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Neoliberal agendas, globalism and the marketisation of higher education have had profound implications for teacher education throughout the world, including increasing standardisation, accountability and credentialism. The rhetoric is 'teachers need better training'. However, raising the bar to a master's degree without analysing carefully the rationale for such a reform seems short-sighted. What alternatives are there to a master's degree as a standard in teacher accreditation? What are the significant issues facing learners of the twenty-first century? In a post 9/11 world, with drastic changes stemming from globalisation, what is important? Teachers need global citizenship education to nurture global citizens who have the knowledge and skills required to critically evaluate phenomena in a rapidly changing world. In this paper, a narrative case study of a unique initial teacher education programme at a Japanese university is juxtaposed with discussion of a well-established Canadian programme offering multiple pathways into teaching. The results show that effective teacher induction integrating global citizenship education and providing a gradual acculturation into teaching is possible within undergraduate programmes, providing opportunities for sharing the transcultural personal, practical and professional knowledge of teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 1990s, pushed by domestic economic recession and uncertainty of their life paths, young Japanese have been flying to Canada and Australia not only for holiday experiences, English learning, and temporary work, but also in the quest to find oneself. Searching for “international” work they really want to do, they often prolong their sojourning. Host countries often keep them in temporary resident status, postponing their career development. Suspended in foreigner status, the migrants themselves extend their “subjective youth” – what they see as an ongoing preparatory period in their lives. Based on fieldwork in Vancouver and Sydney, this paper elucidates how the emerging population of self-searching migrants blurs the conventional boundaries between youth and adulthood, and work and holiday, as well as sojourning and immigrating, thus extending “youth experience” indefinitely. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper compares and evaluates teacher induction in Canada and Japan, following an overview of each educational system and an assessment of higher education in each region. Based on the author's personal teaching experience and research, suggestions for educational reforms are made to enhance the role of teachers. Teachers need opportunities to learn from one another and to benefit from the accumulated wisdom of generations of skilled practitioners. Moreover, teachers need time for collaboration, planning and reflection. Canada's strengths lie in well-developed pre-service teaching programmes. However, graduates are left to 'sink or swim' in their critical first year of teaching. In contrast, Japan's comprehensive yearlong internship offers an effective apprenticeship induction model with an emphasis on assistance rather than assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study purposes were twofold: to inductively develop cross-culturally informed leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) constraint and constraint negotiation typologies and to investigate cultural similarities and differences in LTPA constraints and constraint negotiation using both the newly developed typologies and conventional Western typologies. Useable data were obtained from 211 Euro-Canadians and 183 Japanese using online surveys. A thematic analysis identified nine constraint categories (psychological, physiological and physical fitness, lifestyle, interpersonal, financial, time, commitment, environmental, and LTPA-specific) and nine constraint negotiation strategies (psychological, physiological and physical fitness, lifestyle, interpersonal, financial, time, and three LTPA-specific: modification, management, and self-adaptation). Multivariate analysis of covariance identified no cultural differences when the conventional typologies were analyzed. However, when the culturally informed typologies were similarly analyzed, compared to Japanese, Euro-Canadians reported (a) time constraints more and LTPA-specific constraints less and (b) financial and time negotiation strategies more and the LTPA-specific (i.e., management) negotiation strategies less. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than a century, ionizing radiation has been indispensable mainly in medicine and industry. Radiation research is a multidisciplinary field that investigates radiation effects. Radiation research was very active in the mid- to late 20th century, but has then faced challenges, during which time funding has fluctuated widely. Here we review historical changes in funding situations in the field of radiation research, particularly in Canada, European Union countries, Japan, South Korea, and the US. We also provide a brief overview of the current situations in education and training in this field. A better understanding of the biological consequences of radiation exposure is becoming more important with increasing public concerns on radiation risks and other radiation literacy. Continued funding for radiation research is needed, and education and training in this field are also important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]