An analysis of the governance of the Japanese teacher license renewal system

Abstract

This study aims to analyse the development of the teacher license renewal system in Japan since 1980s from a governance viewpoint that considers the renewal system as maintenance of teachers' professional status and function of social trust on the perspective social closure, affected by the socio-political context under neoliberalism. Documents and literature are collected and analysed by content analysis on the governance of teacher certificate. The study findings report that the development and implementation of the renewal system must deal with how the rationality of governance and the governance rule effect the segmentation, exemption objects, class lecture content, transfer of state responsibility to teachers, system integration, and teacher identification.