Eisuke Saito

Monash University (Australia) · Faculty of Education

Immigrant early childhood education and care (ECEC) educators possess unique assets that could enrich ECEC practices, curriculum development, and teacher preparation. However, there is scant research on the professional experiences of these educators in their host countries. This systematic review analyzes 22 studies concerning the construction of...

In Myanmar, the pandemic had a heavy impact on the national universities of teacher education, almost stopping all classes for a year. The army launched a coup in February 2021, exacerbating the situation. Those who engaged in the civil disobedience movement eventually decided to establish an alternative online university of teacher education in-hi...

Having aspirations and goals to strive for provides a sense of purpose and motivation, which can greatly contribute to one’s overall happiness and satisfaction. However, there is a lack of in-depth understanding of how individual aspirations interact with societal expectations and constructs, potentially resulting in feelings of anxiety and frustra...

The number of international academics in universities has increased steadily over the past decades, driven by universities’ internationalisation strategies to enhance their competitiveness in the global market and the academics’ desire for career advancement through broadening global experiences, international networks and collaboration. Despite th...

With the development of Australian schools and secondary education, there is an expectation by the public and authorities that students will receive a high-quality education. However, in socio-economically disadvantaged areas, schools are unable to sufficiently develop learning experiences for students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CA...

Although increasing attention has been paid to the importance of different forms of capital in graduate employability, few studies have investigated the contribution of capital to the employability of international graduates in the host labor market. This study aimed to explore how six forms of capital (human, social, cultural, psychological, ident...

Awareness of child safety issues has increased worldwide, particularly in developed countries. Several policies have been adopted, and the mandates for teachers' compliance have been reinforced as well. However, the definition of child safety tends to be ambiguous, and teachers face difficulties in collecting evidence on violations concerning stude...

The transnational movement of teachers has affected the education environment worldwide. Using a qualitative approach and conceptualising immigrant adaptation based on the differential adaptation theory, we examine the adaptation experiences of immigrant teachers in Australia. Our findings revealed that immigrant teachers’ professional identity, th...

Migration has resulted in increasing teacher diversity in the teach-ing workforce in many countries. Yet, the prevailing perception in the receiving countries regarding who the teachers are and how they should be and act has made the professional transition chal-lenging for immigrant teachers who do not fit into this frame. This study examines how...

This book proposal presents a comprehensive guide for research students, and emerging scholars who want to publish their research works professionally and successfully. It addresses the challenges, values, and scholarship of academic publishing, the changing landscape of postgraduate education and the need for resilience in the face of high rejecti...

The recognition of the importance of learning communities for postgraduate students has been on the rise in recent times. As a result, many postgraduate students may wish to establish a learning community (lc) with peers and/or faculty members as a way of benefiting from the support lc s offer. This study undertakes a conceptual analysis of some ke...

In many Western countries, the student populations are largely ethno-culturally diversified due to large inflow of migrants. Despite this, the teaching workforce in these countries tends to be predominantly white. The large disparity between students and teachers has implications for equity and inclusive education. In this paper, we argue that a mo...

In Myanmar, large diverse indigenous ethnicities exist, and, as a result, public schools consist of a multicultural and multilingual student population. Despite this, the education system proffers and embeds Myanmar's dominant ideologies relating to culture, language and religion within all aspects of schooling. Students from minority backgrounds o...

In many Asian countries, education systems are competitive based on high-stakes examinations. Additionally, due to the traditional one-way teaching styles, classroom practices can be highly authoritarian. The issue in such education systems is the alienation of students. They do not learn about themselves; rather, they work toward and/or get distra...

Purpose - This study aims to analyse the attempts of taught master course students' publications from actor-network theoretic (ANT) perspectives based on the authors' experiences. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, self-study was chosen as the research method. Self-study is a qualitative research approach based on autobiography, availab...

The notion of agency has been widely used in varied disciplines but is relatively new in the field of employability of international graduates and returnees. This discussion paper redresses this gap by unpacking determinants that influence the enactment of agency of international PhD graduates in Australia and PhD returnees in China. In essence, th...

Faculty who do not speak the language of instruction in their universities as their first language face additional challenges in teaching. This study aimed to investigate a non-native speaker faculty member, Eisuke Saito, who had attempted to manage and overcome language challenges in teaching. Through an autobiographical self-study of teacher educ...

2023): Conceptual typologies of learning communities for master's course students using a publications exemplar: a comparative institutional analysis, Interactive Learning Environments, ABSTRACT With an increased emphasis being placed on the importance of postgraduate students publishing articles in international journals, many students may feel a...

Background Although dialogue is often regarded as a vehicle for teacher professional development and learning, particularly in relation to verbal interactions between teachers, its uses remain limited. Deepening the understanding of dialogue in its fullest sense, and its potential applications in education, may help to unleash its power in supporti...

In the modern world, alienation and marginalisation are serious issues that make people doubt the existence of God. Due to the development of science and technology, which allows humans more space to act as they desire, society has become even more secularised. Fyodor Dostoevsky foresaw and struggled with these problems-as represented in his litera...

Offshore teaching is a common practice in Australian higher education. While challenges in offshore teaching have been well studied, the opportunities that it may provide have been seldom discussed. Considering this, the aim of this study is to address this gap by investigating the opportunities that offshore teaching provided faculty members in th...

The global mobility and migration of teachers has affected the education environment worldwide. This study examines the professional transition of immigrant teachers and finds that teacher professional identity is a critical element in a complex process of professional transition. Using a qualitative inductive approach, this study reports on the pr...

Owing to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid increase in the number of international higher education students, online academic programmes have become more centralised and became the main, sometimes only, form of education. Although the online environment offers flexible access to education, it can cause concerns and difficulties fo...

There is increasing acknowledgement of the need to lighten the academic burden on Chinese primary and secondary students because it affects the quality of their education and well-being. This study investigates recent education policies to analyse how the problem of academic burden is framed in these policies and how they attempt to solve it. In th...

The nature of support for novice teachers, especially those coming from non-Anglophone countries, will impact upon teacher retention and student learning outcomes. Lack of support can generally lead to novice teachers leaving the field specifically because of their inability to perform their roles satisfactorily. There is a significant lacuna in th...

A curriculum is supposed to be something that the teachers and authorities would construct. Recently, more studies have focused on student contributions to curriculum development. These studies largely framed listening to student voices in the planning processes. However, actual voices can be heard in the process of running classes, and such needs...

Professional learning may be the most significant when the teacher feels fundamentally challenged and questioned about their practices, beliefs, or identities. In this paper, the elements that cause such fundamental challenges and questions-disruptions-are called 'disruptive hooks'. In the process of addressing such disruptive hooks, teachers creat...

By assessing student engagement with learning tasks along with students' understanding of subject matter before and during teaching, teachers are able to shift their teaching approaches through improvisational pedagogical reasoning in real time. However, if a teacher does not know how to respond to students' cues, their capacity to effectively adap...

It has been around 15 years since the commencement of lesson study for the learning community (LSLC) in Vietnam. It started at several pilot schools in Bac Giang province, and today it is practised all over the country. While some pilot schools emerged with high-quality practices, the speed of actual changes in the practices still remains slow. Thi...

This study examined research–practice partnerships (RPP) as a place where teachers (re)shape their discourses in a distinctive working arrange- ment through our case in Vietnam. In particular, it explored the concept of subjectivity in dispositifs, focusing on a heterogeneous ensemble of dis- cursive and nondiscursive arrangements of collective act...

Some of the problems addressed by the editors of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education (APJTE) refer to the issues concerning the Global South. This commentary elaborates upon the problema-tisations by the editors with reference to the ethical challenges arising in contexts of political turmoil; issues related to the power, or lack of it, o...

Pedagogical reform is an institutional change that involves revising the rules of the game in practice, the legitimacy of which depends on political and legislative contexts. In the context of Myanmar's experience transitioning into a democratic society, this study discusses the changes in theoretical equilibria concerning pedagogical practices wit...

Schools, globally, have experienced an influx of culturally and linguistically diverse students, due to voluntary migration and forced displacement. To respond to the needs of these students, particularly those from refugee backgrounds, schools must understand how these students navigate their pathways to membership and belonging within their new s...

Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote masterpieces describing the exploitation and victimisation of the socially disadvantaged who were affected by industrialisation in the 19th century. In The Brothers Karamazov, Pavel Fyodorovich Smerdyakov (hereafter, Smerdyakov) plays a critical role in various spheres of the story. His birth was the result of the rape of L...

The introduction of technology in classroom practices can be challenging if teachers are not encouraged to utilise it in school contexts. Through a self-study methodology, this study investigates a Japanese English teacher’s experiences using technology in classroom teaching. Based on the classification of barriers developed by Ertmer (1999) and He...

On 1 February 2021, a junta launched a coup against the civilian government in Myanmar, causing strong backlash against the coup among civilians and leading the junta to suppress those who protested in an extremely aggressive way. While the citizens, including teachers, teacher educators, and student teachers, have participated in the civil disobed...

Professional development is increasingly considered key to school reform in many countries. This study was based on the experience of the author in Vietnam, where along with other teachers, the author has been engaged in the attempt to reform schools since 2006. The critical element of this work is for teachers to regularly observe and reflect on c...

The Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has impacted the world immensely in terms of both global health and economy. It has exacerbated the gap between the economically advantaged and disadvantaged groups in terms of access to various resources and opportunities across the world. This situation has been described as ‘collateral damage’, which re...

The inflow of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar experiencing trauma and torture is a major global issue. This article explores relationships with local communities as they are represented in the multi-vocal voices of Rohingya refugees. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with a group of Rohingya refugees based in the Kutupalong refugee camp in...

Parental involvement in their children’s education has been investigated in various ways, mainly regarding governance, the support provided to the children at home, or relationships between teachers and parents. However, parents also might be supporters and/or resources for teaching practices, an aspect which has not been studied in depth. In Japan...

There has been increasing attention given to the notion that international education consists of non-linear and multi-directional transmissive exchanges between existing institutional academic conditions and international students. Despite the role of international students’ agency being paramount, there is a dearth of research on the relationships...

While the prevalence of group work in higher education in Australia can be construed as a cultural or institutional practice, it has become a site of struggle for many international students who must negotiate the normative practices embedded in group work. This paper aims to investigate how six Japanese international students at Australian univers...

Suicide is a serious public health issue worldwide. In China, suicide is the fifth leading cause of death and the second leading cause of death among 15-to 34-year-olds. Research has shown that the suicide rate among college students is higher than their non-college peers. This study aims to review the literature on the risk factors of Chinese coll...

Refugee-background youth in the Australian context have long been confronted with a series of challenges surrounding their living and educational conditions. However, limited research has been conducted to examine the underlying factors of such problems. This paper critically explores possible factors that contribute to or intensify the challenges...

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has changed the 'rules of the game' significantly in organisations and educational institutions worldwide. Many schools and universities have switched classes from a face-to-face interaction to an online setting due to the imposition of lockdowns. However, in developing and middle-income countries, the gui...

The notion of employability has become a focal point of higher education in many countries’ strategies to prepare students for employment. Responses to this notion can differ largely from country to country and from university to university, based on their historical, political, and economic contexts. However, very little has been researched in ter...

In many South East Asian countries, group learning has been introduced as a method to reform classroom practices. Cooperative learning in particular, based on role division, rewards and competition, is highly popular. On the other hand, collaborative learning, the other type of group learning, based on mutual consultation and help-seeking without t...

This paper presents a cross-cultural discussion of three episodes where students' embodied dispositions serve as indicators of, and barriers to, learning. These episodes are drawn from a longitudinal study into school reform in Asia. Framed around a shared understanding of embodiment within practice approaches, and employing a unique method of tran...

Recently, group learning has been introduced in various countries as part of educational reform. While there are various approaches to group learning, the focus of this study is on collaborative learning, which is based on mutual help-seeking and consultation. This requires teachers’ decision to integrate collaborative learning into their practices...

The international movement of teachers is a global phenomenon that has seen an increasing number of teachers moving from one country to another. Although developed countries in the West are traditionally seen as attractive migration destinations for teachers, countries in Asia, such as Singapore, are also proving to be a draw for many foreign teach...

The rapid increase in the number of international students from different academic backgrounds studying in Australian higher education has required universities to reconsider how to support these students while ensuring academic integrity in new academic settings. The high number of studies on academic integrity and student support programmes at un...

The number of international returnees is increasing in emerging economies. However, very little has been known about their career development in their home country. This study explored how Vietnamese returnees from Australia developed their career after returning to Vietnam. The study deployed a qualitative approach using in-depth interviews with 1...

Since the turn of the twenty-first century, the Japanese education system has consistently kept to pace with global economic, social and cultural forces. Nonetheless, Japanese society is currently facing a wide range of challenges such as social security problems, environmental issues, difficulty in sustaining economic vitality, widening regional d...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate a dystopian situation with special reference to how a panoptic monitoring system emerges in schools. To satisfy this aim, there will be a close analysis of the city of Nago in Okinawa Prefecture, where there is a huge debate over the new US Marine base construction and how it greatly influences pe...

Lesson study has attracted the attention of teachers and teacher educators over the past two decades, and practices vary from region to region and from school to school. This study, as a conceptual discussion paper, aims to discuss the modes of coordination of lesson study at the school level, based on comparative institutional analysis (CIA). CIA...

For international students undertaking higher education in English-speaking countries, often social and academic competencies are at odds with the expectations of the classroom discourse communities and the normative behaviours and practices of these communities. This conceptual paper argues that despite some scholarly studies seeing such internati...

Employability has become a key concept that has attracted the attention of scholars and industries in many countries. At the same time, this concept is highly fluid and vague because its nature is not evidenced by real employment and differences in the nature of labour markets from country to country. Thus, it would be more worthwhile to discuss st...

h i g h l i g h t s Reports on the culturally relevant pedagogic practices of a case study of Singapore teachers. Offers an analytic framework to describe practices of culturally relevant pedagogy. Demonstrates the cultural struggles over pedagogy and pedagogical forms. Identifies ways teachers can relate their teaching to students' backgrounds.

This paper presents a systematic qualitative review of relevant literature, documents and reports, and critically discusses issues facing international students undertaking work-integrated learning (WIL) activities as part of their higher education in Australia. Initiatives utilised to better support international students on these WIL placements a...

Classroom talk or verbal exchanges during lesson time play a central role in students’ disciplinary understanding and intellectual development. It greatly influences not only what students learn but also how they learn it. Despite this, teachers can be unaware of teacher–student talk patterns and functions; thus, what is uttered during class time c...

This study conducted an appreciative investigation of the experiences of Myanmar women in leadership. Specifically, the focus was on what sustains them, how they negotiate the complexity of their context, and what propels them. Drawn from the experiences of three Myanmar women leaders, the findings indicated that ‘their formal and informal learning...

Despite increased use of professional learning communities in the teacher education field, they do not necessarily guarantee change in teachers’ daily practice. This study is a multiple case study of three school leaders in Vietnam to connect their teachers’ learning and practice by utilising visual records. In the cases studied, we see a progressi...

In studies on teacher professional development, the embodiment of teachers’ values in professional practice has emerged as an important area of focus. Employing the sociocultural approach, this study discusses the link between teachers’ acts and underlying values based on a Vietnamese teacher’s detailed field notes on cases of school reform through...

This study uses the grounded theory approach (GTA) to investigate the value and characteristics of teacher observations, when used to understand student learning. Earlier studies have analysed the act of observation, defining it as a combination of joint observation and interpretation activities. By contrast, this analysis of 28 primary school teac...

Neo-liberal educational policies that are being implemented globally work to foster competition among schools and teachers, as well as among children. In this situation, teachers must often come to accept the dominant representations of curricular policy developed by higher authorities. In this study, a case study design is used to describe how one...

Research into pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has advanced over the years. Yet, since most research has developed within specific subject areas, this paper aims to investigate how an expert teacher generates PCK by using various forms of knowledge. This study draws upon the case of an expert Japanese teacher, Mr T, an educational consultant who...

Recent research has emphasised educating children about positive behaviours to overcome delinquency issues, but there is little clarification of what factors lead to positive behaviours. This study analyses factors that led to children’s positive behaviours at a junior high school in Japan, which experienced a dramatic turnaround after implementing...

The number of English language learners and limited English proficient students has grown exponentially in the United States over the past decades. Given the huge cultural and linguistic diversity among them, educating this population of students remains a challenge for teachers. This paper aims to review the types of challenges that educators face...

Under neo-liberal policies in many countries, there has been an extensive trend of educational reform which intensifies competition. Such educational reform is underpinned by direct government control, seen in centre to periphery forms of policy administration and implementation with strong emphasis on managerialism and test-oriented accountability...

The purpose of this paper is to discuss group learning in line with economic perspectives of embeddedness and integration emanating from the work of Karl Polanyi. Polanyi’s work defines economy as a necessary interaction among human beings for survival; the economy is considered inextricably linked from broader society and social relations rather t...

This paper investigates the process and meaning of problem-based learning (PBL) that students may experience. The Project Cycle Management method was taught and utilised as an instrument of PBL at a Japanese women’s college over a period of 5 years. The study closely examined what and how students learned in PBL from the perspectives of cognitive,...

Presentation at WALS2013

This study examined current trends regarding research interests held by subject education researchers in the only Singaporean teacher education institute-the National Institute of Education, Singapore (NIE). Concretely, their keywords on NIE's official website were categorised and those categories were analysed in quantitative and qualitative manne...

In recent research, it has been argued that effective professional learning would continue over the long term and is best suited for a school community that promotes learning. This requires an examination of the teachers on a daily basis. In order to develop such a community, it becomes increasingly important for teachers to mutually observe and jo...

This article describes the case of a Japanese junior high school that experienced a turn-around in three years from one of the worst schools to one of the best by utilizing lesson study for learning community (LSLC) as a managerial tool. It will focus on how the principal: (i) established a vision of reform, (ii) organized LSLC to involve the entir...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the developmental stages of lesson study for learning community (LSLC) and to clarify the measures necessary for promoting the progress of LSLC, targeting consultants working on educational development projects for developing countries. Design/methodology/approach The paper is organised as a conceptu...

This paper reports on a case study of schools in Vietnam wherein teachers are engaged in school reform activities known as professional teacher meetings (PTMs), which is based on an approach called lesson study for learning community (LSLC). The PTMs under LSLC were introduced in 2006, but the teachers involved are still conducting the activities d...

It is challenging for ex-practitioners beginning to teach in higher education settings due to their long experience in other fields. In this paper, as an example of a nexus of practitioners and academics, the focus is the issues of novice teacher educators at the beginning of their careers and support programmes for them. Three factors were identif...

This article proposes four key developmental stages and various underpinning factors pertaining to the practices of setting up and supporting group learning in the classroom setting. The discussion is mostly explained conceptually, with some compelling examples from the field. The authors subsequently advise that three elements of integration - nam...