From Osaka to Philadelphia: IGNITE Brings English Teachers to Temple  

Last summer, the Improving Global English and Innovative Teaching Expertise (IGNITE) Professional Development Program brought a group of high school English teachers from Osaka, Japan, to Philadelphia for an experience that went far beyond sitting in a classroom and taking notes.  

Over approximately three weeks, the teachers had the opportunity to strengthen their English skills, explore a new city and learn new ways to engage their own students in Japan.  

The program is a collaboration between Temple University’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), Temple University Japan (TUJ) and the Osaka Board of Education.  

CEHD’s teaching English to speakers of other languages program (TESOL) created and implemented the experience, providing opportunities for the Osaka teachers to learn from educators, students and the broader Philadelphia community.

The program was developed by Jill Swavely, CEHD professor of instruction in applied linguistics and coordinator of the TESOL program, and taught by Catie Duffield, a CEHD graduate with a PhD in applied linguistics. Several CEHD students also participated as conversation partners, adding another layer to the exchange between educators and students from Japan and Philadelphia. CEHD also collaborated with Temple Center for American Language and Culture (TCALC) who oversaw travel, housing and transportation for the participants.  

“There were two primary goals,” said Swavely. “Fifty percent of the program focused on developing the teachers’ English language proficiency and cultural knowledge, and the other fifty percent focused on developing student-centered teaching approaches. We focused specifically on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), which encourage students to develop English language proficiency through structured conversation and meaningful tasks.”

The approach reflects a broader shift in English education in Japan. While the Japanese Ministry of Education has encouraged more progressive teaching methods, teachers do not always have opportunities for professional development focused on those approaches. Through IGNITE, the Osaka Board of Education sent teachers to Philadelphia to gain hands-on experience with student-centered instruction while they were immersed in an English-dominant context.

“Traditional Japanese classrooms tend to be very grammar-centered and focused on correctness,” Swavely said. “The Osaka teachers had experienced this type of education as students and were also teaching in similar ways.”

During their time in Philadelphia, the teachers participated in interactive workshops, peer teaching, lesson planning and reflection activities. They showed the final products of their work through presentations held at the end of the program.

They also visited Furness High School in Center City Philadelphia, giving them a chance to experience the city’s education community firsthand.

A notable component of the program was the conversation partner experience, which connected the Osaka teachers with Temple CEHD undergraduate and graduate students for regular conversations in English.

“The teachers met with their conversation partners twice a week for about an hour, with each partner working with approximately two teachers,” said Swavely. “Each week, the program provided conversation prompts to help guide their discussions.”

“We started with conversations about their personal histories, where they grew up, their previous education and what led them to participate in the program,” Swavely explained. “Then we moved into conversations about teaching and education. They talked about everything from politics in the United States to specific questions about education in Philadelphia.”

The experience created a genuine cultural exchange, giving the Japanese teachers an opportunity to practice English in a relaxed setting while allowing CEHD students to learn about Japanese culture and education from experienced educators from Japan.  

The teachers also had the opportunity to explore the city on their own time and attend a Phillies game. These activities helped extend the program beyond professional development; it became an opportunity to connect, explore and learn from one another.  

Participants returned to Japan having gained not only new strategies for teaching English but also increased cultural knowledge and language proficiency as well as new experiences and perspectives to share with their students in Osaka.

From Temple to Kyoto: TESOL Students Take Their Teaching Abroad

While IGNITE brought international educators to Temple’s Main Campus, the Kyoto Study/Teach Abroad experience gave CEHD TESOL master’s program students the opportunity to take their TESOL learning to Japan.  

Four Temple University TESOL master’s students traveled to Kyoto for three weeks this summer to serve as teaching assistants in TUJ’s Summer Academic English Program. The experience gave them a chance to step out of their usual Temple classrooms and experience what it is like to teach and learn in another country.  

Participants provided instructional support in classrooms, including fifth- and sixth-grade students, high school students from Ehime and Nagasaki, and local high school students participating in a Skills Up program.

The students worked alongside the lead instructors, supporting lessons that encouraged students to communicate, collaborate and use English in meaningful and fun ways. This experience significantly supplemented the knowledge and skills they have been learning in their TESOL courses, particularly in terms of language learning approaches such as Communitive Language Teaching (CLT) and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT).

“In several of our courses, we teach students about communicative language teaching and task-based language teaching,” said Swavely. “These are important approaches in our field because they are student-centered and encourage students to learn English through conversation and problem-solving rather than primarily through grammar drills.”

The Kyoto experience allowed CEHD students to first observe those approaches in action, and then teach lessons by themselves, thus supporting the connection between coursework to real classrooms.

“The roles the Temple students played as teaching assistants were directly connected to their coursework because communicative language teaching was being used in the Kyoto Academic English program,” Swavely said.

Swavely also highlighted the students’ teaching backgrounds and performance. “The TUJ coordinators were especially pleased that CEHD students had teaching and educational coursework backgrounds,” she said. “They were flexible, demonstrated teaching talent, worked extremely well with the children and were very professional.”

The Kyoto Study/Teach Abroad experience also gave students an opportunity to immerse themselves in Japanese culture, explore their surroundings and learn from the community around them.

The success of the program has helped pave the way for the upcoming Study/Teach Abroad opportunity planned for 2027, giving future Temple CEHD students another chance to take their teaching skills abroad and experience life as educators in a new cultural and educational environment.