 minutes were required to complete each
interview.
Group 3
This group was made up of 3 graduates who participated in a similar project in 2007-2008. They
work as teachers, respectively at a junior high school, an elementary school and a special

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education school. The interview was carried out as a group interview, and about 90 minutes
were required to complete it.

The text was organized around three research questions of this study above. For the analysis,
similar responses were collected as specific examples and then were classified into several key
words. For example, the remark “To concentrate on one thing, to bear up and complete their
duties on school days led to a sense of fulfillment” was classified into the key word “fulfillment.”
The statement such as “I’m unsure about taking care about taking charge of classroom because I
don’t know the first thing about volunteer work” was classified into the key word “lack of self-
confidence”. Afterwards the correlation of key words was arranged. The qualitative data were
analyzed by two data analysts (a graduate student and one of the authors).

Qualitative Results
Group 1: College students who were about to graduate
What impact did the project have on you?
Most of the study participants started to work on the project with hesitation or embarrassment,
because they hadn't been exposed to the subject in their high school, and Service Learning
related teaching methods hadn’t specifically been taught. Their remarks showed their initial
hesitation and these difficulties evolved into a sense of fulfillment, and they realized the
meaning and importance of what they were going to accomplish. The sense of contribution and
achievement helped them overcome this difficulty. As one student explained, “Before, I didn’t
have any experience in teaching this subject and didn’t even know the first thing.” Another
insightful comment made by a study participant was that “I was so happy that we could
communicate with many people and I realized how important interpersonal contact was. It
made me joyful.” Both comments show that the interpersonal relationships made possible by
this Service Learning experience was linked to their own fulfillment. The study participants’
comments about this question could be categorized in the following way;
First example: personal development
The study participants referred to perseverance, a sense of achievement and the importance of
teamwork, and dealing with diverse opinions.
Second example: the good influence of teachers.
The study participants remarked that they were impressed by the good example of the high
school teachers, and that they noticed that they learned from their attitudes. As one student
explained, “The teachers in that school are our ideal. I want to emulate their kindness with our
future students.”
Third example: teaching skills
The study participants spoke about teaching skills. “I learned practical ways to instruct and
teach a lively lesson,” said one pre-service teacher. Students in this category also mentioned
that Service-Leaning was useful for student teaching and/or internships.

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What challenges exist in overcoming the difficulties in the ongoing project?
Remarks by study participants about “getting over difficulties” were classified into two
categories. One was to “halt the temptation of giving up” which related to the fact that they
were completely responsible for the classes. The other was “the desire to achieve” which
related to expectation or confidence from their surroundings. Here, subjects indicated that they
were filled with great expectation. They were very grateful to the high school teachers, the
community coordinator, and the faculty, who encouraged them not to give up, to do their best,
and to reach the goals they had set for themselves. Another category of response, related to the
support of peers, is represented in the statement that “I was able to get over a problem because
my buddies encouraged me.” The friends who were challenged together were transformed. One
study participant said, “It was a trying experience not only for me but also others. I’ll never give
up!” For these subjects, being able to overcome the difficulties was due in large part to the
influence of their peers.

Group 2 Teachers with 6 months of teaching experience
How do you use the experience from the project while teaching in your school?
Teacher education graduates said that they gained useful knowledge from the experience in the
project for their teaching profession in the future. They expect to utilize this new approach in
teaching. All of them replied, “The experience was very enlightening.” These pre-service
teachers talked about their discussions, putting themselves in the students' shoes. They could
modify their lessons depending on their students' aptitude, or they could tailor the lesson to be
specific for each individual student. On the other hand, researchers noticed that the subjects
were not always able to implement what they learned. Various reasons prevented them, such as
being beginner teachers, having busy schedules, and an overall lack of time. Nonetheless, these
students stated their hope to integrate this knowledge in the future. Moreover, they recognized
that the sensitivity and co-operation of the teachers of the school enabled them to succeed. For
example, as one stated, “that is what made the experience so special”.

Group 3 : Graduates who participated in a similar practice in 2007-2008.
How do you use the experience from the project while teaching in your school?
Subjects in this category recognized that they are using their experiences unconsciously in their
classes. As one stated, “When I was in charge of a work-study program where students learn
through work experience, I applied the same procedures that we had learned: pre-planning,
experience and reflection. I learned the importance of pre-planning and reflection through the
experience of the project. Also, I tried to link our academic study with experiences in real life
situations.” Looking back they realize the value of the project, as it brought a new perspective to
the school, even though they could not implement it single-handedly. One of the graduates
said, “We couldn’t change the curriculum of the school but we could offer them something
unique.” These participants looked back on this experience as something important and unique.
One graduate commented “the school which accepted us for the project was so generous. It is
unique that college students from one seminar class manage entire classes for an extended

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period of time” Another agreed, saying, “I can really understand now how amazing those
teachers were for accepting us. I appreciate them and want to grow up to be a teacher like
them.”

Some initial conclusions

What impact does the project have on teacher development?
Self-esteem and sense of self efficacy; Sense of personal growth; Increase in knowledge and
instruction capabilities; Awareness of teacher as a role model

What challenges needed to be overcome in the project?
There is a lot of pressure and substantial responsibilities for participants; Deeper
understandings of significance of the project needed; Ongoing need of participants to
encourage each other

What are the positive results of the experience?
Teachers with six months teaching experience have knowledge which will be applicable in the
classroom: Teachers with three year experience have been able to apply their experience with
Service Learning in the classroom successfully: Increased interaction and active cooperation
with community (via managing the projects).

In order for this Service Learning to succeed in Japanese teacher education programs, it is
important for the students to be given responsibilities, to understand social and educational
values, and to develop a spirit of teamwork. The introduction of Service Learning into teacher
education fosters teachers’ abilities, teaching skills, and sense of personal growth. These are
ideas and methods they can incorporate when they become practicing teachers who will be
encouraged to be leaders in introducing these concepts of Service Leaning in their schools.

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©2012/2013 International Assembly Journal of International Social Studies
Website: http://www.iajiss.org Page 99

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This ongoing work is supported by a grant-in-aid for Challenging Exploratory Research. The
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