Structures

ASIJ Structures of PLD
Whole school work and learning such as:

  • PACT Days: Early release days for collaboration and learning

  • Professional Development days

  • Release days for extended time learning and planning

  • Collaborative scheduled team time

  • Whole school & division meetings

cLOSE

Systems

Whole School & Division Priorities
Job-embedded, ongoing, systems of growth such as:

  • Collaborative Teams

  • Job-embedded Coaching

  • Pathways: Opportunities for personalized learning and collaborative innovation

  • Professional Growth and Excellence System

  • Teacher Leader development

  • Induction & Orientation

  • Curriculum Development

  • Ad hoc working groups

cLOSE

Outside Opportunities

Other ASIJ-Supported PLD Opportunities

  • Conferences  & Training  (within ASIJ and beyond)

  • Online PLD Courses

  • Professional Learning Networks (Facebook, Twitter)

  • PLD Library: books & podcasts

  • Deep Learning networks with New Pedagogies for Deep Learning

cLOSE
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If you are moving to Japan for the first time, we are here to help you with a very important decision—choosing the right school for your children. View our Admissions pages for details on Eligibility, Visits, Open Houses, Tuition, and FAQs.

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Return to the Moon

Kathy Lueders ’81

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What does learning look like at ASIJ? Read about our commitment, definition of learning, explore our divisions, and dive into parent partnership opportunities.

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ASIJ Stories

teamLab

Kindergartners take an other-worldly trip.

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Island Life

Fifth-graders create island environments.

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National Treasures

Noh Laughing.

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Our Spaces

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ASIJ is comprised of two campuses featuring multi-function spaces. Learn about or campuses, facilities, and what makes our spaces unique in Tokyo.

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Spirit Day

We’ve got spirit, how bout you?

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Rice Rice Baby

The ES Rice-Growing Project.

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Valerie

You’ve seen her on-stage, we talked to her off-stage.

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Employment

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Who are our faculty and staff? What are our teacher qualifications and expectations? Before applying, check out our Before You Apply page to learn about Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and how our factulty and staff go beyond the classroom.

Applicants for all teaching and leadership positions at ASIJ must have an active, confidential profile with either Schrole Connect or Search Associates. Direct applications will not be considered.

View Vacancies on Search Associates →

See our vacancies page for more details and additional vacancies.

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Learn about our commitment, mission, values as well as all about ASIJ's long history, and our alumni community. We also introduce you to our Leadership and Board of Directors.

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Our global network of over 7,500 alumni provides a lifelong community offering unique opportunities to connect, network, mentor and socialize—enhancing careers, providing pathways to new experiences and offering deep friendship and support.

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ASIJ often hosts visits for admissions, alumni, college representatives and more. Review our visit information before planning your next trip to Tokyo!

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Whether it is furthering their corporate social responsibility, or simply to share their knowledge and experience, there are many reasons why institutions and businesses choose to partner with ASIJ. View information about corporate partnerships.

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ASIJ Stories

ASIJ Stories
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Life at ASIJ is full of stories and the narrative of where our vision will take us is told each day through the learning our students experience in the classroom and beyond. Each of the subjects featured here has their own unique tale to tell—stories that are as rich and varied as the ASIJ experience itself.

ASIJ Stories Archive
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Space Club

Lessons from Space as told by a NASA Engineer

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Turning a Page

Cecilia Vinesse ’05

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Kendo

So you want to be a samurai?

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Admissions
→

If you are moving to Japan for the first time, we are here to help you with a very important decision—choosing the right school for your children. View our Admissions pages for details on Eligibility, Visits, Open Houses, Tuition, and FAQs.

Admissions Visits
Admissions Guidelines
Admissions FAQs
Tuition & Fees
ASIJ Stories

Return to the Moon

Kathy Lueders ’81

ASIJ Stories

The Roots of Beauty

Shinji Yamasaki ’03

See More ASIJ Stories →

Life at ASIJ
→

Learn about life at ASIJ from the perspective of students, parents, and teachers.

Our Community
Our Buses
Our Year
Activities, Arts, & Athletics
Safeguarding at ASIJ
ASIJ Stories

Our Buses

Worth the Ride

ASIJ Stories

Spirit Day

We’ve got spirit, how bout you?

ASIJ Stories

Safeguarding

The Next Level

See More ASIJ Stories →

Learning at ASIJ
→

What does learning look like at ASIJ? Read about our commitment, definition of learning, explore our divisions, and dive into parent partnership opportunities.

Vision of Learning
Early Learning Center
Elementary School
Middle School
High School
Parent Engagement
ASIJ Stories

teamLab

Kindergartners take an other-worldly trip.

ASIJ Stories

Island Life

Fifth-graders create island environments.

ASIJ Stories

National Treasures

Noh Laughing.

See More ASIJ Stories →

Our Spaces
→

ASIJ is comprised of two campuses featuring multi-function spaces. Learn about or campuses, facilities, and what makes our spaces unique in Tokyo.

Our Campuses
Learning Spaces
Creative Spaces
Performance Spaces
Active Spaces
Social Spaces
ASIJ Stories

Spirit Day

We’ve got spirit, how bout you?

ASIJ Stories

Rice Rice Baby

The ES Rice-Growing Project.

ASIJ Stories

Valerie

You’ve seen her on-stage, we talked to her off-stage.

See More ASIJ Stories →

Employment
→

Who are our faculty and staff? What are our teacher qualifications and expectations? Before applying, check out our Before You Apply page to learn about Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and how our factulty and staff go beyond the classroom.

Applicants for all teaching and leadership positions at ASIJ must have an active, confidential profile with either Schrole Connect or Search Associates. Direct applications will not be considered.

View Vacancies on Search Associates →

See our vacancies page for more details and additional vacancies.

Before You Apply
Salary & Benefits
Professional Learning
Current Vacancies

See More ASIJ Stories →

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A Room of Faculty Sit Around Two Professional Development Speakers

Professional Learning

Cultivating Culture at ASIJ

Cultivating Culture

ASIJ doesn’t expect teachers to be perfect. Rather, we recruit experienced, child-centered educators who possess values, dispositions, and skills that align closely to our strategic vision for ASIJ’s future. This includes, but is not limited to, a commitment to reflective practice, the drive to grow professionally and learn, and the desire to be part of something larger than oneself.

Michael Fullan, Joanne Quinn, and Joanne McEachern write in Deep Learning (2018): “If we want learners who can thrive in turbulent, complex times, apply thinking to new situations, and change the world, we must reimagine learning: what’s important to be learned, how learning is fostered, where learning happens, and how we measure success. This means creating environments that challenge, provoke, stimulate, and celebrate learning.” (p. 13).

Professional learning and support systems at ASIJ are designed to help our world-class faculty reflect, learn, and grow professionally, always with the goal of improving the student experience. We endeavor to engage and challenge teachers to be their best selves, offering thoughtful, actionable feedback and rich professional discourse that help even the most experienced teacher grow in their practice.

Faculty attending a Professional Development Session

Learning Through Collaboration

At ASIJ teachers are surrounded by learning partners who ensure that they are known, valued, and cared for and have the resources, support, feedback, and learning opportunities to ensure continuous personal and professional growth.
‍
  • Collaborative Teams are at the core of adult learning at ASIJ with scheduled meeting times across divisions. Teams focus on how to support students, how to design deep learning experiences, and how to modify and adjust instruction to meet the needs of students.
  • Principals & Associate Principals develop community and lead professional learning within divisions while also providing ongoing support, coaching, and feedback.
  • ASIJ’s Learning Office develops and coordinates N-12 student support, curriculum, and assessment systems; coordinates robust, flexible, and needs-based professional learning; supports the development of ASIJ’s data culture across systems; and develops strategic partnerships beyond the classroom.
  • ASIJ’s Technology Office provides hardware, software, infrastructure, and support to leverage digital technology across ASIJ.
  • ASIJ’s Japan Center is dedicated to ensuring that ASIJ’s faculty, students, and families understand, have access to, and are connected to Japan’s rich language, culture, and heritage.
  • ASIJ’s Partnership with New Pedagogies for Deep Learning expands the circle of learning partners across the globe, providing opportunities for ASIJ teachers to learn together with educators around the world who are on the Deep Learning journey.


Professional Learning Opportunities

ASIJ has a variety of professional learning systems and structures to ensure that professional learning is ongoing, job-embedded, personalized, and aligned with our aspirations outlined in the Strategic Design Framework.
‍

Structures

Systems

Outside
Opportunities

A World-Class Faculty Learning Together

ASIJ has been The American School in Japan for 120 years, and our ability to remain relevant over time has been grounded in our faculty’s willingness to negotiate the turmoil and challenges of each generation. We recognize that to remain a leader among international schools, ASIJ must continue to learn, evolve, and adapt to the future needs of our current students.

This means providing world-class professional learning opportunities for teachers. In What Works Best in Education (2015), John Hattie conducted a meta-analysis of nearly 150 factors that have the greatest influence on learning. His conclusion was that a construct called Collective Efficacy had the most powerful effect. Hattie (2015) writes, “The greatest influence on student learning is having highly expert, inspired and passionate teachers and school leaders working together to maximize the effect of their teaching on all students in their care” (p. 2). ASIJ is actively recruiting educators who want to be part of something larger than themselves, who are committed to reflective practice, and who wish to learn and grow as professionals.

A Portrait of Jamie Richard

I have had the chance to collaborate with some of the best educators on the planet.

I have so appreciated and benefited from many valuable and varied PD experiences that I have participated during my time at ASIJ. In addition to learning new teaching strategies and improving current practices, these experiences have enabled me to keep my teaching license current over the years, which is an important personal priority. I have also had the chance to collaborate with some of the best educators on the planet. Through ASIJ's PD program, I have participated in learning cohorts, such as COETAIL (Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy), online courses through Heinemann and various universities, literacy and social studies conferences, and other workshops—offered on campus, in Japan, and around the world. I am especially excited to be able to attend the Columbia University Teachers College Summer Reading Institute in August 2019 with a colleague from my department at ASIJ.

A Portrait of Sandy Blodgett

Having the opportunity to attend PD inspires and energizes me to achieve more as a teacher and a learner.

Having the opportunity to attend PD inspires and energizes me to achieve more as a teacher and a learner. As a world language teacher, the OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview) training was the most impactful for me; particularly, going through the certification process gave me the practical experience to understand language proficiency as per the ACTFL standards ASIJ adopted for our program. Now, I feel more confident assessing oral skills. Cultures of Thinking with Ron Ritchhart was a cross-disciplinary opportunity where I learned thinking routines to use in the classroom to help students better understand their own metacognition.

The collaboration and research through the Global Responsibility steering committee have also significantly impacted me as a club advisor. As a Habitat advisor, adjustments have been made to guide the students more intentionally towards service learning next year. The IFSEL training introduced me to what social-emotional learning entails, which helped my work as an advisor. This year, I also participated in the ACTFL conference in the US with a further focus on SEL and Social Justice and was able to collaborate with other language teachers as well as the presenters. It was an inspirational experience and one I hope to do again.

A Portrait of Mike Jesse

The strength of ASIJ’s PD model is that funds are not wasted.

In my experience teaching internationally, I've seen different PD models and the strengths and struggle of each. The strength of ASIJ’s PD model is that funds are not wasted; they are used purposefully and connected to professional growth. When I was hired, I was offered the opportunity to join the Math Specialists in International Schools (MSIS) cohort in the first semester. I am very grateful for this opportunity. The course made me look at my own classroom as a fly-on-the-wall and challenged me to do certain things differently in order to make a safer, more challenging and better math class. The MSIS institutes didn’t give me answers, they made me reflect on my own practice and pushed me to try new things to fit my group of learners.

Personally, I’ve been keen on inquiry and concept-based learning and so I applied for two workshops in Tokyo with Kath Murdoch and Lance King. These were completely supported by my administrators and the learning allowed me look beyond curriculum. I was one of the first teachers to put my name in to attend Learning2 at ASIJ. The L2 experience is one that all teachers should experience: It’s like a fresh coat of paint. Effective PD is not always about learning something new, sometimes it’s about seeing teaching and learning from a different perspective.

Jamie Richard
Middle School

Sandy Blodgett
Middle/High School

Mike Jessee
Elementary School

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Where to Next?

There's a lot to explore at ASIJ. Try viewing current vacancies or looking into what makes learning at ASIJ special.

Current Vacancies

Ready to see current opportunities at ASIJ? We post positions to Schrole, Search Associates, and on our Current Vacancies Page.

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Learning at ASIJ

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The American School in Japan
Early Learning Center
6-16-5 Roppongi, Minato-ku
Tokyo, 106-0032
(+81) 03-5771-4344
Chofu Campus
1-1-1 Nomizu, Chofu-shi
Tokyo 182-0031
(+81) 0422-34-5300
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