Regional perspective on programming in Japanese elementary school

Japanese elementary schools introduced programming education in 2020, but are Japanese educators better equipped to teach this new subject? Most programming education research focuses on children. Unfortunately, educators are often overlooked. In this research, elementary schools in five Japanese prefectures were visited to understand better in-service educators’ tasks and preparedness in teaching programming. An electronic survey was distributed to twenty-five schools, augmented by interviews with school principals. Data shows that while educators are recently better equipped to teach programming education compared to 2020, much work remains to be done in offering teachers pre-service training and lifelong learning opportunities. This paper provides insight into better professional development for Japanese elementary educators in programming education.