PALE Journal Online

About us

Who are we and what do we seek to accomplish?

"PALE" stands for "Professionalism, Administration, and Leadership in Education."

We are officially a Special Interest Group (SIG) in the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT). Read our Constitution.

We are concerned with issues regarding professionalism, administration and leadership. There is a need to consider the issues in an open and non-partisan forum representing all relevant perspectives and experiences. We seek to provide a forum for discussions and research concerning professionalism, administration, and leadership in education. These discussions encompass curriculum and programme design, implementation and administration; professional development; and employment policies and practices.

PROFESSIONALISM

The PALE SIG recognises these seven attributes of professionalism as those that have a fairly clear historical development and will serve as an appropriate, widely recognised framework of reference for our research and discussion:

The professional's first concern is the good of society and considers service to society as the standard of competence and success rather than personal gain.
Just as it is clearly evident in such fields as medicine, law and technology, the substance of the occupation is clearly defined and rests on an organised body of knowledge and technique that is applied to for the good of society.
Preparation as a professional requires long years of training and education which continues throughout life.
For the sake of the continued development of the profession, emphasis is placed on the independence and autonomy of the professional community.
Individual professionals bear responsibility for service to the profession.
A profession plays an essential role in the education of its new members.
The maintenance of a code of ethics and appropriate sanctions is necessary to uphold professional standards.

JALT is not, by design and function, in the fullest sense of the meaning, a professional organisation since there is no authority to control who teaches and who does not. But JALT has very professional attributes and goals that certainly include its members in a meaningful attempt to uphold the professional standards and pursue the missions that are recognised globally. It is also an excellent conduit to the global community for investigation into the issues involved.

ADMINISTRATION & LEADERSHIP

The qualities of administration and leadership are complex. They affect us in the work place and in our personal lives. The PALE SIG recognises that all of its members have different concerns and priorities that are dependent upon each individual and the situation in which they work. This SIG is a forum for its members to discuss those varied situations and provide the means for professional development.

JALT members work and teach in many different environments, a fact that qualifies them as sources of information on the administrative parameters and dynamics therein. Research in education worldwide may benefit from the perspectives that JALT teachers can give to professionals in other countries. The PALE SIG will, through encouraging publications and interaction with other organisations, contribute to the effort to make information about education in Japan a two-way channel. This is certainly a primary function of a professional organisation that JALT is superbly equipped to fulfill.

Since 1995, The PALE Journal has also been documenting specific cases with long-term effects on the treatment of part- and full-time non-Japanese employees and educators. Previous topics have included the Korst, Gallagher, VanDresser, Kansai University, and Prefectural University of Kumamoto cases, The Blacklist/Greenlist of Japanese Universities, Academic Apartheid in Japan's Universities, Privatization of National and Public Universities, and even Gregory Clark. We have become a springboard for the maintenance of employment issues in Japan, ensuring that legal precedents and developments remain accessible.

We need your support, particularly in terms of renewing your PALE SIG membership, submitting material for publication, and in your continued interest in our work. We will be putting out another new online issue in the very near future. Please contact the editor at <editor@jaltpale.org> if you are interested in submitting, raising an issue, or in being involved.

JOIN US ONLINE

PALE has a discussion mailing list so that people can be updated and contribute in real time. To subscribe, send a message to PALE_Group-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and to post messages to the list, email PALE_Group@yahoogroups.com. Message archives are available at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PALE_Group/

Post message: PALE_Group@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: PALE_Group-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: PALE_Group-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: PALE_Group-owner@yahoogroups.com

IN ADDITION, there are a couple of links to sites that you may find informative, relating to issues of employment rights and abuses.

BLACKLIST OF JAPANESE UNIVERSITIES (active discriminators against extranational academics)

NINKISEI ("Contract Term-Limitation System", Japan's policy to phase tenure out of the university system) INFORMATION SITES

ADVICE TO THOSE THINKING ABOUT COMING TO WORK IN JAPANESE UNIVERSITIES (as well as advice to those who are already here, curious about how they can improve their working conditions)