Readiness of Japanese Elementary School Teachers to Begin Computer-Programming Education
Yutaro OHASHI, Fumihiro Kumeno, Hidemi Yamachi, Yasuhiro Tsujimura · 2018
“Programming education” will be compulsory in Japanese elementary schools beginning in 2020. However, implementation barriers include underusing information and communication technology (ICT) and overextended teachers. Here, we analyzed the current status of programming education in elementary schools and evaluated teachers' opinions on the subject. Information was collected by in-person questionnaires from in-service teachers at eight schools. The results showed that teachers generally underuse computers in teaching, which defeats the purpose of requiring programming education. Moreover, many teachers lack programming experience and are not experienced or confident in teaching programming, which could impede the implementation of programming education by the target date. These findings emphasize the need for teacher training to prepare them to provide effective programming education.