Crispin Chambers of Tavistock College received the award for Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School at the Pearson Teaching Awards 2013 on 20 October.

He is the first ever Japanese teacher to receive this prestigious award in the UK. Crispin, who was a former participant of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme more than 25 years ago, has not only been teaching Japanese at the college but has also greatly contributed to grass-roots intercultural exchange between Japan and the UK.

We spoke to Mr Chambers about his great achievement and thoughts on the future of Japanese education in the UK.

How did it feel to win the award for Secondary Teacher of the Year 2013, in particular as a teacher of a non-core subject?

It's wonderful to receive national recognition teaching a non-core language and I hope it will give teachers of other minority subjects confidence.

I am also delighted to have brought the teaching of Japanese into the national spotlight.

Why did you become interested in teaching Japanese?

My father was an art teacher and developed my interest in writing kanji characters. I then had a marvellous mentor, Hiroaki Yamasaki, at Sumoto Senior High School, on Awaji Island who encouraged me on a daily basis and first gave me the idea of teaching Japanese at secondary level on my return to the UK after 2 years on the British English Teachers Programme (BET, known as the JET Programme since 1987) and a year as JET Programme coordinator at the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR).

Mr Chambers at the Pearson Teaching Awards Ceremony

However, before starting at Tavistock College in September 1996, I completed a 2 year masters course at Sheffield University, taught at the Japan Intercultural Academy for Municipalities in Otsu-shi, Shiga-ken for 3 years and did a one year PGCE in Japanese and French at the School of Education at Nottingham University.

What challenges have you faced as a Japanese teacher in the UK?

The two main challenges were firstly, making Japanese a long-term, sustainable subject in the curriculum and secondly, ensuring that students of all abilities achieved highly.

What is it about Japanese that appeals to your students?

Some really enjoy the visual appeal while others like the fact that is relatively easy to speak. There is always the novelty factor and students with logical minds are often drawn to the simplicity of grammatical rules.

Have any of your former students gone on to use Japanese studies in their careers? In what ways?

We currently have 3 former students on the JET programme. Students in diverse fields such as international banking, medicine and law have frequently said how useful their Japanese has been in the workplace.

Why is Japanese still an important subject for British students?

The fact that Japan is the third largest economy in the world and is still a highly-valued language in the world of global finance, tourism, technological innovation and engineering to name just a few key areas means that it is as important as ever.

How has your teaching style been influenced by your time as a learner and teacher in Japan?

Having been through the trials and tribulations of learning Japanese myself I fully empathise with students and use a variety of teaching and learning strategies to motivate and stimulate students. I think it is important to stay positive at all times and show students that you really believe in their abilities

What are your hopes for the future of Japanese teaching in the UK? What are your own personal future goals as a teacher?

I hope that the government realises the importance of training new Japanese teachers who can potentially introduce Japanese into all schools. One of my goals is to promote Japanese with head teachers who are thinking about introducing Japanese into the curriculum as well as developing more student exchange opportunities with schools and universities in Japan.

JICC