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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]

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]

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]