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A key challenge remains teacher supply and professional development. The paper reviews recent changes in elementary English education, describes Japan’s public elementary teacher system, and analyzes workload differences between homeroom and specialist teachers, concluding with new specialist teacher systems and qualification considerations.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/homeroom-teachers-or-specialist-teachers-considerations-for-teaching-english-in-japanese-elementary-schools/592497/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/homeroom-teachers-or-specialist-teachers-considerations-for-teaching-english-in-japanese-elementary-schools/592497.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"McGucket","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-06","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why is English education in Japan expanding to elementary schools from 2020?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"English is officially taught as an academic subject for fifth and sixth graders from 2020 to improve articulation between elementary and junior high and develop English proficiency from an early age.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What problem does the paper identify regarding teacher supply and development?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Offering English as a subject depends on adequate teacher supply and professional development, which the paper highlights as a critical issue.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the paper compare homeroom teachers and specialist teachers for teaching English?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It explains benefits and drawbacks of homeroom and specialist teachers in elementary English teaching and argues for appropriate qualifications of English teachers.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},592497,1792210247,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":24,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},1236954412713,"https://us-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Homeroom Teachers or Specialist Teachers?: Considerations for the Workforce for Teaching English as a Subject at Elementary Schools in Japan  \n\n| Shinji Okumura 1  |  |\n| --- | --- |\n| 1Lecturer, Department of Education, Mukogawa Women's University, Japan |  |\n|  |  |\n\nAbstract  \nIn Japan, English will be officially taught as an academic subject for elementary fifth and sixth graders  from 2020. This is a strong initiative of language-in-education policy, aiming at efficient articulation between elementary and junior high schools and targeting the development of English proficiency from  early ages simultaneously. However, teacher supply and professional development have been a critical  issue for offering English as a subject. Reviewing the recent movement of English education at  elementary schools, the paper overviews the current teacher system in public elementary schools in  Japan and clarifies that homeroom teachers in Japanese elementary schools tend to work overload not  only teaching but also with administrative duties. The paper then describes benefits and drawbacks of homeroom and specialist teachers in English teaching as a subject at elementary schools and argues  qualifications of English teachers. The author finally introduces new specialist teacher systems, which  will give a useful insight for developing the workforce for the future English education at Japanese public elementary schools.  \nKeywords: English language education reform, Elementary school education, Homeroom teachers, Specialist teachers, Teacher supply, Japan  \nContents  \n1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................... 2  \n2. Expansion of English Education in Public Elementary Schools .......................................................................................... 2  \n3. Elementary School Teachers in the Japan Education System ............................................................................................. 2  \n4. Who Teaches English in Japanese Elementary Schools? ..................................................................................................... 3  \n5. New Attempts for Specialist Teacher Systems in Upper Elementary Grades ..................................................................... 4  \n6. Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................................................. 5  \nReferences .................................................................................................................................................................................. 5  \n| Citation | Shinji Okumura (2017) . Elementary Schools in Japan. Asian DOI: |\n| --- |\n| ISSN(E) :\u003Cbr>Licensed: |\n| Funding:\u003Cbr>Competing Interests:\u003Cbr>Transparency:\u003Cbr>History:\u003Cbr>Ethical:\u003Cbr>Publisher: |\n\nHomeroom Teachers or Specialist Teachers?: Considerations for the Workforce for Teaching English as a Subject at Journal of Education and Training, 3(1): 1-5.  \n10.20448/journal.522/2017 .3. 1/522 .1.1.5   \n2519-5387  \nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License   \nThis study received no specific financial support.  \nThe author declares that there are no conflicts of interests regarding the publication of this paper.  \nThe authors confirms that the manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study was reported; that no vital features of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained.  \nReceived: 13 December 2016/ Revised: 29 December 2016/ Accepted: 4 January 2017/ Published: 13 January 2017 This study follows all ethical practices during writing.  \nAsian Online Journal Publishing Group  \n1. Introduction  \nAlmost three decades ago I was a homeroom teacher at a public elementary school in Tokyo","cbCairmE9KkaiSlF","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairmE9KkaiSlF","pdf",541147,"English","# Introduction\n# Expansion of English Education in Public Elementary Schools\n# Elementary School Teachers in the Japan Education System\n# Who Teaches English in Japanese Elementary Schools?\n# New Attempts for Specialist Teacher Systems in Upper Elementary Grades\n# Conclusion\n# References","[{\"question\":\"Why is English education in Japan expanding to elementary schools from 2020?\",\"answer\":\"English is officially taught as an academic subject for fifth and sixth graders from 2020 to improve articulation between elementary and junior high and develop English proficiency from an early age.\"},{\"question\":\"What problem does the paper identify regarding teacher supply and development?\",\"answer\":\"Offering English as a subject depends on adequate teacher supply and professional development, which the paper highlights as a critical issue.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper compare homeroom teachers and specialist teachers for teaching English?\",\"answer\":\"It explains benefits and drawbacks of homeroom and specialist teachers in elementary English teaching and argues for appropriate qualifications of English teachers.\"}]","Homeroom Teachers or Specialist Teachers? - Considerations for Teaching English in Japanese Elementary Schools | PDF",1792074712,13]