The 40th National Teachers Federation of Japan Teachers’ Study Visit to Taiwan
The National Teachers Federation of Japan has been devoted to promoting academic cooperation with Taiwan. It has organized group visits to Taiwan since 1986 and 1,012 Japanese teachers have visited Taiwan. It has also been inviting Taiwanese teachers to visit Japan to participate in the Japan–Taiwan Elementary and Junior High School Teachers Exchange Conference since 1988, and 505 Taiwanese teachers have visited Japan. These exchange visits provide invaluable learning opportunities for the participating Taiwanese and Japanese teachers, as they discuss educational issues and draw on and benefit from each other’s teaching experiences, and they provide new momentum to education and enhance bilateral growth and educational cooperation.
A group of 25 teachers from elementary and junior-high schools in Japan led by Mr. Watanabe Yohei, the chairman of the National Teachers Federation of Japan (全日本教職員連盟), visited Taiwan from January 3 to 7 at the invitation of the Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan (TECRO). The visiting teachers were invited to visit the Ministry of Education and schools, and to participate in a seminar with teachers from elementary and junior-high schools in Taiwan, to enhance their professional development and educational exchanges.
On January 6, the group participated in a seminar on Elementary and Junior High School Education in Taiwan and in Japan held at Haishan Elementary School (海山國小) in New Taipei City. The theme of the seminar was Addressing School Refusal Issues and the participants discussed the perspectives of the school children that avoid going to school, in Taiwan and in Japan, and possible measures to resolve associated problems.
On the same day, the group visited the Ministry of Education. They were welcomed by Peng Fu-Yuan 彭富源, director-general of the K-12 Education Administration who told them that Taiwan and Japan enjoy a long-standing and deep friendship and have consistently engaged in close educational exchanges.
Mr. Watanabe expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Education and the Education Division of TECRO for the wonderful arrangements that resulted in a fruitful visit. He said that Taiwan and Japan share similar cultures and teachers in Japan and in Taiwan face similar education-related issues. Such mutual visits provide valuable opportunities for cordial exchanges and professional interactions between teachers which helps to improve teaching quality.