Disparities in Teachers’ Workload: A Comparison between Japan and the U.S.
February 5, 2024 | 12:00PM - 1:30PM
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In-person
This event took place in-person at Room 208N, North House, 1 Devonshire Place, Toronto, ON, M5S 3K7
Despite the concern over teachers’ heavy workload both in Japan and the U.S. especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, little is known about how teachers’ work is distributed across various tasks and responsibilities and to what extent their workload is equitably distributed across various school and teacher characteristics. Dr. Motoko Akiba explored the distribution and disparities in teachers’ workload using nationally representative teacher and school survey data from the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) in Japan and the U.S. Policy and leadership implications were discussed regarding how to support the teaching profession by assigning reasonable and equitable workload to teachers in both countries.
Dr. Motoko Akiba is a Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Florida State University (FSU). She received a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Tsukuba in Japan and a dual-title Ph.D. in Educational Theory & Policy and Comparative & International Education from Pennsylvania State University-University Park. She worked as a post-doc at Mills College to conduct lesson study research, a senior researcher at McREL, a faculty member at the University of Missouri-Columbia before joining FSU. Dr. Akiba’s research expertise is in comparative teacher policy, teachers’ working conditions, and teacher equity. She is a recipient of the NSF Career Award and published 4 books and many journal articles including International handbook of teacher quality and policy (Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2018), Teacher reforms around the world (Emerald Books, 2013), and Improving teacher quality: The U.S. teaching force in global context (Teachers College Press, 2009). She enjoys teaching aspiring school leaders in the Educational Leadership program and critical survey research methods.
Organized by the Centre for the Study of Global Japan and the Initiative for Education Policy and Innovation, University of Toronto.