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Paper short abstract:

Research emphasises the importance of local actors in decision-making. This paper will review the macro-levels and agency (local actors) in Japanese education in Ireland supported by a networked learning community. An underpinning concept is ‘gemba’ - deference to frontline professional expertise.

Paper long abstract:

The Japanese community in Ireland is relatively small compared with other ethnic minority groups, while there has always been great interest in Japanese culture and language. There are many challenges for distant cultures to achieve engagement. In addition, Japanese has been on the official language curriculum within the post-secondary Leaving Certificate programme since 2000 and is a well-established subject at secondary school level.

The importance of local actors and their role in decision-making about language teaching has been emphasised (Liddicoat & Baldauf, 2008; Johnson & Johnson, 2015; Stewart & Miyahara, 2016). Built on previous studies, this paper will review the interactions between structure (macro-level policy) and agency (local actors) in the context of Japanese language education in Ireland supported by Networked Learning Communities (Stewart & Miyahara, 2016). It will then look at possible structures supporting the teaching of Japanese language in Ireland which seeks to recognise the ownership of various aspects of the process. An underpinning concept is ‘gemba’, which implies deference to frontline professional expertise and autonomy.

The paper will focus on results from research conducted with secondary teachers and those actively involved in leading Japan-related cultural projects in Ireland.

Jackson, D., & Temperley, J. (2006). From Professional Learning Community to Networked Learning Community. International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) Conference 2006.

Johnson, D. C., & Johnson, E. J. (2015). Power and agency in language policy appropriation. Language Policy, 14(3), 221-243.

Lamb, T. (2012). Language associations and collaborative support: language teacher

associations as empowering spaces for professional networks. Innovation in Language

Learning and Teaching, 6 (3). 287 - 308.

Liddicoat, A. J., & Baldauf, R. B., Jr. (2008). (Eds.) Language planning and policy: Language planning in local contexts. Clevedon, Buffalo, Toronto: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

Stewart, A., & Miyahara, M. (2016). Language teacher associations in Japan: Knowledge producers and/or knowledge disseminators. ELT Journal, 70(2), 137–149.