Journal of Southeast Asian Education
The Official Journal of SEAMEO
2020 Issue | Volume 1

Reform and Developmentin Teacher Education
for the Digital Society2020 Issue | Volume 1

Reform and Developmentin Teacher Education
for the Digital Society

Journal of Southeast Asian Education
2020 Issue | Volume 1
156 pages
ISSN 1513-4601

The Journal of Southeast Asian Education is an official Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization(SEAMEO) publication produced twice a year.
The main purpose of this international journal is to provide information and analyses to assist in policy-making
and planning in the countries in the region. It promotes the interchange of ideas on educational issues andcomparative studies, both within the countries of the region and other parts of the world. Each article in thejournal was written to enable readers from outside each country to obtain an overview of how education iscarried out outside its borders.
The theme of this special issue is “Reform and Development in Teacher Education for the Digital Society.” It
is a product of SEAMEO’s collaboration with the University of Tsukuba. It features official contributions fromfour SEAMEO regional centres, namely, SEAMEO Regional Open Learning Centre (SEAMOLEC), SEAMEORegional Centre for Higher Education and Development (RIHED), SEAMEO Regional Centre for Tropical Biology(BIOTROP), and SEAMEO Regional Centre for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel(QITEP) in Mathematics. Other contributors came from various universities and learning centres such as the
University of Tsukuba (Japan), the University of Chile, Assumption University of Thailand, the Comprehensive
Education Center of the Okinawa Prefecture (Japan), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), Korea
National University of Education, the University of the Philippines (UP), IPB University (Indonesia), Technological
Institute of the Philippines (TIP), and Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI). The various articles in this journal
present frameworks, projects, and programmes focusing on reforms and initiatives in teacher education for thedigital society in Southeast Asia and beyond.
The inaugural issue of the Journal of Southeast Asian Education was launched by the SEAMEO Secretariat
in July 2000.
Chair:
Executive Editors:
Consulting Editor:
Editorial Office:Phone:
Fax:
Email:
Website:Dr. Ethel Agnes P. Valenzuela (SEAMEO Secretariat)
Dr. Wahyudi (SEAMEO Secretariat)
Dr. Masami Isoda (University of Tsukuba)
Dr. Allan L. White (SEAMEO Fellow)
Journal of Southeast Asian Education
SEAMEO Secretariat
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Bangkok 10110 Thailand(+662) 3910144(+662) 3812587
secretariat@seameo.org
www.seameo.org

Printed in Thailand© SEAMEO 2020

The designations employed and the presentation of the materials throughout the publication do not imply theexpression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of SEAMEO concerning the legal status of any country,
territory, city, or area, or of its authorities or frontiers or boundaries.

Contents

Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. i
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. iii
A Framework for Computational Thinking in Preparation for Transitioning toa Super Smart Society
By: Dr. Roberto Araya (University of Chile), Dr. Masami Isoda (University ofTsukuba), and Dr. Orlando González (Assumption University of Thailand) ...........................................1
Transforming Modern Society and Teacher Training to Develop Creative
Teachers
By: Dr. Hiroshi Sato (University of Tsukuba) ........................................................................................ 17
Competency and Capability Development for Science Teacher Training inJapan
By: Dr. Yusuke Endo and Dr. Yoko Yamamoto (University of Tsukuba) .............................................. 27
Teaching Standards and Competency Improvement Programmes: The Case of Okinawa
Prefecture in Japan
By: Ms. Kumiko Tomori (Comprehensive Education Center of the Okinawa
Prefecture) and Dr. Masami Isoda (University of Tsukuba) ................................................................. 39
Inspecting Proactive Methods to Improve the Competencies andCapabilities of Japan’s Science Teachers through Teacher Training: A
Practical Example of the Foundation of Themed Research on Science
Teacher Training
By: Dr. Yoko Yamamoto and Dr. Yusuke Endo (University of Tsukuba) .............................................. 51
A New Framework for Statistical Thinking in the Time of Big Data and theDigital Economy
By: Dr. Orlando González (Assumption University of Thailand), Dr. Masami
Isoda (University of Tsukuba), and Dr. Roberto Araya (University of Chile)......................................... 61
Mathematics Education for Future-Ready Learners: A Singapore
Experience
By: Dr. Toh Tin Lam (Nanyang Technological University).................................................................... 71

Suggesting Interdisciplinary Teacher Education for the Fourth Industrial
Revolution: A Korean Perspective
By: Dr. Hee Chan Lew (Korea National University of Education) ....................................................... 77
Supporting Reforms and Developments in Teacher Education for the
Digital Economy
By: Dr. Soledad A. Ulep (UP NISMED) ............................................................................................... 85
Innovating Education in Response to the Opportunities and Challenges
Related to the Digital Industry
By: Dr. R. Alpha Amirrachman (SEAMEO SEAMOLEC) ....................................................................... 95
Teacher Education in the Age of the Digital Economy: SEAMEO RIHED’s
Initiatives to Foster Key Skills for the Teachers of Today and the Future
By: Dr. Chantavit Sujatanond (SEAMEO RIHED) ............................................................................. 103
Real-Time Participatory Mapping for a Disaster and Emergency
Preparedness System: A Case Study of Teacher Involvement in Centre
Sulawesi-Indonesia
By: Dr. Zulhamsyah Imran, Mr. Slamet Widodo Sugiarto, and Mr. Harry
Imantho (SEAMEO BIOTROP) and Mr. Benny Purwonegoro (IPB University) .................................. 111
STEM Village: Promoting and Spreading Awareness about STEM to
Families and the Society
By: Ms. Russasmita Sri Padmi and Ms. Ummy Salmah (SEAMEO QITEP in
Mathematics) .................................................................................................................................... 123
Academic Mobility Strategies and Challenges: The TIP Experience
By: Dr. Cynthia C. Llanes (TIP) ......................................................................................................... 133
Improving Academic Competence and Global Engagement: Student
Participation in SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET
By: Dr. R. Asep Kadarohman (UPI) .................................................................................................. 139
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... 147

Foreword

Digital technologies permeate our daily tasks and interactions in the 21st century. Digital innovations
are reshaping our society, economy, culture, and lifestyle. They have changed the way we learn, work,and socialise. Their ability to impact all aspects of our society cannot be overstated. Consequently,
we have to reform our education system so that learners will be ready to embrace the new world
they encounter every day.
The articles on reforms and initiatives in teacher education for the digital society in Southeast Asiaand beyond featured in this journal highlight some of the highly effective collaboration initiatives
undertaken by researchers from various universities, such as the University of Tsukuba, the Universityof Chile, and Assumption University of Thailand, and exemplary programmes from four of SEAMEO’sregional centres that aim to improve lives across the region.
This journal, supported by the University of Tsukuba, presents good practices and examples ofpioneering programmes that seek to provide recommendations and solutions to issues andchallenges that address national, regional, and global educational concerns.
SEAMEO’s motto, “Leading through Learning,” reflects the organisation’s leadership and commitment
to promote quality education, science, and culture in Southeast Asia and beyond. Through theactivities and strategies undertaken by its 26 regional centres and network, SEAMEO is able toreach out to diverse communities in Southeast Asia to contribute to the development of humanresources (HR) and address challenging issues such as alleviating poverty, creating a better qualityof life, providing educational equity and quality, enhancing agriculture and natural resources as wellas health and nutrition, and promoting the dissemination and exchange of knowledge and learningof indigenous cultures and traditions.
We hope this journal serves as a source of learning and a reference for educational institutions
across Southeast Asia. We are also confident that it will help the general public better understandthe nature of SEAMEO’s work, which will continually expand and grow as the organisation strides
into a new stage of growth in the 21st century, as described in our 10-year strategic vision known
as “The Golden SEAMEO.”The SEAMEO Secretariat would like to thank the ministers of education, senior officials of SEAMEO
member countries, and centre directors for their commitment and unfailing support over the years.

–i–We also wish to recognise the excellent cooperation we have received from the University of Tsukuba,
SEAMEO regional centres, and other partner organisations. All of these efforts have, in one way or
another, contributed to the completion of this journal.

Dr. Ethel Agnes P. Valenzuela
SEAMEO Secretariat Director– ii –

Introduction

The world has become increasingly interconnected aided by advancements in technology. As such,it has become necessary for countries the world over to reform education systems to keep up
with the wave of globalisation in the 21st century. As we continue to embrace the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, so should we welcome Society 5.0 and strive to become a digital society.
The SEAMEO Secretariat, in collaboration with the University of Tsukuba, embarked on various
projects and programmes to contribute to efforts towards preparing people for participating in thedigital society via improving education throughout the Southeast Asian region.
Educational institutions worldwide revised their curricula in response to advancements in technology
and prepare learners for life in the digital era. To get a glimpse of the developments and progress
made to education systems in Southeast Asia and Japan, this journal features the following articles:•

A Framework for Computational Thinking in Preparation for Transitioning to a Super Smart
Society: This article espouses the need to start designing a curriculum that prepares all students
for a super smart ecosystem. It pushes a framework that teaches them to think like early adopters,such as computer scientists and engineers. The framework serves as a tool to improve theirunderstanding of nature and the society and help them design and build solutions. Students
have to become part of the super smart environment but they would need the right values andattitudes to handle the anxieties that come with this huge transition.

•

Transforming Modern Society and Teacher Training to Develop Creative Teachers: This article aims
to examine the changes made to Japan’s education system in response to the Fourth Industrial
Revolution as the country aspires to transition to Society 5.0. It enumerates the characteristics
that creative teachers should have, which may require knowledge of artificial intelligence (AI) andvirtual reality (VR).

•Competency and Capability Development for Science Teacher Training in Japan: This article
provides an overview of the institutional framework for science teacher training in Japan, gives
a representative example of science lesson study and the teacher license renewal system, andshowcases a concrete image of science teacher training.

– iii –•

Teaching Standards and Competency Improvement Programmes: The Case of Okinawa Prefecture
in Japan: This article provides the newest Japanese in-service teacher training system as usedby the Okinawa Comprehensive Education Center. It provides a bird’s eye view of professional
development in Japan by enumerating Okinawa’s teaching standards. By doing so, it illustrates
how the country’s teacher training programme develops teachers’ competency in curriculum
management and shows how Okinawa’s teacher training centre supports every school toestablish an excellent learning community that produces and implements curricula throughlesson study.

•

Inspecting Proactive Methods to Improve the Competencies and Capabilities of Japan’s Science
Teachers through Teacher Training: A Practical Example of the Foundation of Themed Researchon Science Teacher Training: This article provides a practical example as the foundation forthemed research on science teacher training to help teachers embody the concept of constantlearning through proactive methods so they can form and improve their own competencies andcapabilities. Through a specific example of a uniquely themed research, teachers can proactively
form and improve their competencies and capabilities.

•

A New Framework for Statistical Thinking in the Time of Big Data and the Digital Economy:
This article introduces a five-phase framework for the statistical thinking needed for dealing with
big data via AI-driven data analytics platforms. The five phases identified in the framework arepatterns and relationships from data, questions, objectives, data mining, and designing. The
framework describes how statistical thinking processes have evolved from traditional questionthen-answer analyses into a more creative approach. An exemplar application related to aging
population issues is provided, along with a step-by-step description of the statistical thinking
processes involved, to illustrate how the proposed framework can be implemented in school.

•

Mathematics Education for Future-Ready Learners: A Singapore Experience: This article presents
an alternative paradigm for teaching mathematics—not through the usual textbook approach but
by using comics and associated pedagogies. It is more useful to equip students with the skills toacquire knowledge by using contexts that they are likely to encounter in the future.

•

Suggesting Interdisciplinary Teacher Education for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Korean
Perspective: This article presents a new direction for teacher education in Korea. It aims to help
teachers develop the ability to lead “convergence” and “creativity,” which are crucial to making
the Fourth Industrial Revolution sustainable.

•

Supporting Reforms and Developments in Teacher Education for the Digital Economy: This
article presents the initiatives that UP National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education
Development (NISMED) spearheads to address specific domains and strands. It particularly
focuses on three domains—content knowledge and pedagogy, curriculum and planning, andpersonal growth and professional development. The kind of support that UP NISMED extends
through its various programmes and projects address these domains and strands simultaneously.

– iv –

•

Innovating Education in Response to the Opportunities and Challenges Related to the Digital
Industry: This article elaborates SEAMEO SEAMOLEC’s undertaking in cooperation with theWest Java Provincial Education Office to develop models for open high and distance learning
vocational schools. It aims to improve access to, the quality of, and the relevance of secondary
education through a distance learning system in Indonesia, specifically in the West Java province.

•

Teacher Education in the Age of the Digital Economy: SEAMEO RIHED’s Initiatives to Foster Key
Skills for the Teachers of Today and the Future: This article describes SEAMEO RIHED’s progresswith regard to the Asian International Mobility for Students (AIMS) Programme. It examines howmobility not only strengthens students’ acquisition of academic knowledge but also nurtures
their non-cognitive skills. It aims to highlight the potential role of student mobility in shaping key
qualities required for teaching professions in the age of the digital economy.

•

Real-Time Participatory Mapping for a Disaster and Emergency Preparedness System: A Case
Study of Teacher Involvement in Centre Sulawesi-Indonesia: This article aims to present SEAMEO
BIOTROP’s research on responding to emergencies spurred by natural disasters, such as anearthquake that led to a tsunami that affected Palu in Centre Sulawesi, Indonesia.

•

STEM Village: Promoting and Spreading Awareness about STEM to Families and the Society:This article discusses the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Village,a project of SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics that attempts to create out-of-school activities
designed for children and their families to spread awareness about STEM.

•

Academic Mobility Strategies and Challenges: The TIP Experience: This article presents thestrategies and actions taken by TIP to meet challenges related to academic mobility, specifically,
its participation in SEAMEO’s SEA-Teacher Programme.

•

Improving Academic Competence and Global Engagement: Student Participation in SEA-Teacher
and SEA-TVET: This article presents UPI’s participation in two student mobility programmes—
SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET.

To learn more about the currently existing movement in education related to digital society programmes
and projects throughout Southeast Asia, read the articles in this journal. They feature experiences andgood practices that other countries who wish to follow suit can gain insights from. They also highlightchallenges that implementers may face and have to deal with. Be inspired by their endeavours andgo on your own journey towards using advanced technologies in education to prepare learners tolive in a digital society and meet 21st-century challenges head-on.

–v–

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

A Framework for Computational
Thinking in Preparation forTransitioning to a Super Smart
Society
Dr. Roberto Araya
Professor
Advanced Investigation Center on Education (CIAE)
University of Chile
Dr. Masami Isoda
Professor
Faculty of Human Sciences
Center for Research on International Cooperation in
Educational Development (CRICED)
University of Tsukuba
Dr. Orlando González
Assistant Professor
Graduate School of Human Sciences
Assumption University of Thailand

Abstract
As never before, technological change is accelerating and it is doing so in areas that will have astrong impact on the nature of work (Collier, 2018; Japan Science and Technology Policy, 2018;
and Kano, 2019). Smart machines are increasingly becoming ubiquitous and actively interactingwith people and networks. This technological change has strong social consequences, including
displacing many workers and leaving them practically irrelevant. At the same time, it provides otherswith multiple job opportunities. As such, we urgently need to start designing a curriculum that
prepares all students for a new super smart ecosystem. We need a framework that teaches themto think like early adopters, such as computer scientists and engineers. Students need to learn tothink the way experts do to improve their understanding of nature and the society and design andbuild solutions. In addition, we need students to join the super smart environment as critical citizens
with values and attitudes that allow them to handle the anxieties that come with this huge transition.
Keywords: Computational thinking, super smart society, digital skills, STEAM Education–1–

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Who Takes the Initiative? You, Me, or Computers?
Imagine a super smart ecosystem, where your smartphone not only gives you instructions to turnright on the next corner to help you effectively arrive on time for your meeting, but also takes theinitiative to suggest you change your presentation strategy, given the recent updates about theparticipants, their viewpoints, and the news of the day. Why would you follow these suggestions?
What happens if a second system also takes the initiative and gives you different suggestions? What
happens if the systems take the extra initiative to talk to each other and ponder their arguments but
in the end, don’t agree on certain key strategies? What would you do if 10 different systems takethe initiative to interact with you and among themselves to help you? Welcome to a new fascinatingworld, which has been dubbed “the super smart society” (Japan Science and Technology Policy,2018).
How do we prepare for this world? On one hand, the natural response is studying longer. Yes, thissolution is already happening. For example, in Chile, every year, all parents of fourth-grade students
are asked what academic grade their children will achieve. This is a question about their expectations(as opposed to their aspirations). More precisely, they are asked to answer the question, “What do
you think is the highest level of education that your student will achieve in the future?” They are asked
to choose from these answers:•

Elementary school (incomplete)•

Elementary school (complete)•

High school (incomplete)•

Vocational high school (complete)•

Regular high school (complete)•

Technical college (complete)•

University degree•

Postgraduate degree

From a total of 2,376,690 parents, 2,158,925 answered the question. As shown in Figure 1 (Araya,
et al., 2017), in the last 10 years, parental expectations grew systematically. They did so for parents
from all socioeconomic backgrounds and across all levels of academic performance (measured in
the SIMCE national test).

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Figure 1: 2005 and 2015 parental expectations regarding their children’s academic future in relation to their SIMCE mathtest scores broken down by socioeconomic status

Is studying more years enough? Or does it just have the same result? Do students need to learn
other contents and practices? To help answer these questions, we need to review human history
and primary societal transitions. We can categorise the evolution of human society into five eras, as
shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Five society erasSociety 1.0 is the hunter-gatherer stage of human development. Society 2.0 is the agrarian society.
Society 3.0 is the industrial society. Society 4.0 is the information society—the one we are living innow. Note, though, that we are slowly entering Society 5.0—the super smart society (Japan Scienceand Technology Policy, 2018).
Let us follow the transitions in Figure 2. Imagine you were living during the transition period from thehunter-gatherer to the agricultural society. How would you prepare the youth? How would you design
the curriculum for this transition? What contents and skills should the new curriculum espouse? Do
students need to learn more about hunting?
Now, imagine you were in the middle of the next transition—from the agricultural to the industrial
society. What new contents should the curriculum have? Clearly, students need new knowledge andskills. The same thing happens when transitioning from the industrial to the information society. It is
not enough to increase the number of years students spend in school.

–3–

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

In all these social transitions, it is convenient to know how those who lived before adapted. But it
makes more sense to study successful cases.
Hunter-gatherers had to learn from the first farmers who adapted quickly and successfully to the next
society. They needed to acquire an agricultural mindset. They needed to learn to think like successful
farmers. They had to adopt their attitudes and values on top of acquiring the knowledge to growplants. Their families, properties, and values also changed.
Knowledge and values go together. Likewise, in the next transition, it will be convenient for farmers tolearn to think like the first industrialists. They need to acquire an industrial mindset. They need to learn
things like measuring time, the concept of division of labour, how to use a conveyor belt, accounting,and efficiency metrics. Again, their values and attitudes should also change. The change led the
population to move to large cities. They had to learn to live with others whose culture is unfamiliar.
They need to adjust to the fact that despite interacting with some people, they are likely to never see
them again.
The transition to the information society required yet another way of thinking—one that starts fromuniversal literacy and numeracy. We needed to gather more information from manuals, reports, news
articles, books, and the Internet. We were introduced to powerful and enormous databases. Our
values also changed. Just think about your current trust in credit cards and virtual money.
But though the information we already have seems huge and it continues to grow it is however
information without initiative. Vast databases are now being used, but they cannot act on their own
and do not talk to one another autonomously. That may no longer be the case in a super smart
society, where we expect information and devices to have initiative. They will constantly work for us.
They will analyse information, deliberate with others, and even make decisions for us. And thesedecisions will affect us even if our smart devices do not let us know.
What kind of mindset do we need now to be ready to transition to a super smart society? The logicalstrategy is to learn how successful and forward-thinking actors think. We need to think like computerscientists and computer engineers.

–4–

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Welcome to Computational Thinking, Are You Anxious?
Peter Turchin, in his book, Ultra Society: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest
Cooperators on Earth, emphasises that projectile weapons are some of the most important
technologies that shaped human evolution but they rarely get the credit they deserve. People tend to
be much more preoccupied with fire. But with a spear, you have a huge advantage over the rest of
the members of your tribe. Your hunting productivity explodes. No one can come close. And so you
also achieve enormous power. You can rule the world. But if others learn to make spears and use
them, then something magical occurs—power is equalised. This situation seems more egalitarian
than when nobody had a spear. Before, the strongest person hunted more and imposed his/her
will over others. But when everyone owned and used spears, productivity differences disappeared.
Society was equalised. As Turchin (2016) put it, “It is hard to see how egalitarianism ensued without
projectile weapons.”
What happened? Apparently, a new technology can disrupt society and bring about inequality. Withina specific time window, the early adopters gain an almost unfair advantage. But once everyone
assimilates it, the society equalizes. The initial advantage disappeared, making everyone equal. Willthat always hold true?
In their influential article, “The Race between Education and Technology,” Claudia Goldin and Lawrence
Kats (2008) argued that the 20th century is characterised by two inequality tales where one declines
and the other rises. In particular, we witnessed a sharp of college wage premium from 1915 to 1950,rose and fell from 1950 to 1980, and rapidly increased after 1980. Goldin and Kats believed that the
recent decades’ rising wage inequality can be traced to an increase in educational wage differentials.
They concluded that technological changes thus create winners and losers, which can sometimes
have adverse distributional consequences that may lead to social tension. Does this follow the same
phenomenon seen with projectile weapons?
Nobel Prize-winning economist, Angus Deaton, in his book, The Great Escape, documented theenormous improvement in poverty and life expectancies in the last few centuries. But now, we areagain seeing increased inequality. According to Deaton (2013), economists attribute the ensuing
wage inequality to the relentless increase in the skills required to work with new information-based
technologies. The acceleration of skill-biased technical progress over the past 30 years is the main
engine driving inequality in earnings. Therefore, we must not only seek new knowledge and think
like early adopters but also mimic their values and attitudes. And we must do so quickly and help
everyone else do the same to avoid an imbalance that can result in social tensions between early
adopters and those left behind.

–5–

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Framework for Computational Thinking
Based on a review of the literature, we propose that the three pillars of computational thinking be
included in the curriculum. We also illustrate our proposal with exemplars. The proposed framework
is meant to serve as a tool to develop basic human characteristics, creative human capital, and wellqualified citizens through computational thinking.
First, we considered the classical context of computational thinking. It is characterised by attempting
to think computationally as exemplified by philosophers and mathematicians, such as Ramón Llull,
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Alan Turing, and John Holland.
For example, in a letter to Philip Spencer in 1685, Leibniz wrote, “The only way to rectify our reasoning
is to make them as tangible as those of the mathematicians so that we can find our error at a glance,
and when there are disputes among persons, we can simply say: Let us calculate without further
ado to see who is right.” Leibnitz was influenced by the work of 14th century Majorcan philosopher,Ramon Llull, who designed a mechanical machine to reformulate arguments and ideas in terms of auniversal language to make them computable.
According to Llull (1305), the machine could prove the truth or fallacy of a postulate. That means
decomposing arguments into thousands of simple units, which can be recombined and thus
expressed as mechanical computations.
In 1936, Alan Turing proposed a sequential machine—the Turing machine—which provides a precise
definition of computational steps and algorithms. This became the foundation of computational
thinking as expressed today by computer scientist, Jeannette Wing (2014), who said, “Computational
thinking refers to the thought processes involved in formulating a problem and expressing its solutions
in a way that a computer-human or machine- can effectively carry out.”
Imagine you have to write the instructions to represent quantities with an abacus. Is this an example
of computational thinking? How about writing instructions to translate abacus annotations into Arabic
positional notations in an article?

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Figure 3: Does using an abacus require computational thinking?

Consider now the text in Figure 4. If you have to write an instruction manual to read and translate thetext into English, is that computational thinking? How about an instruction manual to translate text tospeech specifically in English? Is that an example of computational thinking? What if you consider
the inverse—translating speech to text? Is that computational thinking? Does your smartphone docomputational thinking when it uses text-to-speech or voice recognition apps?

Figure 4: Does reading text require computational thinking?

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

The second context of computational thinking comes from science, which views it as something akinto building computational models. According to computer scientist, Peter Denning, “In the 1960s and1970s, we allowed and even encouraged people to perceive that ‘computer science = programming,’
which is now, to our dismay, widely accepted outside the field.” Rather, he considers computational
thinking as the thought process required to do computational science—designing, testing, and using
computational models. According to Denning (2017), computational thinking came into wide use in
the 1980s, when computational models that produced startling new discoveries in physics led him
to win a Nobel Prize. Building models not only relies on abstractions like numbers and computing
with numbers. It uses also the human ability to recognise patterns and the dynamics of unfolding.
Imagine a classroom floor with lots of large and small balls while each student holds a paper clip ofvarying sizes as shown in Figure 5. It is logical that students with large paper clips can grab small
and large balls alike. The students with small paper clips, of course, will only be able to grab smallballs. If you blow a whistle and give the students a few seconds to grab as many balls as they can,what do you think will happen?
Ask the students that were not able to grab any balls to put their used paper clips in a bag. You
can liken those paper clips to humans without offspring in generation 1. The used paper clips thatbelonged to students who were able to grab balls can be likened to humans with offspring in thesame generation.
Give the students who grabbed balls two paper clips of the same size each. Follow the sameprocedure. The results will correspond to generation 2.
What do you think will happen after several generations? Will a pattern emerge? Is the activity ademonstration of computational thinking? Are the results analogous to the sizes of bird beaks thatCharles Darwin observed in the Galapagos Islands? Does the activity demonstrate natural selection?

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Figure 5: Students grasping balls with paper clips. Some reproduce and have similar offspring. Can the students see
eventual patterns regarding the paper clip population?

Computational thinking lies behind the progress made in biology that allows us to build increasingly
accurate computational models of cells and organisms. According to John Holland, a pioneer inapplying cellular automata to biology and the creator of genetic algorithms, pattern formations canbe expressed using board games. Holland (1999) stated, “Board games are not usually accorded
the same primacy as numbers but to my mind, they are an equally important cornerstone of scientificendeavour. I think board games, like numbers, form a watershed of the human perception of theworld.” He also introduced computational models that can evolve by mimicking natural selection tosolve problems that their creators do not fully understand.
If we think of the world as a board game and people as game pieces that move following certain
rules, are we demonstrating computational thinking?
Nobel Prize winner, Thomas Schelling (1978), sought to find out. He placed blue and red pieces
on a chessboard and moved them around following a set of rules. He likened the board to a cityand each square on it represented a house or lot. He used the game pieces to represent membersof two groups, such as races of people. Schelling showed that even if people do not mind being
surrounded by others of a different race, they would still choose to be with those they identify withover time. Why? Does this model demonstrate computational thinking?

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Figure 6: Initial, intermediate, and final stages of a chessboard with blue and red game pieces. Note that in each stage, aperson considers who is next to him/her. If the majority of those around him/her is of a different colour, he/she jumps to afree spot closer to his/her own kind.

Consider Figure 7 next. In it, the red dots represent non-professionals who only finished high school.
The blue dots represent professionals who have college degrees. Start by distributing the dots
randomly. Do you notice how after several iterations,blue dots would accumulate in certain regions?
What rules can generate this behaviour? Does the activity demonstrate computational thinking?
Does the end result somehow resemble a known social phenomenon in some countries? Why?

Figure 7: Initial and final stages of the board containing blue and red dots

The third context of computational thinking comes from data science and machine learning (ML)
(National Academies, 2018). ML has been growing rapidly and transforming an increasing number ofindustries, ranging from credit risk to medical diagnosis (Reynolds, et al., 1995). This transformation
will have a huge impact on the nature of jobs and employment. We need to anticipate the change
to avoid the fear expressed by historian, Noah Harari (2018), “The main struggle in the 21st century
will be about irrelevance. Many people are being pushed aside.” But what is the nature of thistransformation? According to Fields Medal-winning mathematician, Cedric Villani (2018, p. 26), “MLtechniques mark a break from the classic algorithm. In particular, they mark the gradual transition
from programming to learning logic.” That led Wired to prophesise “the end of the code” in June
2016, saying, “In the future, we will no longer programme computers, we will train them.” This is adifferent kind of computational thinking.

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For example, National Academies sees the need to analyse new and greater volumes of informationof a wide variety and at a fierce velocity, which will compound the long-standing challenges presented
by data analysis and raise new ones. But we have to consider other critical issues such as biases
in ML.
Data is not neutral and so, computers will learn about the stereotypes found within it. That translates
to learning sexism or racism should the information fed to machines contain biases. Important ethicalissues about using data and privacy should also be considered, along with their consequences.
And given the huge impact of automating tasks, Villani (2018) views a historical opportunity to deautomate human labour when he stated, “Indeed, the automation of tasks and trades can constitutea historical chance to de-automatise human labour. It will allow us to develop human capacities (i.e.,creativity, manual dexterity, abstract reasoning, and problem solving). We have to use AI to develop
our capabilities since we have the opportunity.”
Imagine you were asked to find out what is inside each box in a set. You find that a box contains
either a white or black rabbit. You are then told that the boxes were filled following certain criteriathat you are not allowed to know. To guess the rule, you can measure the length, width, and depthof each box. You can also consider its colour. Given that, you are asked to guess the colour of the
rabbit inside the new box placed in front of you. If you do not hazard a guess, you earn one point. If
you guess the right colour, you earn two points. If your answer is incorrect, you do not earn any point.

Figure 8: A student trying to guess the colour of the rabbit inside the box

You were also given the option to make a guess using a rule such as:
IF
Length + 2.5 x width > 3
THEN
Colour = white
ELSE
Colour = black
If you decide to use a rule, you must apply it to the box you have been ask to open. If you get theanswer right, you earn four points. If you give the wrong colour, you lose four points. Figure 9 shows
how hundreds of students scored in an experiment (Araya, et al., 2014).

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Figure 9: Experiment results for seventh and eighth graders that guessed using a rule

For each of the 20 guesses, every student can gain a score of 4 (i.e., giving the correct answer using
a rule), 2 (i.e., making a correct guess without using a rule), -1 (i.e., deviating by guessing “gray”), or-4 (i.e., giving the wrong answer using a rule).
The exemplar shows that ML can be aligned with a curriculum where plotting, equations, andinequations play a central role. Moreover, it can be used to introduce decision trees and basic neuralnetworks (Araya, et al., 1992 and Reynolds, et al., 1995).
Now, consider that instead of a box, you are given a truck engine that either malfunctions or not. You
can then look at the viscosity and presence of different chemicals in the engine oil. Your guesses
now have to do with the health of the truck engine (Araya, et al., 1989). How do you build a systemthat diagnoses the state of the engine? Will a pattern-finding algorithm like the one used with the
rabbits inside boxes work? Will this require a different kind of computational thinking?
These three pillars of computational thinking reveal the importance of two key values—understanding
and objectivity. Deep understanding requires powerful tools, such as a microscope or telescope toenhance human vision. Similarly, a computer enhances human reasoning and brings objectivity.
It forces you to make assumptions explicit since it cannot read your mind. But with its help, you
can compute the consequences of your assumptions like everyone else. Others can also carefully
inspect your models and logic. They can read, run, search for bugs in, and debug your algorithms.
That could be an effective cure for typical reasoning errors, such as the illusion of explanatory depth(Sloman, 2017), confirmation biases (Mercier, 2017), and undesirable values like the tragedy ofthe commons (Pinker, 2018), where behaviours that seem rational for an individual becomes selfdefeating when viewed collectively.
According to philosopher, Daniel Dennett (2017), we are Popperian creatures with a penchant forpermanently creating forward-looking models and using them to make decisions. But we need not– 12 –

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understand this process. Only with thinking tools, such as those used in computational thinking, canwe do systematic explorations and attempt higher-order control of mental searches.
Computational thinking is much more than programming. According to Tedre and Denning (2016),“Computational thinking initiatives that focus solely on programming tools and techniques market
a tasteless and scentless view of computing that emphasises an analytical abstract world far
distant from the hands-on dirty complexities of the real world. In the early stages of the computer
revolution, the focus on calculation may have justified a programming-and-techniques view but sincethe 1980s, the revolution produced radical changes in the way we see the world and move in it”(p. 125). Moreover, computational thinking lessons need not be done with computers. All of the
exemplars described in this article showed that. Even programming lessons can be done unplugged
or without computers (Faber, 2017). On the other extreme, some of the proposed exemplars can be
implemented as online synchronised games played simultaneously by thousands of students (Araya,
et al., 2014 and 2016).

Can We All Learn Computational Thinking?
In a super smart society, a computer takes a central role. Computing will become ubiquitous.
Moreover, it will actively interact with citizens and other devices on the network. This is a completely
new phenomenon, where machines are autonomous and take initiative. To understand this situation,
citizens need to adopt the strategies and knowledge of successful early adopters. Computerscientists and computer engineers tell us that computational thinking is the key. It is essential fordeveloping creative human capital that can adapt to the challenges of the 21st century.
In the end, computational thinking processes are just strategies for successful reasoning. They
include powerful strategies, such as discretising, decomposing, modularising, factoring, and forward
and backward chaining reasoning. They also espouse fundamental concepts, such as lists, arrays,
iterations, recursions, states, pseudo-codes, data, and data mining. These will all lead to a richer anddeeper backbone to support reasoning. The ability to iterate, simulate, operate, perform, and debug
algorithms will pave the way for efficiently building computational models and solving real-world
problems. Pattern detection is also critical.
Does this kind of reasoning differ from mathematical thinking (Isoda and Katagiri, 2012)? Computational
thinking works with mathematical and statistical thinking (Araya, et al., 1992 and González, et al.,2019), which lie behind ML. Given the enormous quantity of applications and their impact on voice
and visual recognition and autonomous vehicles, students need to understand the central ideas
of ML. But computational thinking is not only useful in solving technical problems. It is also helpful
in general reasoning. It can help people with arguments and deliberations, especially in terms ofdetecting usual reasoning errors, such as causal attribution and confirmation biases.
Transitioning to a super smart society will bring on enormous challenges and anxieties, including in
education. We are starting to see the less-educated rebel against the more educated (Collier, 2018).
AI is automating repetitive tasks, leaving jobs only for those capable of accomplishing more complex
tasks and working with machines. These tasks require more knowledge and skills and many people
are getting left behind. As such, we need to start teaching computational thinking to young kids.

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In the 11th century, only 2% of the male population in the West was fully literate (Morris, 2015).
Practically none of the females were. For an ordinary citizen of that era, learning to read and write wasprobably considered a very complex endeavour that not everyone can do. But today, we all learn
how to read and write. This time, we need to teach everyone computational thinking.

Acknowledgement
We greatly appreciate the support we obtained from the ANID/PIA/Basal Funds for Centers of
Excellence FB0003.

References
1. Araya, R. and Gormaz, R. (1989). “Automind: An Expert System Generator with Hypertext,
Computer-Aided Design (CAD), and Forms Management.” Proceedings of the 1st International
Machinery Monitoring and Diagnostic Conference. Las Vegas, Nevada.
2. Araya, R. and Gigon, P. (1992). “Segmentation Trees: A New Help for Building Expert Systems
and Neural Networks.” Computational Statistics, COMPSTAT 92, 1:119–124. Physica-Verlag
HD.
3. Araya, R.; Jiménez, A.; Bahamondez, M.; Dartnell, P.; Soto-Andrade, J.; and Calfucura, P.
(2014). “Teaching Modeling Skills Using a Massively Multiplayer Online Mathematics Game.”
World Wide Web Journal. Springer, Vol. 17, Issue 2, pp. 213–227.
4. Araya, R.; Aguirre, C.; Bahamondez, M.; Calfucura, P.; and Jaure, P. (2016). “Social Facilitation
Due to Online Inter-Classroom Tournaments.” Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol.
9891, pp. 16–29.
5. Araya, R.; Gormaz, R.; and Ulloa, O. (2017). “For Which Socioeconomic Segments Are Parental
Expectations of Educational Attainments More Sensitive to Their Children’s Performance?”
Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Sustainability, Technology, and Education.
Sydney, Australia. Retrieved from http://www.iadisportal.org/digital-library/for-whichsocioeconomic-segments-are-parental-expectations-of-educational-attainment-more-sensitiveto-their-children-performance.
6. Collier, P. (2018). The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties.
7. Deaton, A. (2013). The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
8. Dennett, D. (2017). From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds. W.W.
Norton & Company.

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9. Denning, P. (2009). “Beyond Computational Thinking.” Commun, ACM 52, No. 6.
10. Denning, P. (2017). “Computational Thinking in Science.” American Scientist, Vol. 105, No. 1.
11. Faber, H.; Wierdsma, M.; Doornbos; R.; van der Ven, J.; and de Vette, J. (2017). “Teaching
Computational Thinking to Primary School Students via Unplugged Programming Lessons.”
Journal of the European Teacher Education Network, Vol. 12, pp. 13–24.
12. Goldin, C. and Katz, L. (2008). The Race between Education and Technology.
13. González, O.; Isoda, M.; Araya, R.; and Inprasitha, M. (2019). “A Framework of Statistical Thinking
in the Era of Big Data for the Digital Economy.” Manuscript submitted for publication.
14. Harari, N. (2018). 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. Spiegel & Grau.
15. Holland, J. (1999). Emergence: From Chaos to Order. Basic Books.
16. Isoda, M. and Katagiri, S. (2012). “Mathematical Thinking: How to Develop It in the Classroom.”
World Scientific.
17. Japan Science and Technology Policy Council for Science, Technology, and Innovation.
(2018). “Realising Society 5.0.” Retrieved from https://www.japan.go.jp/abenomics/_userdata/
abenomics/pdf/society_5.0.pdf.
18. Kano, T. (2019). “Curriculum Reform for the Digital Society: Challenges of the Fourth
Industrial Revolution.” Retrieved from http://www.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/math/apec/apec2019/presentations/7Feb/2/rev-Toshiharu_Kano20190207.pdf.
19. Llull, R. (1305). Ars Magna Generalis Ultima. Ars Brevis.
20. Mercier, H. and Sperber, D. (2017). The Enigma of Reason: A New Theory of Human
Understanding. Harvard University Press.
21. Morris, I. (2013). The Measure of Civilisation: How Social Development Decides the Fateof Nations. Princeton University Press.
22. National Academies. (2011). Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking.
23. National Academies. (2018). Data Science for Undergraduates: Opportunities andOptions.
24. Pinker, S. (2018). Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, andProgress. Penguin Books Limited/Viking.

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25. Reynolds, A. and Araya, R. (1995). Building Multimedia Performance Support Systems.
McGraw-Hill, New York.
26. Schelling, T. (1978). Micromotives and Macrobehaviour. W.W. Norton & Company.
27. Sloman, S. and Fernbach, P. (2017). The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone.
Riverhead Books. N.Y.
28. Tedre, M. and Denning, P. (2016). “The Long Quest for Computational Thinking.” Retrieved fromhttp://denninginstitute.com/pjd/PUBS/long-quest-ct.pdf.
29. Turchin, P. (2016). Ultra Society: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest
Cooperators on Earth. Beresta Books.
30. Villani, C., et al. (2018). “Donner un sens a l’Intelligence Artificielle: Pour une Stratégie Nationale
et Européenne: Mission Villanisur l’Intelligence Artificielle.” Yann Bonnet, Secrétaire Général duConseil National du Numérique 978-2-11-145708-9. Retrieved from https://www.aiforhumanity.
fr/.
31. Wing, J.M. (2014). “Computational Thinking Benefits Society.” Retrieved from http://socialissues.
cs.toronto.edu/index.html%3Fp=279.html.

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Transforming Modern Society
and Teacher Training to Develop
Creative Teachers
Dr. Hiroshi Sato
Associate Professor
Faculty of Human Sciences
University of Tsukuba

Abstract
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is known as “Society 5.0” in Japan. As industrial structures change,
work also changes and so do the necessary capabilities of workers. If those capabilities are changing,then the things we should be teaching in school should also change. With the emergence of AI,
teachers need to be more like coaches and become creative. A creative teacher foresees the
future. He/She demonstrates pliancy and responsiveness to develop children’s potentials; gather
resources; develop or acquire colleagues’ new viewpoints; and become a specialist who creates a
comfortable learning environment for lessons, classroom management, and school events. Using AI
is important to do that. However, teachers can also become creative if they act within a fundamental
human rights principle and develop class lessons that are comfortable and use their intuition tofacilitate students’ learning experiences.
Keywords: AI, Society 5.0, creative teacher

Transformation of the Society and the Path for Education
Future forecasts and educational training are closely connected. It can be said that future forecasts
and societal debates are fundamental parts of education for teachers. That is because children will
become working adults in the future. First graders in 2018 will become adults in 2032. They will turn30 in 2042 and 40 in 2052. Even after 2050, they will become the backbone of the society. Whatsort of society will we have in 10, 20, or 30 years? It is necessary to forecast the future as muchas possible and teach people about the corresponding knowledge that will be required. From an
educational policy perspective, of course, we must think about what teachers should be learning todevelop individual ideas about the future of the society and how to teach students.
In an age of comparatively slow societal change, we may be able to teach as we always did in thepast and manage without any real future forecasts. But as we have seen with the evolution of thesmartphone in the 2010s, society is changing rapidly.

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Today, Virtual Reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are said to be the next-generation platforms.
University students have started showing interest in AI, VR, and AR. These have become hot topics.
And these trends are tied to the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The First Industrial Revolution began at the end of the 18th century when hydraulic power and thesteam engine mechanised factories (England, etc.). The Second Industrial Revolution happened at
the beginning of the 20th century, when electric power (i.e., internal combustion engines and electricmotors) brought about mass manufacturing (U.S., etc.). The Third Industrial Revolution began in the
1970s, when electronic engineering and information technology (IT) brought about precision andhigh-performance electrical equipment and the automated production of automobiles (Japan, etc.).
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is known as “Society 5.0” in Japan.
As industrial structures change, work also changes and so do the necessary capabilities of workers.
If those capabilities are changing, then the things we should be teaching in school should alsochange. Children will change because of the influences of the society and teachers need new
devices to reach them. In short, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and educational reform are related.
At present, this affects all countries in the same way. However, Japan faces additional serious problems,such as a shrinking birthrate, a decreasing population, a shrinking market, an unprecedented aging
of its society, a shortage in caregivers, and large fiscal deficits. Aging societies are common in China
and Europe but Japan’s case is outstanding. As aging of the society ramps up, its social welfarerelated budget increases and people worry that the money for education might decrease. Some
Japanese are concerned that we are slipping behind due to the Galapagos effect, which is affecting
our place in the global economy. The Galapagos effect is used to describe Japan’s unique culture oftechnology that has not expanded beyond its borders in the same way that the Galapagos Islands
exemplify unique evolutionary developments in nature.
Japan has always been an “education nation.” We need to continue to nurture education andscholarship. If we do not reform education and improve teachers’ professional capabilities, wemay be left behind in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We cannot forget that the quality of school
education and teacher training is ultimately supported by academic research. Education and research
provide the foundation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Is educational reform necessary to create
prospects for the future society?
First, I would like to explain my thinking process about the issues I just described.
•

After the Fourth Industrial Revolution, human beings’ central activity will be inquiry, which isthe source of identity and self-efficacy. We will become tolerant of diversity and our symbiotic
relationship with others will be respected. This sort of society is called a “harmonious andinquisitive society.” And this makes it the task of education to train symbiotic qualities and theability to inquire or conduct research.

•

For a harmonious and inquisitive society, we need creative teachers. We need to redefine ateacher’s professionalism as the core a creative practice.

•

It will become important to have a philosophy of symbiosis and inquiry when training teachers at
the university level.

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This paper seeks to examine how creative teachers should be in a new era or Society 5.0. To
achieve this purpose, I set out to answer the following research questions:•

How will society change and how should education and teachers change with it? As AI advances,teachers must change. If we do not change, our profession will not survive. Of course, somethings are immutable.

•

What are the immutable parts of being a teacher? And what makes a creative teacher? To realise
this, what sort of training is necessary?

The answers to these questions are discussed in the next sections.

The Development of AI and Work
It is said that Japan’s future will be characterised by a decreasing population and an aging society.
By 2030, people who are 65 and older will make up 36.1% of the country’s population (Terada, etal., 2017, p. 16). At the same time, it will suffer from a serious labour shortage.
In China, due to its aging population, the working-age population is in decline. And it has been
pointed out that by 2025, its population will begin to decline as well (Terada, et al., 2017, p. 62). The
same trend can be seen in the Southeast Asian region although differences were seen by country.
It is said that demographic changes will lead to the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the 2020s. Further
development of AI and robots is predicted. It has been forecast that the development of AI “is highly
expected to end up replacing about 49% of Japan’s working population with technological AI androbots” (Terada, et al., 2017, p. 96).
As such, how will the quality of work change? As AI takes center stage, new work related to it will beborn. It may be enough for people to find specialised work in the fields that support AI. They could
share and collaborate with AI.
For example, doctors have begun collaborating with AI systems at the University of Tokyo and Jichi
Medical University. An enormous amount of medical literature on AI is now available for diagnosing
illnesses through images and setting up treatments based on those diagnoses. Final judgements arestill done by doctors, of course. If this process advances, a doctor will not lose his/her job but his/
her identity and status may change.

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What Will Become of Teachers?
In this kind of discussion, it is important to think about what type of AI will advance and to what
degree. AI is of two types—specialised and general. The AI that doctors use is specialised. A
famous example of this type is computerised shogi (i.e., Japanese chess) playing and Google’s
search algorithms. These have strengths in specific fields. But general AI systems are now being
developed. Even these cannot acquire specialised knowledge by completing tasks in a certain field.
Put in pedagogical terms, there is no formal discipline (i.e., thinking power and transfer of learning).
However, there is one form of high-performance general AI that is under development so it cantransfer knowledge on its own. It works similar to how the human brain handles formal disciplines sowhen it takes on work in a different field, it makes educated guesses.
When we look at all the information related to the development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,
the most often heard conclusion is that teachers will not be replaced by AI (The Economist, 2017,p. 311). AI researcher, Maki Sakamoto (2017, p. 39), wrote, “The weakness of AI lies in work that
requires high capabilities or so-called ‘deep-responsibility work,’” such as that of a doctor or anelementary schoolteacher. The argument that AI will never become a teacher generally states that
AI can only adhere to a specialised field. It can support a teacher but a human who can gauge thereactions of children and understand them emotionally will still be needed.
So how will the quality of a teacher’s work change as specialised or first-generation general AI
spreads? This question is connected to how a teacher’s professionalism will be redefined.
AI researcher, Yutaka Matsuo (2015, p. 51), predicts that AI will enter the education field deeply
around 2030. If that is true, the relationship between AI and teachers should be debated in education
research.
Famous big data players, such as Recruit, Microsoft, Pearson, and IBM, have already entered thebusiness of education. Strategies can be devised for measures and countermeasures related togroup learning by grade and school through access to a database. In the U.K. and Australia, schools
have large discretionary budgets that they use to hire private education consultants (e.g., former
principals who put up their own businesses) for proposals and analyses. The principal needs to use
the consultant’s knowledge and data and exercise leadership.
What will the teacher’s work be? I would like you to envision teachers teaching students in various
classrooms and overseeing a homeroom. Each student has his/her own individuality and theirguardians probably hold a variety of opinions. Their feelings also change from day to day. Teachers
must read the students’ expressions, understand them, form a trusting bond with them, and teachthem. However, the students are children and they are not always in touch with their emotions.
Human relations in the classroom have many variables. From a group perspective, the classroom
teacher needs to be observant. I do not think AI can handle that sort of work.
However, beyond the compulsory education that is so important to maintain lies the structure of thesociety and building human relationships, high school classes may have spread to online classrooms.
Will that reduce the number of teachers? It may be necessary for teachers and AI to share. But isthe idea of sharing enough?

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AI researcher, Noriyuki Yanagawa and team, posit, “If you think of education in a straightforward
way, AI or robots cannot keep up. Human strength lies in our pliable ability to handle problems withmany individual variables. Tools and education that further those strengths will become even morenecessary” (Yanagawa, et al., 2016, p.9). The pliable ability to handle problems with many individual
variables is creative. For teachers to be able to teach symbiosis and inquisitiveness as the Fourth
Industrial Revolution unfolds, they will need to be creative.

The New Teacher: The Creative Teacher
According to The Economist (2017, p. 317), “In the long term, the market for medical, education,and legal affairs will expand along with employment opportunities. Monotonous work that no one
wants to do like making algorithms will be taken up, and the quality of people’s employment will trend
in a positive direction.”“Education may become quickly customised to each individual’s need for material and instruction”(The Economist, 2017, p. 316). However, at the same time, “If the students are put to sleep by amonotonous and meandering lecture, the teachers will just end up getting fired. Teachers should be
like sports coaches… and help students who fail. We can expect a sense of balance to be exerted”(p. 312).
With the emergence of AI, teachers need to be more coach-like. We will see fewer teachers who
have exclusive knowledge that they impart from above (i.e., traditional teachers). So what will the newteachers be like? In simple terms, they will be “creative teachers.”
A creative teacher foresees the future; has the pliancy and responsiveness to develop children’s
potentials as much as possible; can gather resources and develop or acquire colleagues’ newviewpoints; and is a specialist who creates a comfortable learning environment for lessons, classroom
management, school events, and more.
When we speak of being creative, we are not talking about designers or scientists. Teachers do
not have to force uniqueness or originality. Instead, they need the ability to see the children’s actual
situation and understand and analyse changes, varieties, societal features (e.g., change in play,friendships, and communication), and family environments. They will then shape the classroom
experience and lessons to encourage each child to grow into an adult who can enjoy a comfortable
life. In this process, the questions will become: How much originality and ingenuity should theteachers show? How pliant should they be? How much time should they give children to develop?
Can they talk to and help children on their own? A teacher can become creative if he/she acts
according to fundamental human rights. He/She should make class lessons comfortable and use
intuition to structure students’ experiences.

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Based on the basic ideas I mentioned, the qualities of a creative teacher or the core professionalismof a teacher in the Fourth Industrial Revolution are:•

The teacher should use AI to support individual learning and advance collaborative learning. The
three elements of school management are said to be people, things, and money, but we havereached an age where time and AI should be added, turning these into five elements of school
management. In other words, the teacher should use AI to ease work and teach others to use
the technology to create high-quality class lessons.

•

The teacher should consider the children’s and their guardians’ ideas, books, educational
materials, regional educational resources, and global topics to develop and put into action acurriculum that stresses symbiosis and inquiry. To do this, they need a wide range of knowledge
and training to gain analytical and problem-solving skills, a strong structure, good planning skills,
and an imagination. This kind of research ability can be acquired by writing a graduate school
thesis. Research is a rich source of creativity. In other words, teachers need practical researchskills.

•Teachers should not just rely on AI. They should think about what AI cannot do as well. AI cannot
cooperate, negotiate, or network with others; support a child (e.g., helping a child expand his/her narrow horizon or face difficulties related to physical development); meaningfully change
curriculum direction to reflect the environment and various contexts; and motivate, encourage,
and build a child’s confidence (e.g., inspire, influence, encourage, fire up, and help feel alive andvital). These are a teacher’s work.

•“People can find themselves in an unprecedented situation but they can also apply pastexperiences to a different field and extend and apply their knowledge to solve a current problem”(Sakamoto, 2017, p. 39). Abilities unique to humans include “implicit understanding” and “being
able to refine communication to suit different groups and exert leadership.” These abilities willcontinue to be important for teachers as they are now.

•

Do not fear or be anxious about AI. To avoid fear and anxiety, humans have developed anaesthetic sense to remain calm (Habu, 2017, pp. 39–41, 80–83, and 97–98). When seeking
an aesthetic sense, a feeling of tension and seriousness intersect. Also, an aesthetic sense canimpress people through athletic competitions, artwork, singing, and other activities. A teacher
needs an aesthetic sense as he/she teaches and manages classes. This will make classes andevents more impressive. However, to avoid being authoritarian or prescriptive, remember that our
aesthetic sense is not immutable.

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A teacher must grasp a student’s needs while also creating new needs by developing an attractive
curriculum. AI can be useful in this process because of its expanded intelligence. The essenceof a creative teacher is to create high-quality curricula and lessons. It is desirable to apply theapproach or educational method to symbiosis and inquiry in a pliant and variable way, reflecting
on the context of the school and the conditions of the class or child. An effective means ofprotecting quality is through lesson study. In lesson studies, the class observer does not offer
one-sided opinions. If there is criticism, there should be practical advice on how to change.
When criticising a certain aspect, the observer should put himself/herself in the teacher’s shoes
and think about what he/she would do in a similar situation. He/She should ask questions like
“What sort of question would I pose to get the child to speak further?” Through this detailed
vision, the observer can put forth more ideas for the teacher. It is safe to say that this sort oflesson study is a creative activity for teachers.

•

The advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution means our society will be structured based on
our actual world. It will be a mix of the real and virtual worlds. If a school or teacher uses virtualmaterials and AI, he/she should keep one foot in the real world, reiterate ethics, and support thechildren’s societal and realistic development.

Current Teacher Training: The Case of the University ofTsukuba
To develop new teacher characteristics in universities and graduate schools, we need ideas on using
inquiry as an axis for developing and using knowledge. I will offer one detailed example.
Since April 2017, the Master Programme in Education at the University of Tsukuba has been offering
an international baccalaureate degree through an accredited programme. It is called “Master of Arts
in Education, International Education Programme.” It aims to develop internationally minded inquirers
with a sound understanding of innovative thinking in education and the skills necessary to planand conduct research on issues in international education. Students will investigate pedagogies,
curricula, and assessment methods in the context of the international baccalaureate and otherinternational curricula.
“This specialisation welcomes open-minded thinkers with an active interest in educational innovation
who want to make a contribution to the field of international education” (University of Tsukuba, 2017,
paragraph 4). Obtainable certificates include the International Baccalaureate Certificate in Teachingand Learning (IBCTL, PYP/MYP/DP) and the International Baccalaureate Advanced Certificate in
Teaching and Learning Research (IBACTLR).
The required courses for the IBCTL are “Pedagogy for a Changing World II,” “Assessment for Learning
I,” “Assessment for Learning II,” “Curriculum as Process I,” “Curriculum as Process II,” “International
Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme,” “International Baccalaureate Middle-Year Programme,”“International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme,” and “Professional Learning and Reflective
Practice.” There are many other subjects to choose from and a master’s thesis is also required.

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Associate Professor Akiko Taira who has had some outstanding experience in teaching at aninternational school in Hawaii introduced mindfulness and discussions of a person’s identity as seen
through cultural and societal lenses known as “Curriculum as Process II.” Its class plan includes“Topic 1—Overview and Review of Curriculum as Process I,” “Topic 2—Planning Processes,” “Topic
3—Planning for Trans- and Inter-Disciplinary Learning,” “Topic 4—Experiential Learning,” “Topic 5—
Planning for Inter-Disciplinary, Trans-Disciplinary, or Experiential Learning,” “Topic 6—Collaborative
Planning and Reflection,” and “Topic 7—Curriculum Mapping: Accountability and Communication.”
One piece of educational material is called “Shadow a Student Challenge.” Students are asked
questions such as:•

What would the school leaders see in your country’s average school if they shadowed a student?
Think in groups of three or pair up.

•

In your ideal or dream school, what would you see if you shadowed a student? Think, pair up orform groups of three, and share.

Through these questions, students may see schools in a new light. They also introduce questions
such as:•What do we want the students to understand? (Concepts)•

What do we want students to be able to do? (Skills)•

What do we want students to learn about? (Knowledge)•

What do we want students to feel, value, and demonstrate? (Attitudes)•

How do we want students to act? (Actions)

These introduce the five principles of the IBCTL PYP curriculum.
Normally, the method for introducing and expanding the principles of a curriculum happens during
teacher training lectures. But in this class, the principles are not taught first; they are acquired throughinquiry and arrived at last through a process.
“With humanism as basis, we respect symbiosis and inquiry,” Akiko Taira told me when we spoke on
17 January 2019. “To conduct human-centric teacher training, we put information and communication
technology (ICT) to work. As the Fourth Industrial Revolution progresses, humanity’s and students’feelings of accomplishment become important. The International Baccalaureate Programme ismoving towards this direction, too.”– 24 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

The International Baccalaureate Teacher Training Programme at the graduate school of the Universityof Tsukuba is cooperating with schools. In the future, the university will work with the Senior HighSchool at Sakado, a University of Tsukuba affiliate that employs the Diploma Programme. Moreover,on 11 December 2018, the university signed a partnership agreement with the Saitama City Boardof Education. The main objective is to cooperate with the Omiya International Secondary Schoolthat will open in April 2019. Through this cooperation, a mutual exchange between the school (i.e.,
lessons) and the university (i.e., research) will take place and the quality of lessons and academic
research is expected to improve.
Omiya International Secondary School has organised a consistent six-year middle school curriculum.
For four years, students learn using the International Baccalaureate Middle-Year Programme. Fifthyear students, which are equivalent to second-year senior high school students, and sixth-year
students, which are third-year senior high school students can choose from among three paths—theglobal course (International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme), liberal arts, and STEM. Saturday
morning is called “Learner-Directed Time.” One unit a week is spent on English Inquiry while anotheris spent on the Grit, Growth, Global (3G) Project.
The graduate school of the University of Tsukuba cooperates with more than just the Omiya
International Secondary School. As our efforts progress by using IT, we can respond to the Fourth
Industrial Revolution through creative and inquisitive ideas and tolerance for symbiotic minds. Thisis the teacher training for a new era and one example of an innovative teacher training curriculum.
Spreading this effort is connected to creative educational training and contributes to the realisation of
a comfortable learning environment for students.
Because of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, humanity becomes more important than ever for oursociety. Inquiry is the core activity of human beings. At the same time, we need to become tolerantof diversity and respect symbiosis. To create this symbiotic and inquisitive society, we need creative
teachers. To activate the training of creative teachers, we will need to exert even more effort and use
tools.

Note
This article is a revised English edition of “Become a Creative Teacher” published in Japanese in 2018
(Tokyo: Gakubunsya), which was edited by Hiroshi Sato. It is a revised version of Sato’s chapter,
which was presented as a keynote speech at the SEAMEO-University of Tsukuba Symposium VII(Tokyo) held on 10 February 2019.

References
1. Central Education Council Report. (2015). “About Improving the Capabilities of Teachers through
Educational Training: Heading towards a Format Where We Can Learn from Each Other and Raise
the Level of Educational Communication.” Last accessed on 21 December 2019 at https://www.
mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/shingi/toushin/
icsFiles/afieldfile/2016/01/13/1365896_01.
pdf.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

2. Habu, Y. (2017). The Core of AI. Tokyo: NHK Publishing.
3. Matsuo, Y. (2015). “What’s Ahead for Deep Learning: The Future of AI.” Last accessed on 21
July 2015 at http://www.gdep.jp/seminar/20150526/DLF2015-01-MATSUO.pdf.
4. Sakamoto, M. (2017). Maki Sakamoto Sensei Teaches You How to Understand AI in This
Book. Ohmusha Ltd.
5. Terada, T.; Ueda, E.; Kishi, H.; and Mori, A. (2017). Who Will Support Japan’s Labour Force?
Tokyo: Toyo Keizai Co. Press.
6.

The Economist. (2017). “Technology in 2050.” Tokyo: Bungeishunju Press.

7. University of Tsukuba. (2017). Master of Arts in Education (International Education). Last
accessed on 20 December 2019 at http://www.kyouiku.tsukuba.ac.jp/about/department/internationaleducation.
8. Yanagawa, N.; Arai, N.; and Oouchi, S. (2016). “Human Strength, Management Styles in the Ageof AI.” Nippon Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA) opinion article, p. 25.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Competency and Capability
Development for Science Teacher
Training in Japan
Dr. Yusuke Endo
Dr. Yoko Yamamoto
Faculty of Human Sciences
University of Tsukuba

Abstract
Science teachers in Japan are working to form and improve their competencies and capabilities
through the multi-layered expansion of teacher training. This article provides an overview of theinstitutional framework for science teacher training in Japan, gives a representative example ofscience lesson study and the teacher license renewal system, and reveals a concrete image ofscience teacher training.
Keywords: Science teacher, teacher training, lesson study

Introduction
What competencies do teachers need? When Japan’s teachers are asked this question, they are likely
to give diverse answers—excel in teaching lessons, lead children and students, excel in classroom
management, and so on. It goes without saying then that to help teachers attain the competencies
they need, going through training stages alone will not complete their education. Rather, the only
way to formally improve them is through extended lesson practice, continuing in the profession for along time, and accumulating wisdom through constant study. As the phrase “establishing the imageof a constantly learning teacher” (Central Council for Education, 2012) expresses, teachers require
lifelong professional learning to grow into their specialties and acquire passion to respond to thevarious needs of a changing era and society.
Teacher training plays a vital role in this process. Japan’s in-service teacher training has establishedseveral training opportunities, including those for science teachers. Teachers who take part in the
training work to form and improve their competencies and capabilities.
This article draws attention to how science teachers expanded opportunities for training to improvetheir competencies and capabilities. It provides an overview of the institutional framework, presents
several representative examples, and hopes to offer a concrete image of science teacher training.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Competencies Required of Science Teachers
As we mentioned in the beginning, when we talk about the competencies of science teachers,
they can cover a multitude of topics. Ohtaka (2008, p. 26) mentions the difficulty of limiting thosecompetencies but for convenience’s sake, he breaks them down into the following five categories:
1. Pedagogical principle competency: Principle for education, a sense of mission as a teacher,passion, and so on.
2. Basic practice competency: Basic competency to conduct educational practices as anindependent teacher.
3. Skillful practice competency: Competency to conduct advanced educational practices as anexperienced teacher.
4. Pedagogical research competency: Competency to conduct research directly targeting themesof educational reality (e.g., research on effective teaching and learning strategies, etc.).
5. Pure science research competency: Competency to conduct research on professional themes
taught in lessons.
These competencies seem closely related to the categories of the knowledge base for teaching
showed by Shulman (1987, p. 8). If any of these competencies are missing, it is difficult to expect a
hoped-for outcome in science lessons. For example, no matter how much knowledge and skills ateacher possesses about natural science applicable to the classroom (competency 5), if the ability
to create a lesson plan and execute it in front of students (competencies 2 and 3) are lacking, goodeducational results will not be produced. Therefore, competency in each category must be balanced
well for the potential for improvement. If a science teacher then uses teacher training to further his/her specialisation, it can be said that this is the difference between success and failure.
However, it is not always true that just because a teacher participates in different training, he/she
can thoroughly improve in all five competency categories. It is possible for training to cover allcompetencies but the aims and stance of typical training will correspond to the person in training
and may place different weights on different competencies. For example, for a teacher in his/her firstyear on the job, beginner training would probably focus on improving competencies 1 and 2. On theother hand, training targeting veteran teachers or teachers in management positions would not makethose same categories a priority.
Given these assumptions, a teacher facing training would first need to reflect on his/her own lessons
then grasp the formation of competencies from a meta point of view. Also, from the viewpoint of thatteacher’s career, by choosing certain training to participate in, the teacher has a better chance ofgrowing professionally.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Institutional Framework for Science Teacher Training
Teacher training in Japan has expanded in multiple ways via responsible organisations and target
trainees categorised by life stage (e.g., duration of service or job function), embodiment, andimplemented content. Moreover, while we cannot get into the comprehensive details of each type oftraining, the published Teacher Training Guide 2018 of the National Institute for School Teachers
and Staff Development (NISTSD) provides a foundation that gives an overview of the institutionalframework for teacher training, including for science teachers.
According to the Teacher Training Guide 2018 shown in Figure 10, training occurs mainly fromthe viewpoint of the place where lessons are implemented and split into three big categories—selftraining, in-school training, and out-of-school training (NISTSD, 2018, pp. 2–3).
•

Self-training: This refers to autonomous training based on one’s awareness of the personal
challenges of individual teachers. An example for science teachers would be repeating daily
lessons, researching teaching materials, studying science-related journals and literature,
participating in different science and research groups or circles, and many others.

•

In-school training: This involves finding solutions to schoolwork and research related to planningand organising for all teachers. They are categorised as specially established collective training
in school and training for daily school affairs or so-called “on-the-job training (OJT).” As far as
implementation goes, more than a few schools have research departments or personnel who
are in charge of training structure improvement based on grade or subject.

Figure 10: Types of teacher training in Japan (NISTSD, 2018, p. 3)– 29 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

One of the core pillars of training is lesson study. We will discuss this in more detail later
but a lesson demonstration of a science class is typically planned and executed aroundthe main research themes established by the school then feedback is offered. This issometimes done only in school with an intra-school study conference that administratorsand other teachers attend. It is also sometimes done with people from outside the school
forming a public study conference.
•

Out-of-school training: As the name implies, this training takes place away from the school or in
the field. It is divided into the following three categories:
v Training through an educational administration organisation: This is also called “administrative
training” and is often held by a national, prefectural, or local board of education. There aremany different types. Looking at a prefectural-level board of education training session,for example, there are legal training for beginners or 10-year veterans, teacher training
for trainees with five or 20 years of experience, student leadership training based on job
evaluation, principal and vice principal training, and many other kinds of established training
programmes. Of course, within this training regimen are sessions for science. Oyama, et al.
(2014) surveyed all of the science-related training offered in Japan by the prefectural boardof education in fiscal 2012. The results show that about 96% of the training focused on
observation and experimentation while around 79% touched on science-related teachingmaterials and tools. These are the two main science-related training topics.
v Private sector training or training at a volunteer organisation: Training for science, like othersubjects, is held by an associated educational group. One example is the collaboration
between Toho University and the Chemical Society of Japan, which resulted in the Chemistry
Experiment Workshop. This training aims to improve practical science teaching and lessonmaking skills. It also features some corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities through a
company that makes science teaching materials, a practical training group for safe science
experiments, and cases where a company forms a practical training group using its own
educational materials.
v Training in professional schools for teacher education: A professional school for teacher
education offers high-level specialised training in a professional graduate school setting.
This type of training was formed in 2008. In this training, more practical leadership anddevelopment activities are offered, with an influential part dedicated to teacher training forbuilding a new education style. For regional school teachers (i.e., core mid-career teachers)looking to take on leadership roles, indispensable teaching theories and very practical andapplicable training sessions help enhance leadership skills. When it comes to in-service
teacher training, this is especially important. The point is to develop high-level practicalleadership skills through taking common subjects/electives and participation in school
training.

Also, while not shown in Figure 10, the teacher license renewal system established in 2009 had awide impact on teacher training. Under this system, teacher certifications lasted 10 years. Whenrenewal comes, another 30 hours of further license training is required. The new requirement is heldat universities accredited by the Minister of Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT). There
are quite a few options for science-related training within these courses.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

That completes the outline of the institutional framework for teacher training. Of course, thepresentation we gave here and the training sectors we highlighted are just examples. Some training
does not fit into any one category. For example, we mentioned beginners’ training, which in addition
to being held at prefectural education centres, also comes with a requirement of 300 hours of inschool training, making it a combination of out-of- and in-school training. At any rate, we would liketo make it clear that there are many types of teacher training sessions available in Japan.

A Concrete Image of Science Teacher Training
Many organisations have been established to further training for science teachers and teachers ofother subjects. But what are the detailed contents and paths of progress for such training? Here, wewould like to focus on the science lesson study and the teacher license renewal system implemented
for science teachers almost 10 years ago.

Science Lesson StudyJapan’s lesson study is spreading around the world and attracting a lot of attention (National
Association for the Study of Educational Methods, 2009, p. i). Among Japanese teachers, there is
no doubt that everyone is familiar with these activities. Lesson study conferences hold many training
sessions both within and outside schools.
Figure 11 outlines the basic structure of a science lesson study conference (Isozaki, 2014, pp.
27–29 and Ohtaka, 2012, pp. 6–7). Let us take a closer look.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Figure 11: Basic structure of a science lesson study conference (Isozaki, 2014, pp. 27–29 and Ohtaka, 2012, pp. 6–7)

First, during the preparation stage for a lesson study conference, based on the main subjects of theentire school and the research theme set for each subject, the teacher facilitates the discussion to
design and review the science lesson plan. In the lesson plan, the goals of the entire unit; the lesson
position within it; the teaching materials to use; the learning situation of the students in the classroom;
the subject; the students’ answers and expectations; detailed learning activities, including viewpoints
and experiences; ways for the teacher to assist and support students; and viewpoints and methods
for evaluating student learning must be carefully written down. At the same time, the teachingmaterials should be developed, including observation activities and experiments. Participants in alesson study are very interested in what sort of teaching materials will be used and what observation
activities and experiments will be done, which give the teacher a chance to show off his/her skills.
Furthermore, it is not uncommon at this stage for other teachers or external university professors andconsultants to offer advice. Teachers also use other classes as trials for improving their lesson plans.
In a lesson study conference at an external location, there are also cases where before the lesson
study, efforts are exerted to explain the overall training subjects of the school in a “plenary session.” Allparticipants are given copies of the lesson plan before they observe the demonstration. Participants
may examine how the written contents of the lesson plan align with the actual developments in class.
Sometimes, fellow teachers or the teacher may record the class so it can be re-shown during thestudy meeting.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

When the demonstration lesson is over, the teacher and participants continue to get together for the
study meeting. In it, the head teacher of the science department will explain the concept of the lesson
study. Then the teacher explains his/her aims and points of emphasis for the class. Afterwards, ameeting is held with the participants. How the meeting proceeds varies per case. The participants
and teacher have an open discussion and exchange opinions at times or they break up into small
groups to go over the teaching materials and class observations. After that, a representative fromeach group presents the findings to everyone.
Finally, an adviser (e.g., a university professor, a consultant, or an administrator) evaluates and offers
advice. Sometimes, formal or informal gatherings and get-togethers after the study meeting are held
to continue the critique. These occurrences may include information exchange and discussions
beyond the framework of the lesson study. However, in recent years, we have seen a decline inthese get-togethers.
We have certainly seen problems with these types of science lesson studies, particularly when
discussions were weak (Ohtaka, 2012, p. 8). But it is fair to say that they have been indispensable
in forming and improving science teachers’ structural and practical competencies.

How Science Teachers Train for the Teacher License Renewal System
As mentioned earlier, the teacher license renewal system is relatively new, although it has been in
use for more than 10 years now. In 2018, 556 universities, junior colleges, and boards of education
across the country were accredited by MEXT. When renewal time arrives, teacher training is divided
into required subjects (i.e., six hours or more), elective and required subjects (i.e., six hours or more),and elective subjects (i.e., 18 hours or more). Almost all science-related training sessions fall underthe elective category.
What sort of training is actually held and performed? Table 1 compiles one section of the science
training sessions held at the University of Tsukuba in 2018. There is a wide variety of training sessions,
ranging from how to plan a science class to teaching methods, developing teaching materials,
observation activities and experiments in fieldwork, new scientific research, and training sessions foruniversity-affiliated schools. For example, in “Science lessons to cultivate science lovers,” a scienceclass is built based on problems that Japanese students face compared with their internationalcounterparts, new ways to teach science, recent educational theories, and learning achievements,
which all lead to gaining a deeper structural understanding of science education mainly from theviewpoint of subject-based education.

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Training
Name

Target– 34 –

Elementary
SchoolMiddleSchoolCompulsory
Education
SchoolHigh School

Six-Year
Secondary
SchoolSpecial
Education
SchoolCertifiedCentersfor Early
Childhood
Education
and Care

Sciencelessons tocultivatesciencelovers

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Untangling
concerns
about
radiation:
Basicsof andmeasuringradiation

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Lecture onsuper balls

•

•

•

•

•

Energyresourcesand new
technologies

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Technologies
that support
AI and big
data
Trick
experiments
and crafting
fun

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Nursing
Teacher

Nutrition
Teacher••

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Kindergarten

Training
Name

TargetCertifiedCentersfor Early
Childhood
Education
and Care– 35 –

Kindergarten

Elementary
SchoolMiddleSchoolCompulsory
Education
SchoolHigh School

Six-Year
Secondary
SchoolDiscovering
the Mt.
Tsukuba
Area
Geopark

•

•

•

•

•

•

A tale ofrice and rice
plant

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

The
Satoyama
Expedition

•

•

•

Planting
strongand tasty
vegetables:
Experiencebasedlearning
at theInstitute for
Horticultural
Plant
Breeding•••

Nursing
Teacher

Nutrition
Teacher•

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Changing
Earth:
Earthquakes,
tsunamis,
volcanic
eruptions,andlandslides

Special
Education
SchoolTraining
Name

Target– 36 –

Elementary
SchoolMiddleSchoolCompulsory
Education
SchoolHigh School

Six-Year
Secondary
SchoolSpecial
Education
SchoolCertifiedCentersfor Early
Childhood
Education
and CareMuseumpark fieldobservation:
Find out thenames ofcommontrees,
grasses, andmosses

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

The
beginningof animal
observation
forbeginners:
From water
fleas to bears

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Practical
exercise at
an affiliateelementary
school•••Practical
exercise at
an affiliate
junior highschool

•

•

•

•

•

Practical
exercise at
an affiliate
high school

•

•

•

•

•

•

Table 1: Example of science-related teaching license renewal training at the University of Tsukuba in 2018

Nursing
Teacher

Nutrition
Teacher

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Kindergarten

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Also, if we look at the subjects, there are some variations and most classes offer a wide variety ofinterpretations. Given that the training is done every 10 years, it is possible for teachers to span three
generations. Because of this, the school subjects and teaching experiences of fellow teachers offer
an opportunity for the mutual exchange of opinions and viewpoints, which may spark new ways ofthinking. On the other hand, from a lecturer perspective, lecturing in front of participants (teachers),
depending on what subject is chosen, may give rise to generation gaps that in turn, lead to trouble.
As such, those taking the class may not get the results they were expecting. This is probably not
only true during the license renewal process but also when receiving training for a selected subject.
It is thus important to consider the competencies needed for the teacher’s current situation and life
stage and make the training commensurate with those indicators. Also, the lecturer must consider
the participants’ conditions and needs when inspecting the detailed training content. Training thatenhances both points of view holds the key.

Conclusion
The professional development of science teachers calls for a lifetime of continuous development
above and beyond actual work. It goes without saying that attending one or two training sessions
does not guarantee overnight success. At the same time, teacher training for science teachers isimportant if they wish to acquire more competencies and grow professionally. That will not and has
not changed. As you have come to see in this article, Japan’s teacher training is manifold and several
opportunities are available for science teachers.
However, this teacher training is not without problems. For example, if we look at the results of theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s 2013 Teaching and Learning
International Survey (TALIS), while the motivation for training among Japanese teachers is high, thebiggest barriers are trying to fit training sessions into busy work schedules (National Institute for
Educational Policy Research, 2015, pp. 128–129). When this information is considered, both theopportunity for training and content enrichment and making an environment where it is easier forteachers to participate should be discussed as possible reforms.

References
1. Central Council for Education. (2012). “About the Comprehensive Improvement Measure of
Teacher Qualification and Ability throughout His/Her Professional Life.” (Report). Last accessedon 24 January 2019 at https://www.mext.go.jp/component/b_menu/shingi/toushin/ icsFiles/
afieldfile/2012/08/30/1325094_1.pdf.
2. Isozaki, T. (2014). “Theory of Education for Science Teachers.” Teacher Training, Vol. 15—For
Science Education at Middle Schools (pp. 7–31). Tokyo: Kyodoshuppan.
3. MEXT. “Professional Graduate School for Teachers.” Last accessed on 24 January 2019 at
http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/koutou/kyoushoku/kyoushoku.htm.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

4. MEXT. “The Teacher License Renewal System.” Last accessed on 24 January 2019 at http://
www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/koushin/08051422/001.htm.
5. National Association for the Study of Educational Methods (NASEM). (2009). Lesson Studyin Japan (First Volume)—The History of Lesson Study and Teacher Training. Tokyo:
Gakubunsha.
6. National Institute for Educational Policy Research. (2015). International Comparison ofTeaching Environments: OECD TALIS. Survey report for 2013. Tokyo: Akashishoten.
7. NISTSD. (2018). Teacher Training Guide 2018: Knowledge and Techniques for Effective
Management. Last accessed on 24 January 2019 at https://www.nits.go.jp/materials/text/
files/index_tebiki2018_001.pdf.
8. Ohtaka, I. (2008). “What Do You Study at Graduate School of Education?—Originality andAdvantages of Teacher Training.” Teacher Training Course, 34(12):24–27.
9. Ohtaka, I. (2012). “Development of the Professional Competency of Science Teachers throughLesson Study.” Presented at the Four East Asian Nations International Conference on Improving
Mathematics and Science Teachers’ Teaching Competency by Lesson Study: A Critical Analysis
of Lessons for Improving Students’ Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Mathematical and Scientific Literacy—The Collection of the International Symposium Research
Articles (pp. 1–23). Last accessed on 24 January 2019 at https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/
system/files/27026/H23ronT-1-1.pdf.
10. Ohyama, M. (2014). “Evaluation of Teacher Training Programmes for Teaching Skills in Science.”
Journal of Research in Science Education, 54(3):307–316.
11. Shulman, Lee S. (1987). “Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform.” Harvard
Education Review, 57(1):1–22.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Teaching Standards andCompetency Improvement
Programmes: The Case of
Okinawa Prefecture in Japan
Ms. Kumiko Tomori
Comprehensive Education Center of Okinawa Prefecture
Dr. Masami Isoda
University of Tsukuba

Abstract
What newest efforts are ongoing in Japan amidst current educational reforms to implement 21stcentury curricula to establish Society 5.0 beyond the Fourth Industrial Revolution? This article aims
to discuss the newest Japanese in-service teacher training system and illustrate its use in the
Okinawa Comprehensive Education Center. There are a number of articles that analyse the role oflesson study for professional development via lesson study projects. This article provides a bird’s
eye view of professional development by illustrating the Okinawa teaching standards that envisionteachers’ career paths and illustrate the teacher training programme that develops their competency
in curriculum management. It also mentions how teacher training centres support every school toestablish learning communities that produce and implement their own curricula through lesson study.
Keywords: Teacher standards, smart society, teacher professional development

Introduction
In the past 20 years, lesson study has been known as an international model for teacher professional
development (Baba and Kojima, 2004 and Isoda, 2007 and 2014). At present, several efforts toimprove lesson study practice are ongoing worldwide (Huang and Shimizu, 2016). It is characterised
as the “plan, do, and see” activities by a group of teachers and researchers. In their projects,
difficulties and challenges were also reported as a result of researches. Among them is that adopting
the lesson study approach does not always work like in Japan and every project should have theirown lesson study project framework (Robutti, et al., 2016). What is missing is how teacher training isdone and how lesson study functions as part of it. On this matter, some traditional limited information
was provided in English to show that lesson study is part of the professional development system inJapan (Tanaka, et al., 2004 and Okubo, 2007). However, compared with the latest teacher education
movements in the world, it was based on the old data.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

What newest efforts are ongoing in Japan to teach 21st-century skills and help teachers face thechallenges of Society 5.0 beyond the Fourth Industrial Revolution? This article aims to provide
information on the latest Japanese in-service teacher training system and illustrate it in line with the
Okinawa Comprehensive Education Center’s curricular reform.
In Japan, some public institutions are dedicated to improving educational quality. These include
the National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER), National Institute for School Teachers
and Staff Development (NITS), prefectural education centres in 47 prefectures or provinces, andcity education centres in 20 mega cities. These institutions organise teacher training to achieve thenational curricular standards and respond to local issues.
In Japan, 30% of the public schoolteachers’ salaries is financed by the national budget under Ministryof Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) while the remaining 70% comesfrom the prefectural budget. Their hiring is conducted locally in each prefecture or mega city. As
such, teacher training programmes use the budget of prefectures and mega cities. Teachers aretransferred between schools within the local area where they were initially hired. Each teacher isassigned to the same school for five years or so. The training conducted at each centre is provided
for trainers or supervisors employed within the local area.

Education and Teacher Training System
This article discusses the role of prefectural education centres using the case of the Comprehensive
Education Center of Okinawa Prefecture as an example. It will illustrate the contents of teacher
training specifically for curriculum management.
First, the teacher training system in Japan must be explained. Public schoolteachers are obliged toundergo training, which is broadly divided between professional training, where costs such as travel
expenses are paid for by schools, and others that do not provide such an allowance. Training without
allowances are further subdivided between those with professional duty exemption, where principals
allow staff to train during work hours, and voluntary training where staff pays for all costs and trains
outside work hours. Professional training includes in-school training organised by individual schools,
those organised by local school districts (i.e., city or county) or the prefecture, and national training.
Some selected teachers by the districts are able to study at Universities upto Master Programin Education with their salaries. Voluntary training includes participating in lesson study groups,
cooperating with university professors, and attending seminars and conferences. Professional
training such as in-school training is organised either by the research department of each school
under the supervision of its principal. School district or prefectural training is organised by training
institutions or centres that the educational supervisors belong to. At times, external specialists suchas university professors are invited as external lecturers. Teachers also have to renew their licenses
every 10 years. They have to participate in license renewal seminars organised by universities oracademic societies as voluntary training with allowances from MEXT. Most of the training organisedby the centres are professional on-duty training.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Lesson study is broadly implemented both internally as part of teachers’ jobs and training organised
by study groups. Schools affiliated with universities hold an open class every year while national orprefectural research schools hold an open class once every few years. Every elementary and juniorhigh school has visiting days for parents. In elementary schools, a visiting day is organised at least
once or twice each year while open classes are regularly organised for parents or guardians. This
custom, which allows people to observe classes, makes it easier for teachers to actively engage inlesson study.
Revisions to national curricular standards are conducted separately for each subject based on
sampling surveys, results of lesson studies in schools affiliated with universities and designatedresearch schools, and national themes for educational improvement. Each textbook is written
by in-service teachers under the supervision of university professors, prepared by the publisher,and examined by MEXT if it satisfies the national curricular standards. Only certified textbooks are
selected by each school district and distributed for free, subsidised by the national budget, to allelementary and junior high school students. The curriculum is organised by each school based on
the national curriculum standards. Schools have to develop their own curricula. They are allowed
some flexibility—10% for elementary and junior high school and 20% for senior high school.
Every year, a national achievement survey for mathematics and language is conducted among all
elementary sixth graders to junior high third graders. The national sampling survey for curricularreform is conducted among all elementary sixth graders to junior high third graders. These surveys
do not examine the achievement of individual students but assess how well the national curriculum
standards were implemented. They also provide information to every board of education about eachschool’s achievement and indirectly, its teachers. The information is only known by supervisors (i.e.,
MEXT and boards of education), as it is useful for both planning training and improving curricula.
Training organised to revise the national curriculum standards cascades through the following
levels—national centres, prefectural centres, school districts, and schools. In terms of curricularreform issues, the study themes for lesson study are usually proposed. Examples include studies topropose innovative educational methods and teaching contents for reform, implement new curricula,and improve the qualifications and competencies of individual teachers.
The fact that the mathematical competency of Japanese students is high (i.e., ranked top amongthe 37 members of OECD based on the PISA (2018) in Mathematics) is due to the long-term
comprehensive improvement of the pedagogical content knowledge of Japanese teachers throughlesson studies conducted under training systems. The superiority of Japanese-style lesson study is
acknowledged by other countries and recognised as a problem-solving approach to nurture students
who learn and think by and for themselves.
On the other hand, it has been pointed out that a simple imitation of the approach does not always leadto improvement in student achievement (Robutti, et al., 2016). The foundation for such competency
improvement depends on the quality of implementation, teachers’ comprehensive levels of material
study achieved through lesson studies, and the advanced extent of sharing such knowledge throughrevising textbooks. This foundation can be established progressively but cannot be achieved in ashort span of time (Isoda, 2014). Deepening teaching material and lesson studies for sharing better
teaching approaches is the permanent objective of every education centre and municipal supervisor.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Role of the Comprehensive Education Centre of the Okinawa
Prefecture
The centre of each prefecture started as an education research institute after World War II. Later,
their training function was strengthened and they became teacher training centres. Their general
education improvement function was then strengthened so they could become comprehensive
education centres.
Here, we focused on the case of Okinawa because it is a prefectural education centre. Its role differsfrom those of national centres, NIER, and NITS. The regional nature of Okinawa requires solutions tolocal issues. Before explaining the centre’s functions, the regional characteristics of Okinawa mustfirst be discussed.
Japan is an island country with a total length of 3,000 kilometres. Okinawa is located in the south andconsists of islands with beautiful coral reefs. It was an independent country before it became part ofJapan in the 17th century. It continues to influence its own unique history and culture. For instance,
karate was developed in Okinawa based on Chinese martial arts. It started to spread through Japanin the 1910s and became taekwondo in Korea after the 1940s. On the other hand, Okinawa had
heavy battlefields during World War II and was under American control until 1972 before it was
returned to Japan. Due to this history, it was underdeveloped. It also faced many challenges in thefield of education. For example, for many years, it was at the bottom of national surveys (i.e., ranked47th) for mathematics. However, its student achievement has improved in the last four years. Now,
it ranks sixth in Japan. Under the board of education, the centre has been playing a central role in
improving student achievement.
The functions of this centre comprise doing investigative research, hosting workshops for students
and educational consultations for parents, providing information, and conducting training. The
investigative research function includes embarking on studies to improve the ability of schools,
enhance teachers’ skills, and promote “zest for life” (i.e., the slogan of the national curriculum
standards) among students. For instance, it conducted research to investigate and plan for training
contents necessary to conduct classes to achieve school goals. For this, the supervisor or teacher
trainer from the centre regularly visited schools to offer advice. In terms of workshops for students,
it provided ICT-engineering and food processing training in vocational schools. These included
programmes or presentation preparation workshops that promoted collaborative inquiry. For its
educational consultation function, it supported students who were failing to fit into their schools,
advised students on university and/or career choices, and supported handicapped children sothey can attend school. Providing information included publishing research results and teachingmaterials, such as books; supporting educational and cultural activities; publishing digital content;
and operating the prefectural network system. The training function includes legal training for newly
employed teachers; training after 10 years of employment; additional training for two, three, and five
years of employment; training for 15 years of employment; training for managerial positions; training
for head teachers per grade; long-term training that required staying in the centre for six months;
short-term training during the summer break; and specially delivered training conducted in schools
upon request. In the summer, teachers are required either to work in school or train at the centre andother institutions. The centre organises 80 courses for short-term training during the summer. Breaks
between semesters for students are not holidays for teachers but time for preparing, learning, andstudying.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Teaching Standards: Career Path for Teachers
Since the consistent development of teachers is required after hiring, teaching standards havebeen established in countries worldwide (in Southeast Asia, examples include the Southeast Asia
Regional Standards for Mathematics Teachers [SEARS-MT], 2014 and the Southeast Asia Teachers
Competency Framework [SEA-TCF], 2018). The report of the Teacher Training Subcommittee of theCentral Council for Education (MEXT, 2015), demanded the professional development of teachers
and a clarification of their career path, which were documented by each prefecture. In the report,
every prefecture set teaching standards. Okinawa set the Ideal Competencies for Teachers and theCareer Developmental Stages of Teaching aided by the Okinawa School Board of Education (2017).
The competencies and stages became part of indispensable goals for planning and implementing
teacher training at the centre. The competencies are considered the principles that underlie
requirements for teachers, namely:•

Ethics, sense of mission, and responsibility: As a public servant, teachers should act according
to ethical standards, have a strong sense of mission and responsibility, and must be aware thatthe citizens of the prefecture trust them with the noble mission of looking after the developmentof their children.

•

Educational affection and awareness of human rights: As a teacher who works with children
daily and greatly influence their growth, one must be able to interact with children with trueeducational affection and high awareness of human rights.

•

Rich humanity and ability to continue learning: As an educator who will open up children’s
future, one must be able to continue learning as a highly specialised professional to mature andnurture humanity.

These teaching principles served as the foundation for the following career stages defined according
to experience (see Table 2).
These are the career stages defined by Okinawa. Each stage has required competencies anddevelopment stages in accordance with the students’ situations (i.e., understanding students
and their skills for individual and group teaching), the school management (e.g., coordination andcooperation, safety and risk management, problem-solving ability, administrative skills, and information
utilisation and management skills), and practical skills for implementation (i.e., curriculum planning,teaching practice and assessment, and lesson study and improvement). Every goal for the training
programmes conducted by the centre is clarified in reference to some aspects of the principles andcompetencies.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1
You teach based on your students’ current
foundational knowledge and skills.

Take initiative
Hiring stage
First year

You must be aware of your position as a teacher
in Okinawa. That means you can perform yourduties as a member of the school staff while actively
seeking the advice and recommendations of otherteachers.
Fulfill your responsibilities
Basic stage
Around the third year

You teach based on your students’ current
foundational knowledge and skills.
You fulfill your responsibilities while cooperating andcoordinating with your fellow teachers.

Lead educational activities
Fulfillment stage
Around the eighth year

You enrich your knowledge and skills by participating
in and crafting your own educational activities.

Play a central role
Development stage
Around the 13th year

You can promote your school in the community byshowing off your expertise and strengths.

You can enhance your school’s networking
system and improve camaraderie among staff byactively engaging with peers, especially your lessexperienced colleagues.

You can play a more central role in the school
network and even join division competitions.
You should also be able to instruct and advise fellow
teachers.

Take on a comprehensive perspective
Instructor stage
After the 18th year

You can promote school activities effectively andefficiently by showcasing your knowledge, skills, andexperience.
You should be able to support your school network
while nurturing fellow teachers to gain the same
comprehensive perspective.

Table 2: Teaching Career Path: Five Stages of Professional Development

Case Study: Curriculum Management Training to NurtureChildren Who Will Build Society 5.0 beyond the Fourth
Industrial Revolution
The case study is based on the curriculum management training conducted by the author(i.e., Tomori), which was one of the 80 courses held at a summer training in 2018. Curriculum
management is one of major issues identified with regard to reforming the national curriculum
standards (MEXT, 2017) and teachers have to prepare its implementation from 2020 onwards
in school. The training course was a three-day workshop in mathematics held for teachers inmanagement positions, research chiefs, and ordinary teachers. It aimed to teach curriculum
management to enhance the national curriculum standards so teachers can match theirschools’ unique contexts and plan the implementation on their own lessons for mathematics.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

The national curriculum standards (2017) defines curriculum management as follows:“

Every school organisationally and systematically ensures the improvement of thequality of their educational activities based on its own curriculum through knowing
the current status of students, the school, and its surrounding area; preparing thenecessary educational goals and teaching content with cross-cutting perspectives
across curriculum subjects; improving the implementation process of its own
curriculum by assessing its current status; and systematically securing the humanand material resources necessary for implementing the curriculum. These aresummarised by three aspects—a horizontal perspective across curriculum
subjects, the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle, and the utilisation of educational
resources.

”—Revised by Tomori, https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/
shingi/chukyo/chukyo3/siryo/attach/1364319.htm

The first questions asked during the workshop were:•

How is our society changing?

•

What are the competencies required in this changing society?

•

How will you set the educational goals or aims of your school for this current situation?

The participants or trainees held free discussions and group work during the seminar that introduced
Society 5.0, which is an alternative society under the Fourth Industrial Revolution that involved AI androbots. The report for Society 5.0 was published by the Cabinet Office (2016) and the Ministry ofInternational Trade and Industry in 2017. It was adapted by the National Education Council in 2018.
The main themes of the 2016 curricular reform was nurturing competencies for humanity towards
learning (i.e., engaging in the society and world for a better life or soft skills), utilising what one
understands and is capable of (i.e., competency for thinking, judging, and expressing or cognitive
skills), and identifying what one can understand and is capable of (i.e., knowledge and skills or hardskills). These three points are concretised by the curriculum standards for every subject. MEXT
wants to develop a general competency that can be used for the establishment of Society 5.0,
particularly one that relates to problem posing and solving, which includes critical thinking and deeplearning. Teachers usually relate subject teaching to specific knowledge and skills so they need to
study two other points. This should be done across all subjects to make them comprehensive andwell-balanced, allowing students to gain a zest for life.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Deigo (Erythrina variegate; the symbol for the flower of Okinawa) Elementary School

Analysis of curriculum implementation in 2018 (matrix method)

PDCA

Resources

Challenges

Problems

Strengths

Subjects

Figure 12: Matrix showing the current status of implementation in school

In reference to the above-mentioned goals and discussions, the sense to recognise challenges
matured. Part 1 of the workshop started with group discussions of local issues and asking the groups
to give a school name based on their ideas of societal innovation. Then they are asked to analyse
the current status of the school in relation to their experiences in the past year. They then enumerate
strengths, problems, and challenges with regard to every aspect of curriculum management. Finally,
they organise their findings using a matrix (see Figure 12).

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Ground Design of Deigo Elementary School for the year 2019

One class for each grade

Total 10 teaches and a staff

Aims of the School: the ideal children

Aims of Okinawa

120 years since established

Status of children

Main Goal
Challenges

Request from theschool district

Study theme of the school based lesson study

Establish the teaching approach to develop children who learn by and for

Across curriculum

PDCA cycle

Utilizations of educational
resources

Figure 13: Set the school’s goal along with tasks for curriculum management– 47 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Part 2 involves a discussion of the grand design for curriculum management for the next academic
year within each group. This grand design should take the form of a table (see Figure 13). The table’s
components include the school goals, their image of ideal students, and the themes of schoolbased lesson studies. In Japan, these are usually planned by small groups that include the principal
and the research chief and committee members, then approved during a staff meeting. In reality,
teachers are usually too busy and their schools cannot easily provide them with opportunities andtime for such planning as a whole school. It is, however, possible if made part of a summer training
course because they get the time to spend on such an activity, which is necessary for their careerdevelopment. They learn how to design curricula on their own.
Part 3 involves planning for a class based on the grand design. Each group prepares a lesson study
proposal with a lesson plan and discusses how the contents of the lesson plan corresponds with thegrand design. Figure 14 shows the lesson plan format, which includes how to utilise the chalkboard
in class prepared by the trainer as an exemplar on addition and subtraction for grade 2 mathematics.
The lesson plan comprises the objective of the class (i.e., top section); students’ ideas (i.e., middle
section); the necessary activities from introduction to development to summary (i.e., left section); andpoints for assessment, homework, and reflection (i.e., right section).

Figure 14: Lesson plan utilising a chalkboard to implement the grand design

A survey conducted after the training showed all positive responses, including how fun and importantcurriculum management is, how enjoyable the grand design activity is, and how the trainees gained
a new perspective for conducting daily classes not only for teaching mathematics but also to nurture
the competencies demanded by the curriculum. The curriculum management training is part ofsummer training programmes, which teachers at different career stages attend. Heterogeneousgroups also worked when it came to sharing experiences. The training also exceeded the session
capacity because the topic was new.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Conclusion
This article illustrated how the centre conducts teacher training using the curriculum management
training as an example. As shown, the training activities are very Japanese in that they were very detailoriented and aligned with professional skill acquisition goals, as described by the competency modelfor teachers. Training was planned well and showcased schools as learning communities for teachers
who learn together to establish professional learning community. The lesson plan preparation forlesson study also helped schools realise their goals while satisfying the requirements of the national
curriculum standards. The centre comprehensively promotes quality teaching to nurture children who
can study and think for themselves to build the society for the next generation. After the training, theparticipants often requested support from the supervisors. This presents many opportunities for thecentre to promote in-school lesson study through dispatch trainers and supervisors from the centre.
While there are various types of training for teaching quality improvement in Japan, they all function
in mutual coordination.
Globally, there are a number of lesson study projects that produce their own findings using social
scientific methodologies. However, they usually analyse only focal parts of each lesson study.
This article provided a bird’s eye view of a case that showcased the comprehensive professional
development model that a teacher’s career path can follow. In the curriculum management training,
every teacher trainee group produced a lesson study theme and plan according to how theyenvision the implementation of the school curriculum. The teachers learned to produce a lesson
study to enhance the school as a learning community. This article illustrated how the teacher training
centre supports every school to establish a learning community that contributes to planning andimplementing the school curriculum.

References
1. Baba, T. and Kojima, M. (2004). “Chapter 13: Lesson Study.” The History of Japan’s
Educational Development: What Implications Can Be Drawn for Developing Countries
Today? Tokyo, Japan: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Institute. Retrieved
from https://www.jica.go.jp/jica-ri/IFIC_and_JBICI-Studies/english/publications/reports/study/
topical/educational/pdf/educational_03.pdf.
2. Cabinet Office. (2016). “Official Plan for Science and Technology.” Tokyo, Japan: Cabinet Office.
Retrieved from https://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/kihonkeikaku/5honbun.pdf.
3. Huang, R. and Shimizu, Y. (2016). “Improving Teaching, Developing Teachers and Teacher
Educators, and Linking Theory and Practice through Lesson Study in Mathematics: An
International Perspective.” ZDM, 48:393–409.
4. Isoda, M. (2007). “History of Lesson Study.” Japanese Lesson Study in Mathematics, pp.
8–15. Singapore: World Scientific.
5. Isoda, M. (2014). “The Science of Lesson Study in the Problem-Solving Approach.” Lesson
Study: Challenges in Mathematics Education, pp. 81–108. Singapore: World Scientific.

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6. MEXT. (2015). “Teachers’ Competency for School Education: Establishment of Teacher Education
Community.” Tokyo, Japan: Central Council for Education. Retrieved from https://www.mext.
go.jp/component/b_menu/shingi/toushin/ icsFiles/afieldfile/2016/01/13/1365896_01.pdf.
7. Okinawa School Board of Education. (2017). Plan for In-Service Teacher Training. Naha
School Board of Education, Okinawa.
8. Okubo, K. (2007). “Official In-Service Teacher Training.” Japanese Lesson Study inMathematics, pp. 16–21. Singapore: World Scientific.
9. Robutti, O., et al. (2016). “International Congress on Mathemetical Education (ICME) International
Survey on Teachers Working and Learning through Collaboration.” ZDM, 48:651–690.
10. SEARS-MT. (2014). Penang, Malaysia: SEAMEO RECSAM. Retrieved from http://www.recsam.
edu.my/images/SEA_BES_SEARS/SEARS-MT.pdf.
11. SEA-TCF. (2018). Bangkok, Thailand: Teachers’ Council of Thailand. Retrieved from http://www.
criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/math/seameo/2019/pdf/SEA-TCF%20BOOK.pdf.
12. Tanaka, et al., (2004). “Chapter 12: Teacher Education and Training.” The History of Japan’s
Educational Development: What Implications Can Be Drawn for Developing Countries
Today? Tokyo, Japan: JICA Institute.

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Inspecting Proactive Methods to
Improve the Competencies andCapabilities of Japan’s Science
Teachers through Teacher Training:
A Practical Example of theFoundation of Themed Researchon Science Teacher Training
Dr. Yoko Yamamoto
Dr. Yusuke Endo
Faculty of Human Sciences
University of Tsukuba

Abstract
We inspected a practical example as the foundation of themed research on science teacher training
so teachers can embody the image of a constantly learning professional through proactive methods
to form and improve their competencies and capabilities. Through a specific example of a uniquely
themed research with three characteristics, we believe teachers can proactively form and improvetheir competencies and capabilities. First, teachers should choose their own themes and forms ofvoluntary training in and outside school. Second, teachers can learn through various ways, such as
observing video recordings of their classes and trial and demonstration lessons. Finally, teachers canwork with trainers to pick theme for their research.
Keywords: Science teacher, teacher training, themed research

Introduction
With our country’s teaching policies, the most important issue is to form and improve the competencies
and capabilities of teachers so they can continue their inquiry and education (Central Council for
Education, 2015).

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The abilities that teachers need are universal and should correspond to the current era’s changes.
The former includes a sense of mission and responsibility towards teaching, love for education,
professional knowledge related to subjects and teaching, and practical teaching skills and attributes
that make teachers well-rounded people (Central Council for Education, 2012). The latter includes
the strength to become a teacher in a drastically changing society.
The Central Council for Education’s report, “How to Improve the Abilities of Teachers for Future
School Education,” which was published in 2015, highlights the various capabilities a teacher needsin the coming era. Among the capabilities dubbed necessary and especially important in a changing
era are “the desire to continue learning and the ability and knowledge to gather, sort, and use
information organically.”
Many forms of teacher training are available to Japan’s teachers so they can constantly learn andcontinue to improve their abilities. However, it is important to create an environment, where teachers
are motivated to continue training despite their busy schedules. To solve these problems, MEXT
used proactive reforms to promote a systemised teacher training programme at the prefectural andlocal levels (Central Council for Education, 2015).
How much can teachers raise their awareness about the need to continue learning and proactively
improve their capabilities while trying to avail of teacher training opportunities? This article, whichused a specific example of science teacher training, considered the path teachers can follow toconstantly learn and proactively improve their capabilities through training.

Capabilities That Science Teachers NeedWe mentioned the capabilities that teachers need earlier but what capabilities do science teachers
need? Ohtaka (2008) discussed the difficulty of categorising teacher competencies before breaking
down the competencies that science teachers need into five categories:
1. Pedagogical principle competency: Ideas about education that support and form the basis ofteaching competencies, including a sense of mission, passion, and the like.
2. Basic practice competency: A self-reliant teacher has the basic competency to make educational
practice possible. This competency focuses on teacher training for beginners.
3. Skillful practice competency: This competency is gained by accomplished teachers throughexperience, accumulated training, and maintaining a high level of practical competency.
4. Pedagogical research competency: This refers to the competency to connect educational
practices to research.
5. Pure science research competency: This is a specialised research competency to know what
contents to present to particular classes.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

These five competencies, taken on their own, do not add up to using effective educational tools.
According to Ohtaka (2018a), pedagogical research competency alone does not lead to practicaleducation practices. Basic practice competency alone limits the ability of teachers to handle the many
problems we face today. Having skillful practice competency will not make immediate educational
effects apparent because empiricism makes it difficult to form a basis for educational improvement.
Pedagogical research competency or gaining theoretical knowledge of science education alone
cannot allow teachers to keep up with the multitude of educational practices today. And finally,
pure science research competency or specialist research competency alone will not guarantee fullfledged educational practice.
As mentioned in the Central Council for Education’s report (2012 and 2015), these five competencies
together comprise the universal qualities a teacher needs. However, core competencies concerning
foundational issues and elements of mastery require new abilities because of societal changes.
Also, new abilities are required for educational and pure science research to progress. As such,
science teachers need to have all of these new competencies. They need to balance these five corecompetencies while improving their already existing competencies and capabilities.

A Specific Teacher Training Example to Improve Science
Teachers’ Capabilities
Japan has various kinds of teacher training offered by prefectural educational centres. To improveteaching skills for a new age, new sorts of training content and forms, such as improving classes interms of active learning, are necessary. A review of the current structure of science teacher training
should not only be about finding new contents and forms but also about making existing training
more proactive. Themed research where teachers decide on the themes themselves is required.
A science teacher’s themed research is one that cultivates a subjective and practical attitude towards
a topic of interest. Of the five competencies, teachers would benefit most by acquiring skillful practice,pedagogical research, and pure science research competencies.
Themed research projects need at least a year to complete. So how does it fit into various teacher
training programmes? How can it be practiced?
The type of teacher training and life stage of the trainees must be reflected in the training. That said,
let us look at where themed research fits with detailed examples.

Types of Science Teacher Training
The Teacher Training Guide 2018 published by NISTSD lists the types of teacher training in Japan(see Figure 15). These types were compiled from places where training sessions are held and fallunder three big categories—self-training, in-school training, and out-of-school training.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Figure 15: Types of teacher training in Japan (NISTSD, 2018, p. 3)

In self-training, teachers undergo individual training on their own. In-school training, meanwhile,occurs within the school where the teachers work. It is further subdivided into collective and OJT.
Finally, out-of-school training occurs somewhere other than the teachers’ employers. It is further
subdivided into three categories—training through an educational administration organisation, private
sector training or training at a volunteer organisation, and training at a professional school for teacher
education.
Note, though, that training in an educational administration organisation can occur in and outside
the teachers’ schools. For example, beginner training for newly hired teachers requires at least 25
hours of out-of-school training and 300 hours of in-school training per year (MEXT, 2019). Themed
research for science teachers differs by prefecture but is often incorporated into training required
during the year.

Science Training by Life Stage
Training is also sorted according to the life stages of teachers. Let us take a concrete example.
Teacher Y who has spent 13 years teaching at X Prefectural High School received long-term teacher
training suitable to her life stage. Y went to the X prefecture educational centre for beginner training in2001 and took science teacher training courses 10 times. The training mainly consisted of themed
research. Furthermore, Y used her teaching experience to participate in several short science training
sessions outside the typical teacher training.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1
Years of Experience

Training Outside School

Science Teacher Training

First year

Beginner training (legal training)
28 times + volunteer activity
training

Themed research
10 times

Fifth year

Fifth-year teacher training (basedon teaching experience)
5 times + societal experience
training

Youth Science Museum in T City
societal experience training
1 time (5 days)

Seventh year

Special teacher training at aprefectural centre
25 times

Themed research
16 times

10th year

10th-year teacher training (legal
training)
10 times

Themed research
6 times

Table 3: Y’s long-term teacher training through the National Prefectural Board of Education (2001–2013) based on her
records from X Prefectural Educational Centre in 2001, 2005, 2007, and 2011

As shown in Table 3, beginner and 10th-year training are required for all teachers. In X prefecture in
2005, high school teachers also had a fifth-year training. X prefecture held a special teacher training
at the prefectural education training centre to nurture teachers who can take on leadership roles inlocal schools and other areas and raise the quality of teaching materials and leaders. This training
targeted teachers with five or more years of experience.
In this example, where the teacher completed 16 science training themed research as part of the
25 out-of-school training sessions, Y with 13 years of experience exerted the most effort on themed
research. The contents and an analysis of the special themed research Y conducted is includedin this article. The case study was based on Y’s teacher training records and materials as of 2007.

Sample Themed Research in Science Teacher Training
Y spent 2007 (April 2007–March 2008) in special teacher training at X Prefectural Education Centre.
Science teacher training was included in the overall training. The contents of the 16 science teacher
training sessions are shown in Table 4, which together made up the themed research. A high school
science teaching consultant led the themed research. Y, who is a high school biology teacher, joined
the training along with two other teachers—B who is a high school biology teacher and C who is ahigh school chemistry teacher. The theme of the science teacher training was “Tools to Enhance theIntegration of Instruction and Evaluation in Integrated Science B: Introducing the One-Page Portfolio(OPP) Assessment.”– 55 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1
SessionTime

Contents of Science Teacher
Training

1

Mid-April

Understanding and working
towards solving issues to improve
lessons2

Late May

Analysing policies in detail to
improve lessons by observing
class videos and through lesson
study

3

Mid-June

Report on progress made to
improve lessons and detailed
analyses of policies

4Late June

Report on progress to improve
lessons and detailed analyses ofpolicies

5

Early July

Decide on a research theme andanalyse and report on progress toimprove lessons

6

Mid-July

Identify improvements based on
the training and announce andconfirm themed research plans

7

Early August

Report themed research progressand self-training during thesummer vacation and embark onliterature survey for the themed
research

8

Late August

Trial classes and lesson study

9

Early September

Report on and analyse progresson themed research

10

Mid-October

Create and submit midterm reportfor the training

11

Late OctoberObserve class of an
accomplished biology teacher (D)12

Early November

Observe demonstration lesson
and lesson study of a chemistryteacher (C)13

Mid-November

Perform demonstration lesson andlesson study

14

Late November

Report on and analyse progressof themed research

15

Mid-December

Observe demonstration lesson
and lesson study of a biology
teacher (B)16January

Finish themed research andcreate and submit the final report

Table 4: Special teacher training on themed research received by Y at X Prefectural Education Centre in 2007 (Source:
Record of Y’s teacher training in 2007–2008)– 56 –

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We will explain the contents of the various training sessions listed in Table 4 in more detail below.
The first session is about understanding and working to solve issues surrounding lesson improvement.
In detail, each trainee thought about issues he/she faces during lessons then lists ways to solvethese. The trainees then collaborate with others and focused on issues with the help of the teachingconsultant.
In the second session, detailed policies to improve lessons were analysed and lessons by eachtrainee were recorded and observed. Lesson study was also conducted. In Y’s case, upon theadvice of the teaching consultant, she improved her class by using a OPP for Integrated Science
B based on the school’s and students’ needs. The OPP was developed in 2002 by Hori. In it, theteacher recorded his/her aims and listed his/her scholastic records before, during, and after the
study (Hori, 2004).
On the second day, the teachers recorded their regular classes in their respective schools. They
were also observed as part of the training. The observations served as the basis of their lesson
study. A lesson study aims to develop a teacher’s professional competencies. To do so, it requires
targeting and analysing an actual class as part of the research meant to develop the teacher’s
professional competencies (NASEM, 2009). Japan’s lesson study is attracting international attention
and being highly evaluated. It is likely to spread around the globe.
The third session involves a progress report on lesson improvements and an analysis of the detailed
policies for later use. Y created an OPP, received feedback from the teaching consultant and othertrainees, and made improvements.
The fourth session also required a progress report on lesson improvements and an analysis of thedetailed policies for later use.
The fifth session was based on lesson improvements made so far. Each trainee established his/her research theme on lesson improvements. Y’s theme was “Making a Lesson That Builds Student
Interest and Engagement Using an OPP.”
The sixth session reviewed the science teacher training in the past four months and confirmed the
direction of each person’s self-training. Y listed the benefits enumerated by students in the OPP,
which she showed to the teaching consultant and other trainees for feedback.
In the seventh session, a report on the progress of the themed research and plans for self-training oversummer vacation were submitted. A literature survey for the themed research was also conducted. Y
reported on a different training (i.e., an environmental training conducted by X Prefectural Education
Centre) that she participated in during summer and did an OPP literature survey for.
In the eighth session, the trainees conducted trial lessons and lesson studies on their themed research.
Y used the OPP approach and conducted a trial lesson on biological evolution for Integrated Science
B. She distributed a lesson guide to the other trainees, which they used as analytical materials in thelesson study held after the class.

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In the ninth session, a report and analysis of progress of the themed research were conducted. In
September, the second semester started and the trainees confirmed their detailed plans for lesson
improvement. Y received advice from the teaching consultant on using the OPP to bring about
detailed improvements.
In the 10th session, an interim or midterm training progress report about the training was createdand submitted. Each trainee reconfirmed his/her reasons for the themed research and the steps andanalysis methods employed to achieve lesson improvements.
In the 11th session, they went to S Public High School in X prefecture and observed a biology classconducted by an accomplished teacher we will call “D” (i.e., dissecting a chicken). After the class,
the trainees wrote down their observations, which they can use to improve their own classes andsubmitted them to D.
In the 12th session, they went to T Public High School in X prefecture to observe C’s trial lesson andlesson study.
In the 13th session, Y used the OPP approach for a trial class and a lesson study at her school. Y
created a teaching guide that served as educational materials for her demonstration lessons andlesson study. In these, the teaching consultant, other trainees, and other science teachers from Y’s
school offered advice on how she can improve the lesson.
In the 14th session, a report and analysis of the progress on the themed research were conducted.
In Y’s case, the content of her new OPP was analysed.
In the 15th session, they went to M Public High School in X prefecture to observe B’s demonstration
lesson and conduct a lesson study.
In the 16th session, each trainee concluded his/her themed research. In detail, the trainees
summarised the reasons for their themed research, plans for improving lessons, daily detailed
practices, and achievements in demonstration lessons and lesson studies, which they discussedwith the teaching consultant and fellow trainees.
That concludes the introduction of the teacher training content at this time. Three points about theoverall training and characteristics of the themed research are mentioned here.
First, the training took on a combined form with the themed research selected by each trainee, withtraining at the comprehensive educational centre, the actual practice of themed research in school,
literature surveys that were conducted within and outside school, and self-training.
Second, each trainee was observed in different ways through class recordings, trial classes, anddemonstration lessons. These all resulted in time spent on lesson study.
Third, the trainees collaborated on ways to improve their lessons and exchanged opinions. Though
their research themes differed, they worked together on lesson improvements. The teachingconsultant advised them on lesson improvement strategies when appropriate.

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Y was able to spend a year on the subject of science teacher training within her unique themed
research. After this teacher training, Y taught using her OPP to improve lessons continuously until
she retired six years later. This is a unique example and analysis of a science teacher but also shows
how teacher training allows a person to improve his/her capabilities and competencies in a core
subject.

Conclusion
In this article, we introduced and analysed how teachers can continue to learn and aim to improvetheir core competencies and capabilities in their subject matters through teacher training by focusing
on examples of science teacher training themed research. It is difficult to make the time and motivate
teachers to attend teacher training. However, if efforts are exerted to improve lessons and deal withissues, teachers will improve their main competencies and capabilities. Like Y, teachers can match
their research themes to their own practices to raise their awareness of the importance of continued
training.
This sort of themed research is conducted over a long time. One line of thinking is that the pressureof doing lessons at one’s school puts a big burden on the trainee. However, with regard to revisions
in curriculum guidelines, great emphasis has been placed on the process of inquiry and research
activities in science (MEXT, 2017). It can be said that they form the core of the new curriculum
guidelines (Ohtaka, 2018b). And if we are to expect young students to conduct their inquiry
independently, they must elevate the abilities of the science teachers tasked with their education.
For teachers to maintain a constant spirit of curiosity to promote their own learning, the most effective
policy is for them to actively take advantage of research opportunities that explore science teacher
training, which will help them proactively identify issues and make improvements in the practicalaspects of education.

References
1. Central Council for Education. (2015). “About the Improvement of Competencies and Capabilities
of Teachers Who Are Responsible for School Education in the Future: Towards Building the
Teacher Training Community for Mutual Learning and Encouragement.” (Report).
2. Central Council for Education. (2012). “About the Comprehensive Improvement of Measuring a
Teacher’s Qualification and Ability throughout His/Her Professional Life.” (Report).
3. MEXT. (2017). Junior High School Teaching Guide for the Japanese Course of Study—
Science.
4. MEXT. “Beginner Training.” Last accessed on 30 January 2019 at https://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/kenshu/1244828.htm.
5. NASEM. (2009). Research on Japanese Lessons (First Volume): The History of Lesson
Research and Teacher Training. Gakushisha.

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6. NISTSD. (2018). Teacher Training Guide 2018: Knowledge and Techniques for Effective
Management.
7. Ohtaka Izumi. (2008). “What Do You Study at a Graduate School of Education?—Originality
and Advantages of Teacher Training.” Teacher Training Course, Vol. 34, 12th edition,
Kyodoshuppan, pp. 24–27.
8. Ohtaka Izumi. (2018a). “Competencies and Capabilities Required of Teachers and Their Leaning.”
Ryuzaburo Kikuchi: Introductory Book for Teachers. Kyodoshuppan, pp. 67–84.
9. Ohtaka Izumi. (2018b). Embodying the Image of Science Lessons in Junior High School.
Dainippon-tosho.
10. Teacher Y. (2001, 2005, 2007, and 2011). Teacher Y’s Records for Beginner Training, 2001;
Fifth-Year Teacher Training, 2005; Teacher Training, 2007; and 10th-Year Teacher Training, 2011.
X Prefecture Educational Centre.
11. Tetsuo Hori. (2004). OPP Assessment in Science: Footprints for Learning Made in
Collaboration with Students and Teachers. Nihon Hyoujun, pp. 10–20.
12. X Prefecture Educational Center. (2001, 2005, 2007, and 2011). Distributed Materials at BeginnerTraining, 2001; Fifth-Year Teacher Training, 2005; Teacher Training, 2007; and 10th-Year Teacher
Training, 2011.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

A New Framework for StatisticalThinking in the Time of Big Dataand the Digital Economy
Dr. Orlando González
Assistant Professor
Graduate School of Human Sciences
Assumption University of Thailand
Dr. Masami Isoda
Professor
Faculty of Human Sciences
CRICED
University of Tsukuba
Dr. Roberto Araya
Professor
CIAE
University of Chile

Abstract
This article introduces a five-phase framework for the statistical thinking needed for processing
big data and using AI-driven data analytics platforms. The five phases identified by the framework
are patterns and relationships from data, questions, objectives, data mining, and designing. The
framework describes how statistical thinking processes have evolved from a traditional questionthen-answer analysis to a more creative approach, which starts with data-based answers fromexamining opportunistic data and then works backwards to find the questions that should havebeen asked. In order to help illustrate how the proposed framework can be implemented at theschool level, an exemplar application related to aging population issues is provided and a step-bystep description of the statistical thinking processes involved is presented.
Keywords: Statistical thinking, STEAM Education, big data, digital economy, curriculum framework– 61 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Introduction
The interest in big data is growing exponentially in today’s society. Commercial insights, government
initiatives, and even research calls all seem to focus on exploiting the potential of technology tocapture and analyse massive amounts of data in increasingly powerful ways. Big data, namely,
data that is too big for standard database software to process, is everywhere. For some, big data
represents a paradigm shift in the way we understand and study our world and, at the very least,
it is seen as a way to better utilise and creatively analyse information for public and private benefit.
The concept of big data “refers to datasets whose size is beyond the ability of typical databasesoftware tools to capture, store, manage, and analyse” (Manyika, et al., 2011, p. 1). Additionally,
big data is often associated with key characteristics that go beyond the question of size, namely,
volume, velocity, variety, veracity, and value (5Vs) (Storey and Song, 2017). Big data is dispersed
among various platforms that operate with different standards, providers, and degrees of access(Ferguson, 2012). For example, a lot of work in big data focuses on Twitter, the blogosphere, andsearch engine queries. All of these activities are not undertaken equally by the whole population,
which raises concerning issues surrounding the question, “of whose data traces will be analysedwhen using big data”.
There are also a number of practical issues related to working with big data. These include, among
others, issues we cannot afford to ignore, such as implications for the training of future teachers
regarding handling and analysing large datasets, including big data (Isoda, Chitmun, and González,2018).
Due to the fact that big data has recently become mainstream in many research fields, including
education, and the ability to handle big data is considered a key to success in a world driven by thedigital economy, it is important to discuss and answer the following questions:•

In order to function effectively in a society driven by big data and the digital economy, what are
the necessary processes of statistical thinking required to handle big data?

•

How can we revise current curriculum frameworks for statistical thinking to incorporate big data
for the digital economy?

•

How can we incorporate core ideas of big data for the digital economy into the high school
curriculum?

•

What are plausible instructional activities (i.e., exemplar applications) for teaching the fundamental
ideas of statistics while fostering statistical thinking for big data and the digital economy?

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A New Framework for Statistical Thinking
Many researchers (e.g., delMas, 2002; Isoda, et al., 2018; Wild and Pfannkuch, 1999; Watson,
2017; and Wild, Utts, and Horton, 2018) consider statistical thinking as the practice of statistics
through the enactment of the different thought processes involved in statistical problem solving
and investigation. In this digital era, statistical thinking processes do not follow the problem-plandata-analysis-conclusion (PPDAC) cycle (Wild and Pfannkuch, 1999) anymore due to the shift in
the way we work with data, set by the arrival of big data analytics. In fact, the PPDAC cycle is aquestion-then-answer research method that focuses on data gathered for a purpose using planned
processes, chosen on statistical grounds to justify certain types of inferences and conclusions.
However, in terms of big data, this is actually a weakness because most of the big data available isopportunistic (i.e., happenstance or “found”) data, this is huge amounts of data already collected byothers and hosted somewhere (Wild, et al., 2018). Nowadays, many companies have data teams
exploring large sets of raw opportunistic data, looking for new connections and identifying significant
correlations while refining their analyses until they arrive at valuable meanings. This approach reverses
the question-then-answer process of the PPDAC cycle. It starts with strong, data-based answers
and then works backwards to find the questions that should have been asked.
We must acknowledge that any up-to-date framework for statistical thinking must be designed,
giving consideration to these criticisms to the PPDAC cycle. By doing so, we came up with thefollowing framework to describe how a person engages in statistical thinking when handling big data.
The proposed framework understands statistical thinking as a cognitive process comprising thefollowing five phases.
Questions
Pose critical and worrying questions in order to find plausible explanations to the patterns andrelationships found.
Objectives
Set objectives related to the questions posed, in order to analyse the data.
Data Mining
Reexamine the data in light of the objectives, explore old and new data sources, or introduce newvariables for consideration. Data mining can be data-, explanation-, or future-oriented.

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Designing
Based on the results of the data mining, statistical thinkers develop an understanding of the past andpresent conditions of certain topics of interest. This understanding enables them to generate ideas
for new activities and design plans and strategies for the future, aiming to turning such ideas andplans into something valuable.

Exemplar Application of the Framework: Aging Population Issues in
APEC Member Countries
For the purpose of exemplifying this framework, let us suppose that we are interested in exploring
issues related to population aging, which is a concerning issue in many societies, such as Japan.
We can thus check the worldwide trend of web searches for terms such as “social security” and“nursing home,” focusing on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries.
For this example, we will use Google Trends (https://trends.google.com), which is a publicly
accessible online platform for big data that enables creative discovery from information on how
frequently a given search term was entered into Google in real-time or within given time and dateconstraints.
Patterns and Relationships from Data
Using Google Trends, we looked for patterns and relationships within the data hosted on theplatform, based on our interest in aging population issues in APEC member countries. Then, by
checking the worldwide trend of web searches for terms related to aging population, such as “social
security” and “nursing home,” we will be able to identify possible patterns and relationships in thedata regarding the issue. Figure 16 shows the worldwide search trends for “social security” and“nursing home” from 2004 to 2018.

Figure 16: Worldwide search trends for “social security” (in blue) and “nursing home” (in red) within 15 years (i.e., 2004–2018)– 64 –

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Now, let us focus on the online search trends for the terms “social security” and “nursing home” in
APEC member countries. In the top row of Figure 17, we can see that in 2018, more searches for“nursing home” were seen in Japan, Canada, and the U.S. than for “social security.” On the other
hand, in the bottom row, we can see that more searches for “social security” were seen in Chile,Peru, and South Korea than for “nursing home.”

Figure 17: Comparison of searches for the terms “social security” (in blue) and “nursing home” (in red) in six APEC
member countries in 2018

Questions
From the visual representations obtained using Google Trends, it is possible to pose a series ofquestions regarding the statistical information displayed, in order to find explanations to the patterns
and relationships found. These questions can support the process of critical evaluation of statisticalmessages and lead to the creation of more data representations, informed interpretations, andjudgements. Some questions that might be posed for this example are:•Why do some countries, such as Japan, Canada, and the U.S., seem to show considerably
more online search interest in “nursing home” than “social security”?

•

Why do some countries, such as Chile, Peru, and South Korea, seem to show considerably
more online search interest in “social security” than “nursing home”?

•

What are the reasons for the decreasing and increasing trends shown by the graphs?

•

What could these trends mean for individual APEC member countries, such as those shown in
Figure 17, in the next decade?

•In countries, such as Japan, Canada, and the U.S., where there seems to be more online searchinterest in “nursing home” than “social security,” what will the trend be like for related queries,
such as “nurse”?

•

In countries, such as Chile, Peru, and South Korea, where there seems to be more online searchinterest in “social security” than “nursing home,” what will the trend be like or the reasons behindrelated queries, such as “tax” or “pension”?

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1•

What is the social security policy like in countries that show considerably more online searchinterest in “nursing home” than “social security” (e.g., Japan, Canada, and the U.S.)?

•

What is the current state of nursing home services provided to the elderly in countries showing
considerably more online search interest in “social security” than “nursing home” (e.g., Chile,Peru, and South Korea)?

Objectives
Now, from the questions posed, we are able to set clear objectives to address. In fact, each objective
should be associated with at least one question. In this example, some objectives stemming fromthe questions above are:•

To look for and identify the reasons why some APEC member countries seem to show considerably
more or less online search interest in “nursing home” than “social security”•

To determine the behaviour of individual APEC member countries regarding individual queries,
such as those mentioned above•

To predict trends in web searches for the terms “nursing home” and “social security” in APEC
member countries in the next decade•

To determine the reasons behind the nature of related queries (e.g., “nurse” for countries showing
more online search interest in “nursing home” and “tax” or “pension” for countries showing moreinterest in “social security”) in APEC member countries with regard to a particular search trend

Data Mining
During this phase of the statistical thinking process, addressing the objectives set in the previous
phase will lead to a reexamination of the data, from which new insights and knowledge discovery will
emerge from three types of data mining—big data-, explanation-, and future-oriented.
For the purpose of exemplifying this phase, let us address objective 1 (i.e., look for and identify thereasons why some APEC member countries seem to show considerably more or less online searchinterest in “nursing home” than “social security”). In the case of Japan and other APEC member
countries, the main reason can be the current structure of the population pyramid (i.e., explanationoriented data mining). In order to construct plausible explanations from the population pyramids, weneed to select and transform the necessary data into the required form (i.e., big data-oriented data
mining), as shown in Figure 18.

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Figure 18: 2017 population pyramids for Japan, Canada, and the U.S.

So, if we look at the population pyramids of the APEC member countries in the top row of Figure
17, we can see different structures among the countries, regardless of the fact that in 2018, online
searches for the term “nursing home” were higher in Japan, Canada, and the U.S. in comparison to
the term “social security” (see Figure 18).
In Japan and Canada, we can observe a large proportion of the population close to or over retirementage. In the U.S., this phenomenon is not an issue, because a large proportion of the population is
below 50 years old or far from retirement age. Thus, plausible explanations as to why some APEC
member countries seem to show considerably more or less online search interest in “nursing home”
than “social security” may vary from country to country. In the cases of Japan and Canada, a large
group of elderly people close to retirement or who are already retired may be planning to live in anursing home. In the case of the U.S., young people starting to make a life for themselves may belooking for information on nursing homes for their elderly parents.
From these hypotheses, we can make inferences and imagine the future of “nursing homes” inJapan, Canada, and the U.S. (i.e., future-oriented data mining) using big data to support our plausible
explanations (see Figure 19).

Figure 19: Number of nursing homes in Japan (red line, 2005–2014) and the U.S. (blue line, 2000–2016)

Designing
From the discovered knowledge, inferences, and plausible explanations generated in the previous
phase, we gained valuable insights for the topics of interest (i.e., “nursing home” and “social security”).
This understanding provides us with ideas to develop new activities related to the topics or variablesof interest. Understanding the past and present allow us to design for the future, all supported by
the data mining results.

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In our exemplar application, from understanding the rising need for nursing homes and nurses inJapan, someone could design business plans targeting senior citizens to provide in-home careservices, senior citizen transportation services, e-commerce stores for the elderly, wheelchair
manufacturing plants, foreign nurse recruitment agencies, and so on. In the U.S., most of theseideas (e.g., a foreign nurse recruitment agency to provide care services for the elderly) will not work
everywhere, but could be successful in some states, such as Oregon and Virginia, as shown in
Figure 20.

Figure 20: Online Search interest in the term “nurse” in the U.S. in 2004–2018

Conclusion
In the time of big data, AI, and the digital economy, statistical thinking has evolved from traditionalquestion-then-answer analysis, where we ask questions and then collect and analyse data to arrive at
a conclusion that we can use to make decisions. Now, we should use a more disruptive and creative
approach, which starts with data-based answers derived from the examination of opportunistic data
or data that just happens to be available in electronic form because it was accumulated by otherpeople for other reasons, and then works backwards to find the questions that should have beenasked.
In this scenario, previous frameworks of statistical thinking, such as the PPDAC cycle, are notappropriate to explain the richness and complexity of thinking involved in real-world statisticalinvestigations dealing with big data. In that regard, we developed a new framework for statisticalthinking comprising five phases or cognitive processes (i.e., patterns and relationships from data,
questions, objectives, data mining, and designing) in order to appropriately describe how a person
engages in statistical thinking when handling big data. An exemplar application of the framework
illustrated the richness and complexity of thinking involved when handling big data from Google
Trends, exploring issues related to population aging by checking the worldwide trend of web searches
for terms such as “social security” and “nursing home” focusing on APEC member countries. From
this application, it was possible to identify countries with similar and contrasting characteristics andclassify APEC member countries based on such characteristics.

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Although we have illustrated our proposed new framework for statistical thinking with an exemplar
application, issues regarding how we can incorporate core ideas related to big data for the digital
economy into the high school curriculum of each APEC member country, as well as what plausible
instructional activities (i.e., exemplar applications) can be designed for teaching the fundamental
ideas of statistics while fostering statistical thinking when handling big data, are expected to befundamental outcomes of the discussion of the current document among all of the participants of
the APEC-Tsukuba International Conference 2019 held at the University of Tsukuba Tokyo Campus(http://www.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/math/apec/apec2019/).

References
1. Chris J. Wild and Maxine Pfannkuch. (1999). “Statistical Thinking in Empirical Enquiry.”International Statistical Review, 67(3):223–265.
2. Chris J. Wild, Jessica M. Utts, and Nicholas J. Horton. (2018). “What Is Statistics?” In D. BenZvi, K. Makar, and J. Garfield (Eds.), International Handbook of Research in Statistics
Education, pp. 5–36. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
3. James Manyika, Michael Chui, Brad Brown, Jacques Bughin, Richard Dobbs, Charles Roxburgh,and Angela Hung Byers. (2011). Big Data: The Next Frontier for Innovation, Competition,
and Productivity. Seoul: McKinsey Global Institute.
4. Jane Marie Watson. (2017). “Linking Science and Statistics: Curriculum Expectations in ThreeCountries.” International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 15:1,057–
1,073.
5. Masami Isoda, Somchai Chitmun, and Orlando González. (2018). “Japanese and Thai SeniorHigh School Mathematics Teachers’ Knowledge of Variability.” Statistical Education Research
Journal, 17(2):196–215. Retrieved from https://iase-web.org/documents/SERJ/SERJ17(2)_Isoda.pdf.
6. Rebecca Ferguson. (2012). “Learning Analytics: Drivers, Developments, and Challenges.”International Journal of Technology-Enhanced Learning, 4(5/6):304–317.
7. Robert C. delMas. (2002). “Statistical Literacy, Reasoning, and Learning: A Commentary.”
Journal of Statistics Education, 10(3). Retrieved from http://jse.amstat.org/v10n3/delmas_
discussion.html.
8. Veda C. Storey and Il-Yeol Song. (2017). “Big Data Technologies and Management: What
Conceptual Modeling Can Do.” Data and Knowledge Engineering, 108:50–67.

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Mathematics Education
for Future-Ready Learners:
A Singapore Experience
Dr. Toh Tin Lam
National Institute of Education
Nanyang Technological University
Singaporetinlam.toh@nie.edu.sg

Abstract
This article presents the readers an alternative paradigm of teaching students mathematics not
through the usual textbook approach but using comics and the related pedagogies. The author
argues that it is more useful to equip students with the skills to acquire knowledge by using contexts
that they are likely to encounter in the future. The author further continues with the research experiencein Singapore in using comics in teaching mathematics. The approach began with the low-scoring
students in mathematics, and it is argued that there is room for extending this method to othergroups of students.
Keywords: Mathematics teaching, Singapore, innovative pedagogy

Introduction
Equipping students with the knowledge and skills necessary for adult working life is no longer asuitable paradigm for teacher education today, as the world is changing very quickly. The spanof certain fields of knowledge is increasing at an exponential rate, and what is learned today may
be quickly made obsolete by new technologies. The way a student understands the world today
is so much different from a decade ago. Projecting into the future, the way a student of the future
understands the world is beyond our imagination at present. For example, calculating one’s positionon the surface of the Earth by assuming it is a sphere has been made irrelevant by the use of
the Global Positioning System (GPS). It is thus necessary to reconsider our paradigm of teacher
education as one that prepares students to be future-ready.

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Threat versus Opportunity
Worldwide educational programmes have evolved into more theory- than skill-based programmes,and most instructional programmes tend to have an advantage for students who are visual and audio
learners (Glass, 2003). Students whose learning styles are classified as “kinesthetic” tend to lose out
in such educational programmes and are more often than not classified as “low attainers” (Amir andSubramaniam, 2007 and Rayneri, et al., 2003).
A purely theory-based education programme might not be sufficient to equip students for the unknown
future. For example, the world today combines and presents information and knowledge in different
forms, including visual cues, rather than in textbook format. For example, when I was presenting toa group of high school mathematics students a combinatorics problem involving “dictionary order”
of arranging a series of letters, everyone was stunned because they have never used a dictionary
before! Any information they need, they retrieve online via a search engine or Wikipedia.
Teachers’ day-to-day experience with students also shows that most of the so-called “low attainers”
in school are “street-smart” individuals who can decipher information in the real world better thanhigh achievers in school. As such, teachers could view this as an opportunity to close the gap
between students of different achievement levels. In the remaining part of this article, I will discuss
an effort in Singapore for mathematics education that aims to prepare students to be future-ready,beginning with a trial with low-scoring students through an innovative pedagogy of using comics formathematics instruction.

A Singapore Experience: Start with Low-Scoring Students
A survey was conducted by Toh and Lui (2014) on how Singapore teachers attempted to address
the learning needs of their low-scoring mathematics students. They found that the teachers werevery concerned with the mathematics learning of their low-scoring students despite the fact that
Singapore performs very well in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study(TIMSS) and PISA. In an effort to help students cope with mathematics, there was a great dealof effort, though not well-coordinated, among mathematics teachers to devise their own creative
teaching approaches to improve student performance. Among the many teaching approaches,
storytelling, comics, and cartoons were used by the teachers for mathematics instruction. After thissurvey, I assembled a team of researchers from the Singapore National Institute of Education to
propose a research project that introduced using comics for mathematics instruction for low-scoring
students. We worked with three Singaporean mainstream schools. We eventually scaled up thestudy to 11 schools in total.
We began the whole process by designing sets of comics for selected mathematics topics from thelower secondary mathematics curriculum. As the research attempted to study the impact of comics
on student learning and analyse the features of a comics-based mathematics lesson, we requested
the participating schools to use the comics teaching package as an alternative for current resources.
In other words, the comics teaching package should be used as a “replacement unit” (Leong, et al.,2018).

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In designing our comics teaching package, we developed the following items:•

The sets of comic strips were chosen to cover all of the mathematical concepts for the selected
topics. We replaced most of the standard textbook content and showed examples via comic
strips with story lines that explained concepts within the context of the comics. These story lines
were infused with contexts that the Singapore students were particularly familiar with (e.g., great
Singaporean sales, the cultural heritage of Singapore, etc.). In addition, the comics packages
were presented in two forms—hard copy version (where the students were given a printed copyof each comic book) and online version (where the students were provided with a password
to log in to the platform). After the first cycle of implementation, we developed a parallel set ofcomics, where the readers were given an opportunity to complete the story by filling in blanks incomic strips. According to some teachers, they preferred that their students complete the story
on the hard copies instead of passively listening to stories told during lessons.

•

Each set of comics was accompanied by practice questions for teachers to reinforce theacquisition of mathematical concepts. These practice questions consisted of those within
the context of the comics, questions from a similar context, and the typical examination-type
questions. We wanted to ensure that the students had sufficient practice with the questions
and, more importantly, that they were able to apply the knowledge they acquired across various
contexts.

•

We also included classroom activities that promoted the development of higher-order thinking
skills (HOTS) among students. These questions stretched student thinking beyond the lower
level tasks of understanding and application. In addition, we included open-ended tasks forstudents to use creativity to extend their understanding of mathematics.

•

In addition, we provided a set of suggested lesson outlines, where we proposed how the lesson
could be conducted using the comics package. In the first draft of this set of lesson outlines, we
proposed storytelling as the underlying pedagogy to conduct lessons using the comics package.
However, as we observed the lessons of many teachers, we saw that they included many goodpractices, which we eventually included in the outlines for the second and subsequent cyclesof implementation.

Observations
We (Toh, Cheng, Ho, Jiang, and Lim, 2017) presented our observations from a mathematics lesson
presented by a pair of teachers from a particular mainstream school. This was our first attempt tounderstand how a mathematics lesson using comics could possibly ensue and what its features
were. We attempted to use the framework of the 21st-century competency (21cc) model suggestedby the Singapore Ministry of Education (MoE) (see Figure 21).

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Figure 21: 21cc framework

We reported in Toh, et al. (2017) that the teachers seized every opportunity provided by the comics
to engage students in mathematical discourse. There were several instances where the teachersattempted to use visual cues from the comics to invite students to decipher the meanings of visual
codes and interpret the context of the story lines of the comics. The teachers also infused various
elements of civic literacy and global awareness into their lessons. The interview conducted with thestudents showed a positive gain in various soft skills that form part of the elements of Singapore’s
21cc framework. Interested readers are encouraged to read the article for more details.
We (Toh, Cheng, Lim, and Lim, 2018) further attempted to observe the comics mathematics lessonsof several other teachers. We saw that the comics mathematics lessons did not merely involve
passive learning, comics reading, or monotonous narrating of the story by the teachers (as we earlier
proposed in the first draft of the lesson proposals). The teachers seized the opportunity to engage
students in active learning. The students in these classes were actively engaged in mathematics
discourse during the lessons. In particular, the teachers engaged their students in role-play toreenact the entire story line of the comics with various students playing fictitious characters. The
other students actively participated by asking and answering questions during the interaction with thefictitious characters. Not only that, the teachers also engaged students to participate in constructing
the story by using comic strips with partially removed dialogues.
All of the observations above led us to further fine-tune our proposed lesson outlines for thesubsequent implementation of the comics research project. As such, our research went throughcycles of design, implementation, and fine-tuning, as shown in Figure 22.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Figure 22: Design cycle of the comics research project

Next Step
As the research went on, we received interest from various schools in duplicating the programme
for upper primary- and secondary-level students. According to the feedback given by interested
teachers, the design of the comics project was suitable not only to motivate the unmotivated but
also to prepare students to acquire knowledge beyond textbooks, that is, from a real-world context.
Mathematics educators are moving away from heavily worded mathematical problems to situations
that involve a combination of different representations of information that usually involve a combinationof graphics and words (Lowrie, 2012). Thus, it is not an exaggeration to say that the use of comics ineducation could reach an unprecedented status in preparing students for literacy in the future world.

Acknowledgement
This research project is funded by the research funding of the Singapore Ministry of Education
managed by the National Institute of Education with reference number AFR 04/16 TTL.

References
1. Amir, N. and Subramaniam, R. (2007). “Making a Fun Cartesian Diver: A Simple Project toEngage Kinesthetic Learners.” Physics Education, 42(5):478–480.
2. Glass, S. (2003). “The Uses and Applications of Learning Technologies in the Modern Classroom:
Finding a Common Ground between Kinesthetic and Theoretical Delivery.” Educational
Research Report. Information Analyses (070).

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

3. Leong, Y.H.; Tay, E.G.; Toh, T.L.; Quek, K.S.; Toh, P.C.; and Dindyal, J. (2016). “Infusing
Mathematical Problem Solving into the Mathematics Curriculum: Replacement Units.” In Felmer,
P.; Perhkonen, E.; and Kilpatrick, J. (Eds.), Posing and Solving Mathematical Problems:
Advances and New Perspectives, pp. 309–326. Geneva: Springer.
4. Lowrie, T.(2012).“Visualand Spatial Reasoning: The Changing Formof Mathematics Representation
and Communication.” In B. Kaur and T.L. Toh (Eds.), Reasoning, Communication, andConnections in Mathematics, pp. 149–168). Singapore: World Scientific.
5. Rayneri, L. J.; Gerber, B. L.; and Wiley, L. P. (2003). “Gifted Achievers and Gifted Underachievers:
The Impact of Learning Style Preferences in the Classroom.” Journal of Secondary Gifted
Education, 14(4):197–204.
6. Toh, T.L.; Chan, C.M.E.; Cheng, L.P.; Lim, K.M.; and Lim, L.H. (2018). “Use of Comics and Its
Adaptation in the Mathematics Classroom.” In P.C. Toh and B.L. Chua (Eds.), Mathematics
Instruction: Goals, Tasks, and Activities, pp. 67–86. Singapore: World Scientific.
7. Toh, T.L.; Cheng, L.P.; Ho, S.Y.; Jiang, H.; and Lim, K.M. (2017). “Use of Comics to EnhanceStudents’ Learning for the Development of 21cc in the Mathematics Classroom.” Asia Pacific
Journal of Education, pp. 1–16.
8. Toh, T.L. and Lui, H.W. (2014). “Helping Normal Technical Students with Learning Mathematics:
A Preliminary Survey.” Learning Science and Mathematics Online Journal, 2014(1):1–10.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Suggesting Inter-disciplinary
Teacher Education for the Fourth
Industrial Revolution: A Korean
Perspective
Dr. Hee Chan Lew
Korea National University of Educationhclew@knue.ac.kr

Abstract
This article aims to present a new direction for teacher education in Korea to develop teachers’
competencies to foster “convergence” and “creativity,” which are crucial for making the Fourth
Industrial Revolution sustainable. It introduces “inter-disciplinary teacher education” that is being
pursued in recent years by the Korea National University of Education. After reviewing the educational
challenges to prepare for dramatic social changes brought on by the revolution, the activities of theConvergence Education Research Center and Future Education Experience Center of Korea National
University will be presented. Finally, the international cooperation programme and five-year training
course that the university plans to implement in the long term will be proposed as a necessary
strategy to realise inter-disciplinary teacher education.
Keywords: Teacher education, Korean education Challenge, Fourth Industrial Revolution

Current Issues in Education
The Fourth Industrial Revolution refers to the recent industrial transformation based on a range of newtechnologies like AI, VR, the Internet of Things (IoT), and self-driving cars that intelligently connect
machines and humans through a high-speed fifth-generation mobile (5G) network (Schwab, 2017).
It is the revolution that will cause dramatic changes not only in industries but also in our everyday
lives through the fusion of ultramodern technologies. In the new society, education also faces newchallenges that are quite different from what we have seen so far (Ryu, 2020).

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

In this society, a converging aptitude is believed to be one of the most important concepts in the
educational arena that must be turned into a habit because the Fourth Industrial Revolution requires
convergence (MoE, 2015). In that sense, we need to teach students about the connections andcomplex relationships between humans and machines, which will change how we think and live,
rather than teach them to just understand and utilise fragmentary knowledge. Furthermore, education
should provide comprehensive social information beyond what traditional subject matters teach sothat students can cope with the rapid changes in the job market. The Fourth Industrial Revolution
urges us to change certain areas in education, such as:•

Add a converging aptitude to curricular activities•

Discuss the complex relationships between humans and machines•

Include comprehensive social information in lessons to go beyond learning from traditional
subjects

Technology has allowed AI systems to take charge of many things that only human beings werecapable of in the past (MoE, 2019). Education should thus focus on developing soft skills, such associal ability, sensitivity, empathy, passion for adventure, and networking, along with cognitive skills
such as critical thinking and problem solving. Also, as the social structure changes so rapidly that
schools cannot afford to be in charge of all education, students need to master the ability to learn
on their own from the surrounding communities. To sustain the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it isimportant to train students to attain new kinds of skills that include:•

Cognitive skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving•

Soft skills, such as being passionate about adventure and networking•

Self-learning from the surrounding world

The Korean government provides core competencies that curricula should include, such as selfmanagement, information processing, creative thinking, aesthetic sensibility, communication, andcommunity competency (MoE, 2015). All of these six abilities are closely related to connectivity,
which is a crucial concept in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as shown in Table 5.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1
Goal

Description

Connectivity

Self-management

Ability to self-direct to carve one’s
future life and career

Connection between students
and their future lives as a job
acquisition strategy

Information processing

Ability to process information invarious areas to solve problems
reasonably

Connection among various pieces
of information as a problemsolving strategy

Creative thinking

Ability to create new things by
converging knowledge, skills, andexperiences in various fields

Connection between knowledge,
skills, and experiences as a toolfor creation

Aesthetic sensibility

Ability to discover the meaningand value of life based on a
sympathetic understanding of
human beings and a sense ofcultural sensibility

Connection between life andculture as a tool to appreciate themeaning and value of life

Communication

Ability to effectively express one’s
thoughts and feelings in various
situations

Connection between humans asa tool to understand each otherCommunity competency

Ability to actively participate incommunity development with thevalues and attitudes required bymembers of local, national, andglobal communities

Connection among students andvarious members of the society asa tool to live together

Table 5: Curriculum goals to realise connectivity, a key concept in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

In order to sustain the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it has long been argued that educational

Current Issues in Teacher Education
methodologies should be integrated rather than compartmentalised, as they are now (MoE, 2011,2012, 2015a, and 2015b). Convergence education should foster students who can communicate
different ideas and perspectives to their colleagues and synthesise differences with an open mind
(MoE, 2019). Students need to understand that society, nature, and the world should be all connectedorganically, and basic knowledge of humanities, social studies, science, art, and technology should
be cultivated in a balanced and integrated way. For such education, it is necessary to guide students
to compare and connect various knowledge and appreciate situations, contexts, and preconditions
where knowledge is made rather than teach them isolated knowledge in a systematic way.
However, there have been no serious debates on how to train teachers who will comprehensively
manage classrooms. At present, the teacher education system trains teachers with acompartmentalised viewpoint of each subject like mathematics, English, or science under adepartment that is very similar to the school system in structure. If we view the Fourth Industrial
Revolution as an age of convergence, the current compartmentalised teacher education systemshould change. We still train “old-style teachers” for uniform education, which was appropriate for theprevious Third Industrial Revolution era. The uniform education was to mass-produce “good workers”
with basic skills and knowledge to propel economic development quickly, rather than with creativity
required in the era of the 4th industrial revolution.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

A New Vision of Korea National University of Education for
Teacher Education
The Korea National University of Education is the country’s only comprehensive teacher training
institution. It trains all pre-service kindergarten to high school teachers and provides almost all kindsof in-service training programmes. It is also responsible for the nation’s new principal training andmentor teacher qualification programmes.
To train education experts to become creative leaders in line with the advent of the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, the Korea National University of Education proposed six major competencies as new
educational goals—humanity in community (H), integrated intelligence (I), globalisation (G), harmonyin school (H), experience in classroom (E), and renovation (R), which can be summarised by theacronym “HIGHER.”
6 Visions

AcronymDescription

Humanity in community

H

Teacher as a social leader withthe personality to coordinate
interpersonal relationships

Integrated intelligence

I

Teacher as a classroom specialist
with a STEAM perspective

Globalisation

G

Teacher as a global leader with aninternational perspective

Harmony in school

H

Teacher as a school leader
with a sense of empathy incommunicating with colleagues,
students and parents

Experience in classroom

E

Teacher as a classroom manager
with field experience

Renovation

R

Teacher as an educationalinnovator with an eye for the future
education environment

Table 6: A new vision for Korea National University of Education

In order to realise this vision, the Korea National University of Education carried out a total of 62
projects from 2017 in seven areas with the support of the government’s ACE+ Fund for universities
with “excellent undergraduate education development plans.”– 80 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1
Area

Projects

Liberal arts curriculum revision

10 projects, including “Community, Personality, andCulture”

Major curriculum revision

8 projects, including “Developing VR Content”

Non-subject matter curriculum revision

8 projects, including “Education Donation andOverseas Volunteer Work”

Improved academic management system

4 projects, including “Intensive Course System”

Improved student guidance system

10 projects, including “Community Development
and Student Guidance”

Area

Projects

Improved teaching support system

10 projects, including teaching and learning support
programmes

Improved education quality control system

12 projects, including “Cultural and Major Education”
and reorganising the centre for reverse education

Table 7: Korea National University of Education ACE+-funded projects to realise its vision

Convergence Education Research Center
To present a new paradigm of convergence education for the cultivation of Human Resources
required by the future society and nurture teachers capable of cultivating convergent talents, theConvergence Education Research Center was established by the Korea National University of
Education in 2016. The centre will be responsible for several areas discussed below.

Convergence Teacher Education Programme
The centre develops a variety of convergence teacher education programmes to strengthen theconvergence capacity of pre-service teachers and conduct various activity-oriented convergenceeducation projects to help them develop various contents on their own when they graduate.

Mentoring System for Pre-Service Teachers
The centre runs a mentoring system in cooperation with the National Council of Mentor Teachers,
focusing on managing classes. If there is a request for a training course from each department, thecentre invites proper mentor teachers who have previous experience in convergence education as atutor or a consultant for the department.

Festivals, Forums, and Workshops
The centre hosts festivals, forums, and workshops, where students and teachers participate tospread convergence education nationwide and improve teachers’ job guidance skills for junior andsenior high school students.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Policy Design for MoE
The centre suggests various policies to support convergence education and plays a role in advising
MoE’s provincial education offices and schools.

Convergence Education Student Programme
The centre develops convergence education programmes that can be used in K-12 schools andcollects responses from the field about whether teachers have realised a positive change in students’convergence capabilities or not.

Future Education Experience Center
Facilities are necessary to enhance pre-service teachers’ convergence capabilities through activities
related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. At present, there are many Maker Spaces and FAB Labs
that serve as various convergence education facilities across the country. However, most of them arefor young entrepreneurs and engineering college students rather than pre- and in-service teachers.
The Korea National University of Education plans to establish the “Future Education Experience
Center” to improve the educational convergence capacity of pre- and in-service teachers. This centre
consists of three main areas—a future career experience zone, a future educational environmentzone, and a maker zone.
Future Career Experience Zone
This consists of career inspection, consultation, and experience rooms as spaces to foster teachers’
career guidance capacities and support students’ own career designs, as the occupational world
rapidly changes in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Future Educational Environment Zone
This is a space that provides an opportunity to understand, experience, and utilise advanced
technologies to enhance the future education capabilities of pre- and in-service teachers. It is anadvanced technology exhibit and experience space that visitors can access and functions as atestbed for edu-tech businesses.
Maker Zone
This consists of a maker lounge, a prototype room, a wood design room, an art design room,a software room, and a support room to promote the “maker space movement” and present a
standard model for maker space education in the community and the public sector.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

International Exchange and Cooperation
As Charles Dickens, a British novelist during the Victorian Age said in one of his novels, “The best
and the worst, wisdom and foolishness, faith and doubt, light and dark coexist when revolution
rises.” Cooperation among scholars and teachers in various fields to open their minds and haveserious and keen discussions is the only way not to move in the wrong direction. The Convergence
Education Research Center has been pursuing international cooperation with the LUMA Centerof Helsinki University and UPI in Indonesia for the past three years now. Shortly, it will expand andcontinue international cooperations to exchange ideas about convergence education with SouthAmerica and Southeast Asia, specifically with the University of Chile, Khon Kaen University, Universityof Philippines, Vietnam National University of Education, SEAMEO Regional Centre for Educationin Science and Mathematics (RECSAM), SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, SEAMEO QITEP in
Science, SEAMEO Regional Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology (INNOTECH), andother institutions.

Establishment of a Five-Year Teacher Education Plan
The current four-year teacher training system has many problems in training teachers capable oflinking and integrating curricula. That is due to a short education period to build diverse knowledge
and experiences necessary for convergence education that goes beyond the content of one
curriculum. Also, to train interdisciplinary teachers, eight weeks of practical teaching in the current
system must increase to more than 15 weeks. A minimum of five years of teacher training is required
to develop a teacher who can take on convergence education. An additional one-year course canbe used to foster one’s ability to design an integrated curriculum that promotes practical convergencecapabilities and gives way to various heuristic convergence education experiences. The Korea
National University of Education is closely consulting with MoE and provincial education offices tochange teacher education into a five-year course after revising related laws.

Conclusion
The Fourth Industrial Revolution will bring about an unprecedented kind of social change in that it isbased on super connectivity that is incomparable to the previous era. Super connectivity will usher
in a new era that connects human to other human, human to machines, and machines to othermachines. As such, education should also differ from that in the previous revolution era.
In the new society, nurturing figures like Steve Jobs, who has an innovative mind and artistic design
sense, in school is necessary. We need good teachers to realise convergence education. We
need to move away from the “uniform education” that the government and the society have been
implementing since 1960-70 to match the requirements of the Third Industrial Revolution led bycomputer information processing and automated production systems. We have only been training
students to become “good workers” with basic skills and knowledge, rather than creative ones that
the Fourth Industrial Revolution needs. Times are changing. Given that the quality of education does
not exceed teachers’ qualifications, it is time for us to become epistemologically and methodologicallyaware of the new kind of teacher education.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the 2020 Sabbatical Leave Research Grant funded by Korea National
University of Education.

References
1. MoE. (2011). 2009 National Curriculum. Seoul.
2. MoE. (2012). Policies for the Advancement of Mathematical Education. Seoul.
3. MoE. (2015a). 2015 National Curriculum. Seoul.
4. MoE. (2015b). The Second Policy for the Advancement of Mathematical Education.
Seoul.
5. MoE. (2016). Basic Plan for Software Education Activation. Seoul.
6. MoE. (2019). Basic Plan for AI Use in Teacher Education. Seoul.
7. Ryu, T.H. (2020). The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Education Is Hope: A Guideline forStudents, Teachers, and Parents. Seoul: Kyung Hee University Press.
8. Schwab, K. (2017). The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Penguin U.K– 84 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Supporting Reforms andDevelopments in Teacher
Education for the Digital Economy
Dr. Soledad A. UlepUP NISMED

Abstract
Teacher education reforms and developments in the Philippines may be viewed in relation to thecountry’s continuous pursuit of teacher quality. As such, they should be supported. An exampleof these is the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) which define teacher quality
in the country. The Department of Education (DepEd) Teacher Education Council (TEC) publishedthe Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) in 2017. The standards weredeveloped through the Research Center for Teacher Quality. Supporting the PPST entails providing
support to teachers so that they can meet the requirements of the Standards.
This article presents the support initiatives of UP NISMED that address specific domains and strands
in the standards. These interrelated domains include content knowledge and pedagogy, curriculum
and planning, and personal growth and professional development. The kind of support that UP
NISMED extends through its various programmes and projects address these domains and strands
simultaneously.
Keywords: Teacher education, digital economy, educational reform, Philippines

Introduction
Reforms and developments in teacher education in the Philippines may be viewed in relation to thecountry’s continuous pursuit of teacher quality. In 2017, DepEd TEC published the PPST, which
was developed through the Research Center for Teacher Quality. These standards define teacher
quality in the Philippines. They describe expectations from teachers in terms of increasing levelsof knowledge, practice, and professional engagement. In particular, they play an important role inensuring that the K–12 curricular reform will achieve its goals. For the reforms and developments
relative to the standards to be effective, support mechanisms should be put in place.
UP NISMED’s main functions are research, curriculum development, and teacher professional
development in science and mathematics education at the basic and teacher education levels.
Hence, its programs and projects provide support to teachers particularly in relation to the Standards’
domains of content and pedagogy, curriculum and planning, and personal growth and professional– 85 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

development.
Teacher professional development is a lifelong learning process that spans a continuum, where
teachers move from being beginning teachers to proficient ones. They then move on to becoming
highly proficient teachers and finally, to distinguished ones. The qualities of teachers in these different
career stages are detailed in the appendix. This article will focus on the support that UP NISMED
provides to teachers so they can espouse the characteristics of highly proficient professionals.

Different PPST Domains that UP NISMED Supports throughVarious Initiatives
Domain: Content Knowledge and Pedagogy“

This domain recognizes the importance of teachers’ mastery of content knowledge
and its interconnectedness within and across curriculum areas, coupled with asound and critical understanding of the application of theories and principles ofteaching and learning. It encompasses teachers’ ability to apply developmentally
appropriate and meaningful pedagogy grounded on content knowledge andcurrent research. It takes into account teachers’ proficiency in Mother Tongue
Filipino, and English in the teaching and learning process as well as needed skillsin the use of communication strategies, teaching strategies, and technologies topromote high-quality learning outcomes.
—PPST, 2017, p. 10”

Highly Proficient Teacher

StrandContent knowledge and its application within andacross curriculum areas

Model effective applications of content knowledge
within and across curriculum teaching areas

Research-based knowledge and principles ofteaching and learning

Collaborate with colleagues in the conduct andapplication of research to enrich knowledge ofcontent and pedagogy

Positive use of ICT

Promote effective strategies in the positive use of
ICT to facilitate the teaching and learning process

Strategies for promoting literacy and numeracy

Evaluate with colleagues the effectivenessof teaching strategies that promote learnerachievement in literacy and numeracy

Strategies for developing critical and creative
thinking, other higher order thiniking

Develop and apply effective teaching strategies topromote critical and creative thinking, and as well asother higher order thinking skills

Table 8: Domain: Content knowledge and pedagogy standards (PPST, 2017, pp.10–11)– 86 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Domain: Curriculum and Planning“This domain addresses teachers’ knowledge of and interaction with the national
and local curriculum requirements. It encompasses their ability to translate
curriculum content into learning activities that are relevant to learners and basedon the principles of effective teaching and learning. It expects teachers to apply
their professional knowledge to plan and design, individually and in collaboration
with colleagues, well-structured and sequenced lessons. These lesson sequences
and associated learning programmes should be contextually relevant, responsive
to learners’ needs, and incorporate a range of teaching and learning resources.
The Domain expects teachers to communicate learning goals to support learnerparticipation, understanding, and achievement.

”—PPST, 2017, p. 16
Highly Proficient Teacher

StrandPlanning and management of teaching and learning
process

Develop and apply effective strategies in theplanning and management of developmentally
sequenced teaching and learning process tomeet curriculum requirements and varied teachingcontexts

Learning outcomes aligned with learningcompetencies

Model to collegues the setting of achievable andchallenging learning outcomes that are alignedwith learning competencies to cultivate a culture of
excellence for all learners

Professional collaboration to enrich teaching practice

Review with collegues, teacher and learner
feedback to plan, facilitate, and enrich teachingpractice

Teaching and learning resources including ICT

Advise and guide colleagues in the selection,organization, development, and use of appropriate
teaching and learning resources, including ICT, toaddress specific learning goals

Table 9: Domain: Curriculum and planning standards (PPST, 2017, p. 16 - 17)

Domain: Personal Growth and Professional Development“

This domain focuses on teachers’ personal growth and professional development.
It accentuates teachers’ proper and high personal regard for the profession by
maintaining qualities that uphold the dignity of teaching, such as a caring attitude,
respect, and dignity. It values personal and professional reflection and learning to
improve practice. It recognizes the importance of teachers assuming responsibility
for personal growth and professional development for lifelong learning.
—PPST, 2017, p. 22– 87 –”

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1
Highly Proficient Teacher

StrandPhilosophy of teaching

Manifest a learner-centered teaching philosophy invarious aspects of practice and support colleagues
in enhancing their own learner-centered teaching
philosophy

Professional links with colleagues

Contribute actively to professional networks within
and between schools to improve knowledge andenhance practiceProfessional reflection and learning to improvepractice

Initiate professional reflections and promote learning
opportunities with colleagues to improve practiceTable 10: Domain: Personal growth and professional development standards (PPST, 2017, p. 22)

UP NISMED’s programmes and projects that address the foregoing domains include the Collaborative
Lesson Research and Development (CLRD) Programme, the Go Teacher Go! Radio Programme, theSupport Initiatives of UP NISMED
GeoGebra Institute of Metro Manila @UP NISMED website, the Ag/Mat website, and the KaSaMa
Teachers Online Community.

CLRD ProgrammeThis programme uses lesson study to promote teaching science and mathematics through inquiry
and problem solving, respectively. According to Wang-Iverson and Yoshida (2005), in lesson study,
teachers aim to enhance their students’ learning experiences and their own teaching by collaboratively
and systematically carrying out research on classroom teaching and learning. They describe lesson
study as a model of a long-term professional learning led by teachers that was developed in Japan.
Teaching science through inquiry and teaching mathematics through problem solving are learnercentered teaching approaches in that they provide plenty of opportunities for students to engage increative, critical, and other high-level thinking, as they learn science and mathematics content.
In doing lesson study, which is based on the theory of social constructivism, UP NISMED specialists
collaborate with schoolteachers to formulate their research theme or long-term goals and yearly
subgoals or lesson study goal for the long-term development of their students through the improvementof their teaching. Once the goals are set, they plan the unit to which the research lesson that will
help them achieve their goals belongs. In developing the research lesson, whose objectives arealigned with the research theme and lesson study goal, the lesson study team critically examines thecurriculum—its scope and sequence, learning competencies and standards, textbooks, teachers’
guides, research studies on the topic of the lesson, students’ assessment results, and other relevantmaterials and ideas. They also discuss their own experiences with and learnings from their previous
teaching of the topic. They write the research lesson plan then one of the teachers in the team
implements it in his/her own class. The rest of the team members, along with other invited observers,
such as teachers of the same subject but in different grade levels, gather data through observation
when the lesson is implemented. These data serve as the basis of their discussion in the postlesson reflection and discussion (PRD) in relation to the research theme, lesson study goal, and theobjective of the lesson focusing on student learning and thinking. Then the research lesson is revised
based on the results of the PRD and implemented by another teacher in the team in his/her own– 88 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1class. This is followed by another PRD, after which the lesson study team writes its report. Figure 23
shows the lesson study process that is followed in the CLRD Programme.
Figure 23: Lesson study process

Examples of accounts that show that teachers’ knowledge of content was deepened and broadened
and their pedagogy gradually shifted to making students more responsible for their own learning are
documented in the two lesson study books that UP NISMED published as well as in its dedicatedlesson study website (see Figure 24). These and the Lesson Study Guidebook it published support
teachers as they develop a mindset to collaborate with one another so they can grow professionallyand enrich the learning experiences of their students. These resources are also used by education
graduate students for their research on lesson study.
Figure 24: Lesson study books that UP NISMED published and its dedicated lesson study website– 89 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

UP NISMED also conducts professional development programmes with two phases, which aresponsored by various sectors. These programmes often include several schools in a district, city,or province. The first phase is a training programme, which familiarises the participants, consistingof teachers, subject coordinators, principals, supervisors, and teacher educators, with teachingapproaches that are inquiry-based in science and problem-solving-based in mathematics and lesson
study as a teacher professional learning process. The second phase is a school-based followthrough, where UP NISMED specialists observe teacher participants as they implement researchlessons in their own classes. They collaboratively developed the lessons based on their research
theme and lesson study goals. These programmes provide opportunities for schoolteachers anduniversity teacher educators to collaborate. The latter serve as knowledgeable others both in theplanning and PRD stages of lesson study.
The Philippine Association of Lesson and Learning Studies (PALS) is an organisation initiated by
UP NISMED that aims to promote lesson study and create a network of lesson study practitioners
in the Philippines to improve the quality of education. So far, PALS has organised seminars andworkshops on lesson study and related topics in different schools throughout the country. These
were conducted by experts from Japan, UP NISMED specialists, and collaborating schoolteachers.

Go Teacher Go! Radio Programme
Go Teacher Go! is a radio programme produced by UP NISMED in cooperation with DZUP 1602,
the official amplitude modulation (AM) radio station of UP. The programme provides useful informationfor elementary and high school teachers on science and mathematics and strategies to teachthem. Episodes also address common student misconceptions, difficulties, and errors as well as
numeracy and scientific literacy. Besides UP NISMED specialists, invited resource persons include
schoolteachers, university professors, and experts in different fields of science and mathematics. By
participating in the live-streamed programmes or listening to podcasts, teachers can acquire a better
understanding of content and pedagogy and appreciate its applications in their teaching practices.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

GeoGebra Institute of Metro Manila @UP NISMED
GeoGebra is a free downloadable dynamic mathematics software. UP NISMED developed
mathematical tasks such as applets in GeoGebra, which can be used for problem solving ormathematical investigations. These resources, which are found at https://geogebra.nismed.upd.
edu.ph emphasise understanding of concepts and mathematical thinking. Figure 25 is an example
of an app using GeoGebra.

Figure 25: An example of using GeoGebra to investigate similar triangles

AgIMat Website
In Ag/Mat, “Ag” stands for “agham” (i.e., the Filipino word for “science”), “/” stands for “impormasyon”(i.e., Filipino for “information”), and “Mat” stands for “mathematics.” The website contains tried-andtested teaching and learning resources, which include, among others, lesson plans, activity sheets,
and tasks for mathematical investigations. It provides teachers examples of the positive use of ICT and
ICT-mediated teaching and learning resources for enhancing their own and their students’ learning.

KaSaMa Teachers Online Community
Teachers from different schools, educators from different teacher education institutions (TEIs), and
UP NISMED specialists who are members of the KaSaMa Teachers Online Community shareteaching and learning resources; interact with one another regarding their practices, challenges,
and solutions; and collaborate on common professional development activities. Webinars are also
conducted mostly by UP NISMED specialists to share critical information, materials, and updates tosupport teachers, for example, in implementing the new science curriculum or adapting lesson study
in their schools.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Figure 26: KaSaMa Teachers Online Community website

Conclusion
The support initiatives of UP NISMED concerning reforms and developments in teacher education
involve the enhancement of teachers’ competence in teaching by strengthening their content andpedagogical content knowledge, research skills, and professional development in collaboration withother colleagues. These are accomplished through face-to-face undertakings, such as those heldin training venues and/or schools. They are achieved as well through the use of technology, which
is prevalent in today’s digital economy. With technology, constraints related to time, space, distance,
and finances, among others, which often hinder the effectiveness of reforms and developments, areaddressed. Taken together, the support initiatives of UP NISMED help teachers meet the standards
set forth by PPST.

References
1. Research Centre for Teacher Quality. (2017). PPST. DepEd TEC: Pasig City.
2. Wang-Iverson, P. and Yoshida, M. (Eds.)(2005) . Building our Understanding of Lesson
Study. Research for Better Schools: Philadelphia.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Appendix
Career Stages of Teachers
The following are descriptions of the “elements of high-quality teaching for the 21st century” (PPST,2017, pp. 7–9) across the different stages of a teacher’s career.
Career Stages
Stage 1: Beginner
Teachers

Stage 2: Proficient
Teachers

Stage 3: Highly Proficient
Teachers

Stage 4: Distinguished
Teachers

They have gained thequalifications recognisedfrom entry into theteaching profession.

They are professionallyindependent in applying
skills vital to the teaching
and learning process.

They consistently
display a high level of
performance in theirteaching practice.

They embody thehighest standard forteaching grounded on
global best practices.

They have a strong
understanding of thesubjects or areas
for which they weretrained in terms ofcontent knowledge andpedagogy.

They provide focusedteaching programmesthat meet curriculum
and assessment
requirements.

They manifest an indepth and sophisticatedunderstanding of theteaching and learning
process.

They exhibit anexceptional capacity
to improve their own
teaching practices andthose of others.

They possess therequisite knowledge,
skills, and values that
support the teaching andlearning process.

They display skills inplanning, implementing,and managing learning
programmes.

They have highly
education-focusedsituation cognition,
are adept in problem
solving, and optimise
opportunities gained
from experience.

They are recognised as
leaders in education,
contributors to theprofession, and initiatorsof collaboration andpartnerships.

They manage learning
programmes and havestrategies that promotelearning based on theneeds of their students.

They actively engage
in collaborative learningwith the professional
community and otherstakeholders formutual growth andadvancement.

They provide supportand mentoring
to colleagues intheir professional
development and work
collaboratively with themto enhance the learningand practice potential of
their colleagues.

They create a lifelong
impact in the lives ofcolleagues, students,and others.

They seek advice fromexperienced colleagues
to consolidate theirteaching practice

They are reflective
practitioners who
continually consolidate
the knowledge, skills,
and practices of CareerStage 1 teachers

They continuallyseek to develop theirprofessional knowledge
and practice by reflecting
on their own needs andthose of their colleagues
and students

They consistently
seek professional
advancement andrelevance in pursuit ofteaching quality andexcellence
They exhibit commitment
to inspire the education
community andstakeholders forthe imporvement ofeducation provision in
the Philippines.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1– 94 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Innovating Education in Responseto the Opportunities andChallenges Related to the Digital
Industry
Dr. R. Alpha Amirrachman
SEAMEO SEAMOLEC

Abstract
We live in an era of globalisation where many of the things in life are handled by utilising technology.
Globalisation has caused speedy changes that bring about shifts in knowledge, economy, and the
Fourth Industrial Revolution. It also changes the workforce, which requires highly skilled workers. Somejobs will decline and new types of jobs are predicted to emerge in the near future. Southeast Asia, as
a growing region with 11 nations, is also facing these challenges. All countries must together develop
an education system that is forward-looking, future-oriented, and strategic to prepare today’s youth
to become a vital part of the digital economy through their education. Unfortunately, not all children
are lucky to obtain proper education, particularly in the West Java province of Indonesia where theenrollment rate was very low. In 2014–2015, more than 200,000 students were unable to continue
their education to finish high school. Starting in 2017, SEAMEO SEAMOLEC, in cooperation with theWest Java Provincial Education Office, developed models for an open high school and a distancelearning vocational school. The main objectives of this programme are to improve access to andthe quality and relevance of secondary education through a distance learning system in Indonesia,
especially in West Java. This programme allows a learner to study by using an independent learning
system that cooperates with businesses and industries by combining distance learning using an
Internet-connected network, face-to-face learning, and practice with facilitators from business orindustry practitioners. On a wider scope, this programme is expected to reduce unskilled labour.
Keywords: Distance learning, industrial revolution, secondary education, West Java– 95 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Introduction
The world is more globalised and becoming seemingly smaller due to the emergence of technology
and its impact. We live in an era where anyone can connect with another across vast distances andmany of the things in life are handled by utilising technology. Decision making by people, businesses,organisations, communities, and the government are commonly supported by technology now. Thisphenomenon has changed the way we live, communicate, and work, including how we implement
technology in the field of learning.
A student from Indonesia can easily interact and share interests with other students in the Middle
East, Vietnam, or Mexico. Around the globe, all kind of individuals and groups are easily connected
and no single crisis can slow down their activities, not even an economic crisis. Nairn (2009), in oneof his articles, claimed that globalisation is such a diverse, broad-based, and potent force that noteven today’s massive economic crash will dramatically slow it down or permanently reverse it. Love
it or hate it, globalisation is here to stay.

Industrial Revolution
Globalisation has caused speedy changes that brought about shifts in knowledge and economics
and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. According to Xu, David, and Kim (2018), an industrial revolution
is often considered a separate event and can be better understood as a series of events building
upon innovations of the previous revolution and leading to more advanced forms of production. The
First Industrial Revolution changed our lives and economy from agrarian and handicraft-based to one
dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. Oil and electricity facilitated mass productionin the Second Industrial Revolution. In the Third Industrial Revolution, IT was used to automate
production. The Fourth Industrial Revolution now involves computer-generated product design andthree-dimensional (3D) printing, which can create solid objects by building up successive layers ofmaterials.
Arising from an Asian Development Bank (ADB) article (2017), the Fourth Industrial Revolution refers
to a set of highly disruptive technologies, such as AI, robotics, blockchain, and 3D printing, which
are transforming social, economic, and political systems and putting huge pressure on leaders andpolicy-makers to respond. It is easy to see the advantages of an industrial revolution. All technologicalaspects that made our life much easier, such as electricity, cars, or air-conditioning, are among thegood impacts of a revolution.
Xu, David, and Kim (2018) further predicted that the opportunities that come with the Fourth Industrial
Revolution include:•

Lower barriers between inventors and markets•

More active role for AI•

Integration of different techniques and domains (i.e., fusion)– 96 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1•

Improved quality of life (i.e., robotics)•

A connected life (i.e., Internet)

Figure 27: Industrial revolution time line

On the other hand, the Fourth Industrial Revolution also changed the workforce, which now requires
highly skilled workers. It has affected some jobs, leading to a decline, and new jobs are predicted toemerge in the near future. Technologies today are being progressively used across different sectors.
As such, education should adapt and reinforce learning, including learning at work, mentoring,
vocational training, and community-based courses.

Challenges in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, as a growing region with 11 nations, is also facing challenges. The transformative
impact of this revolution will demand that countries think deeply about their policies and priorities
on a national scale. Southeast Asian countries must together develop an education system thatis forward-looking, future-oriented, and strategic to prepare today’s youth to become a vital part ofthe digital economy and digital citizens through. Unfortunately, not all children are lucky to obtainproper education. In one of his articles entitled “Challenges in Education in Southeast Asia,” Sadiman(2004) mentioned that inequality in access to education in the region is one of many challenges.
The problem exists due to some conditions that result in disparities in the delivery of quality learning
opportunities. The following factors are main contributors to the problem:•

Lack of available school buildings and classrooms with all required facilities•

Shortage of teachers, especially in remote areas•

Uneven spread of the population– 97 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1•

Lack of good textbooks and other learning materials•

Geographical location•

Students’ and parents’ lack of appreciation for education•

Socioeconomic condition of the family•

Lack of budget for building more schools, classrooms, and learning facilities

Case Study in West Java, Indonesia
West Java, one of the provinces closest to Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, has a very low enrollment
rate. In 2013–2014, the West Java education enrollment recorded a 10% gap from the target middle
school enrollment volume. Some 247,067 students were not able to finish high school. In 2014–2015, the number of junior high school students reached 703,747 but only 469,567 graduated. As
such, 234,180 students did not go on to high school.
To overcome the disparity in school capacity, the government of West Java, through the Office of
Education, implemented several excellent programmes, including new classroom development, newschool unit establishment, afternoon school implementation, and the C Package Equality Programme.
The results, however, still did not meet the target high school enrollment volume.
One of the big reasons is the physical capacity of secondary schools in West Java. There are otherfactors that cause the participation number in secondary schools to be less than expected. These
include the low economic status of parents, the remoteness of student residences, and social andgeographical difficulties that impede access to regular educational services.

SEAMOLEC’s Role
To realise the target enrollment volume for secondary education, the West Java Regional Office of
Education initiated a pilot programme of distance learning assisted by SEAMEO SEAMOLEC. It aims
to encourage 16–21-year-old residents to attend high school and increase participation rates insenior and vocational high schools by providing distance learning opportunities to students that have
limited access to regular secondary education.
Based on its providers, there are two types of distance learning implementations in West Java.
These include senior high and vocational schools with learning centres. The main difference is that
vocational schools work with industries as learning centres so they can attract young workers to
pursue secondary education without leaving their current jobs. The concept of distance learning forsecondary education applied in West Java is shown in Figure 28.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Figure 28: Concept of the West Java open distance learning (ODL) programme

The objectives of this programme are to improve access to and the quality and relevance of secondary
education to achieve universal access in Indonesia and improve access to secondary education forjunior high school graduates who cannot continue their education due to economic, geographical,
time, social, and cultural constraints.
This programme allows learners to study using an independent learning system in cooperation withbusinesses and industries. It combines distance learning using an Internet-connected network, faceto-face learning, and practice with facilitators from businesses or industries. On a wider scope, thisprogramme is expected to reduce unskilled labour and improve their working skills and capabilities
while providing the widest possible learning opportunities to those who cannot attend regular highschool.

General Design of Distance Learning in the Secondary
Education ProgrammeThis project can be implemented on a national scale, as it involves many stakeholders from different
institutions. SEAMEO SEAMOLEC is deeply involved in developing the general design of thisprogramme, including creating guidelines, making curriculum adjustments, programme development,
instructional materials development, and teacher training.
Distance education is carried out within main schools, assisted by learning centres that serve as
substitutes for classrooms. There are two types of learning centres for vocational schools, whichtarget knowledge and skills competency development. Centres that target skills competency involvethe business and industrial sectors. Their locations are not limited to formal educational facilities.
Education can take place at a market, on agricultural lands, or in community facilities, such village
halls or the mayor’s office.
Learning is carried out every day and at any time. The learning process is designed to be flexible
in that students can learn from their own places of work at any convenient time. To support theeffectiveness of learning, students spend five days each week for independent study using printed
or digital modules. On weekends, they attend tutorials in learning centres, assisted by tutors.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

The distance learning programme was designed to employ a hybrid or blended mode of learning
using ICT and based on ODL. The ICT component makes up 30–79% while the remaining percentage
of learning happens face-to-face. By employing the hybrid mode, this programme:•

Allows students to study without leaving work (i.e., addresses economic, geographic, andfinancial reasons and solves scarcity of students). The programme is designed for in-service
workers aged 16–21. The admission process is conducted once a year just like in a regularsecondary school. The programme was designed to mix face-to-face and independent study.
The face-to-face tutorials can help students learn the learning materials better and serve as
an effective way for them to interact with tutors and peers. Meanwhile, independent study isfacilitated through a learning management system (LMS) called “Sistem Informasi Pembelajaran
Jarak Jauh (SIAJAR),” which can be accessed at http://jass.disdik.jabarprov.go.id. It has a wide
range of features to help participants manage courses, evaluate learning, communicate withothers, and track student attendance and performance. The LMS aims to make students morefamiliar with online learning.

•

Transfers learning through face-to-face tutorials (i.e., synchronous), online tutorials (i.e., throughthe LMS; asynchronous), and video conferences (i.e., synchronous). Communication between
students and tutors occurs through emails, mobile chats, and other digital means.

•

Delivers learning materials in three ways—face-to-face, video-conference-based, and webbased. Face-to-face learning occurs during practice and practicum sessions facilitated by tutors.
Web-based courses comprise the primary delivery mode, which are enhanced by the faceto-face and video-conferencing components. Web-based learning occurs during independent
study. The video conferences are mainly used for coordination among teachers and tutors anddiscussions of learning problems that students may encounter during independent study. Video
conferences can also be explored as an instructional medium.

•

Uses various learning resources. All web-based learning resources are available for students
and institutions. While the web-based courses are still under development, non-digital learningmaterials have already been prepared. The user interface (UI) of the LMS will soon follow. Uniform
resource links (URLs) to each course’s description and topics have also been provided so
students can explore them.

At present, the LMS has more than 7,000 teacher, tutor, and class administrator accounts and morethan 17,000 student accounts. The LMS already provides more than 1,700 learning materials in theform of student learning modules. Furthermore, more LMS features are being developed to continue
providing better distance learning to students.
SEAMEO SEAMOLEC will continue to provide beneficial services to the region to help SEAMEO
member countries find alternative solutions to lack of access to education through the effective useof ODL. In the future, SEAMEO SEAMOLEC will initiate more innovations in an effort to improve thequality of education in the region to fulfill its motto, “Reaching the Unreachable, Making the World aWorld of Learning.”– 100 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

References
1. Nairn, Moses. (2009). “Globalisation.” ProQuest Social Science Journal. Retrieved fromhttp://e-resources.perpusnas.go.id:2057/docview/224027022?pq-origsite=summon.
2. Sadiman, Arief S. (2004). “Challenges in Southeast Asia.” Article presented at the International
Seminar “Towards Cross-Border Cooperation between South and Southeast Asia: The
Importance of India’s Northeast in Playing Bridge and Buffer.” Kaziranga, India. 16–19 November
2004. Retrieved from http://www.seameo.org/vl/library/dlwelcome/publications/article/india04.
htm.
3. World Economic Forum (WEF) and ADB. (2017). “ASEAN 4.0: What Does the Fourth Industrial
Revolution Mean for Regional Economic Integration?” Retrieved from https://www.adb.org/sites/
default/files/publication/379401/asean-fourth-industrial-revolution-rci.pdf.
4. Xu, M.; David, J.M.; and Kim, S.H. (2018). “The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Opportunities andChallenges.” International Journal of Financial Research, 9(2):90–95.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Teacher Education in the Age of
the Digital Economy: SEAMEORIHED’s Initiatives to Foster Key
Skills for the Teachers of Todayand the Future
Dr. Chantavit Sujatanond
SEAMEO RIHED
Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract
The advancement and spread of digital technologies bring both opportunities and challenges to
education, demonstrating a potential to transform the dynamic learning that takes place between
teachers and learners. In this transformation, we are witnessing an emerging trend and need to rethink
the set of skills and competencies required of teachers. In particular, non-cognitive skills, commonlyreferred to as “21st-century skills,” are increasingly considered essential for teachers today so they
can adapt to diverse learning environments. Drawing lessons from the Asian International Mobility
for Students (AIMS) Programme of SEAMEO RIHED, this article examines how mobility experiences
not only strengthen student acquisition of academic knowledge but also helps nurture their noncognitive skills. It aims to highlight the potential role of student mobility in shaping the key qualities forthe teaching profession in the age of the digital economy.
Keywords: Teacher education, student mobility, digital economy, AIMS Programme

The Digital Economy
Digital technologies and innovations have had a profound impact on economic and social activities.
They continue to transform the ways by which society interacts and resulted in intensified connectivity
among people, information, and processes. The digital transformation is accelerating, and its effects
are penetrating all sectors, ranging from retail to communication and transportation to healthcare
and education, heightening the relevance and significance of digital skills for every individual (OECD,2016).

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

In the context of Southeast Asia, while the region presents a promising potential to play an activerole in the digital transformation of the global economy, challenges such as the digital divide in termsof access to and affordability of Internet access both among and within countries in the region
continues to widen (International Monetary Fund [IMF], 2018).

Innovation and Education
Education is often perceived as a sector that is resistant to change and innovation. At the same time,
it is also a sector that is currently and will be experiencing critical changes posed by the wave ofdigital transformations and integration of technologies into learning processes.
OECD recently conducted research to investigate the perceived level of innovation by sectors
in reference to three types of innovation—products or services (e.g., educational materials);
technologies, tools, or instruments (e.g., use of ICT in delivering learning content); and knowledge or
methods (e.g., new pedagogies, use of ICT for communication) (OECD, 2016). The results revealed
that in comparison to other sectors, education is at or below average in terms of speed of adoptionof innovation.
The research also examined the perceived level of innovation in the education sector across different
levels. It found that 80% of education professionals employed in higher education institutions (HEIs)
considered their workplaces highly innovative compared to other levels of education (i.e., 65% in the
primary level and 63% in the secondary level). It is highlighted that higher education stands out interms of speed of adopting innovation.

Figure 29: Data drawn from “Innovating Education and Educating for Innovation: The Power of Digital Technologies andSkills” (OECD, 2016)– 104 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Digital technologies possess great potential to transform the way teaching and learning is practisedin schools and universities and how teachers and learners interact. Technologies can be integrated
into teaching and learning settings in various ways. For example, teachers can adopt innovative
pedagogic models used in online laboratories for real-time assessment that aims to enhance
students’ creativity as well as skill in imagining and problem solving. Technologies also bring about
extensive international collaboration opportunities by overcoming geographical and time barriers,
which may provide students insights into diverse cultures and multicultural communication strategies
that are necessary to establish collaborative partnerships in today’s interconnected world. In addition,e-learning, open education resources (OERs), and massive open online courses (MOOCs) are otherprimary examples of how digital technologies can change the way educational contents are delivered
to learners while addressing critical issues, such as educational access and equality across educationlevels.

What Skills Do Teachers Need Today?
The emergence of the digital economy has redefined the skills and competencies required forteachers. Besides technical teaching skills, such as understanding subject matters and pedagogicalapproaches, classroom management, and organisation, some of the non-cognitive or 21st-century
skills that are considered critical for teaching professionals today include:•

Adaptability: New ideas and technologies emerge every day, which are changing the way by
which students and teachers interact and the process by which learning takes place. Depending
on students’ learning pace and needs, teachers need to adjust their activities and strategies toachieve better outcomes.

•

Communication: This skill is necessary for teachers not only in terms of verbal and written
forms but also adapting different communication styles to the needs of students with diverse
backgrounds, including age, culture, and personality.

•

Collaboration: Teachers should consider technology as a means to increase collaborative learning.
Collaboration through technology can enhance and diversify students’ learning experiences andcollaboration, with international partners, can help increase students’ awareness of global affairs
and understanding of different cultures.

•

Digital skills: As technology becomes increasingly integrated into teaching and learning, andplays an essential role in shaping pedagogical practices and strategies, teachers need to beequipped with digital skills and literacy. It also implies the skill to blend effective digital tools in thelearning process to create more interactive and student-centred learning environments.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

SEAMEO RIHED’s Efforts to Nurture Students’ 21st-Century
Skills through Academic Mobility: The Case of the AIMS
Programme
SEAMEO RIHED
As the regional centre specialising in higher education development, SEAMEO RIHED aspires toadvance cooperation among and the alignment and development of higher education systems in theregion by creating policy platforms, engaging in policy-driven research, and broadening the space for
information dissemination. It is committed to taking the lead in advancing SEAMEO Priority Area 6—
Harmonising Higher Education and Research. With its key strategic pillars, which are alignment anddevelopment, cooperation and synergy, research, and information portal, SEAMEO RIHED continues
to engage the region to address new challenges brought forward by harmonising and developing
higher education in Southeast Asia.
SEAMEO RIHED’s AIMS Programme
Project Summary

Initiated and facilitated by SEAMEO RIHED, the AIMS Programme is a collaborative and multilateral
student exchange programme that involves both governments and Higher Education Institutions(HEIs) with the goal of enhancing student mobility in the region and beyond.
In Southeast Asia, past efforts to promote student mobility concentrated on bilateral agreements
between HEIs in the region. Benefits, therefore, have only been limited to HEIs with these agreements.
AIMS overcomes this limitation by working with both governments and HEIs to develop a truly regional
programme.
By November 2019, AIMS offered single-semester exchanges to over 4,950 undergraduate students
from nine participating member countries, 72 HEIs, and 10 disciplines. The AIMS participants
include member countries, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, thePhilippines, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore.
The objectives of the AIMS Programme are to create a vibrant platform for all citizens of SEAMEO
member countries and beyond, promote the mobility of students to cultivate globalised humanresources for the region, create and nurture an ASEAN identity in the minds of the learners of theregion, contribute to the internationalisation of higher education in the region, and establish theASEAN community and a regional higher education common space.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1
Programme Principles and Operational Mechanism

One of the key features that make AIMS different from other mobility initiatives is the autonomy that
it offers to member countries, while providing a structure for collaboration through underlying key
principles that guide its implementation. The first principle is self-sufficiency and sustainability where
each member country supports its own participation in the programme and new members areencouraged to join based on their own readiness to participate. Balanced mobility and reciprocity
is another core principle in that the national authorities responsible for higher education nominate
HEIs to participate in disciplines and the number of exchange students is mutually agreed upon andreciprocated in each. Also, the operation of the programme is supplemented by regional mechanisms
where regional coordination is undertaken by SEAMEO RIHED to support the implementation andgive stakeholders key opportunities to send feedback, address challenges, and propose further
developments. The two regional mechanisms that support the programme arethe AIMS Annual
Review Meeting and the AIMS Steering Committee Meeting.

Figure 30: Operational mechanism of the AIMS Programme

What the AIMS Programme Offers Students: Nurturing 21st-Century Skills

The AIMS Programme is a multilateral platform that involves diverse stakeholders in higher education,
including students, alumni, governments, and HEIs in the region. It offers unique learning experiences
and collaborative opportunities. The programme currently facilitates academic exchange in 10
disciplines, namely:•

Hospitality and tourism– 107 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1•

Economics•

Agriculture•

Engineering•

Language and culture•

Environmental management and science•

International business•

Biodiversity•

Food science and technology•

Marine science

The essence of the academic exchange that the programme provides to the students is not limited
to the acquisition of new academic knowledge in host institutions but also includes opportunities
to develop and strengthen their non-cognitive skills, which are commonly referred to as “transversal
competencies,” “soft skills,” or “21st-century skills.” While cognitive skills involve the ability to understandcomplex ideas and engage in various forms of reasoning and are associated with reading, writing,and numeric comprehension, non-cognitive skills are defined as “patterns of thought, feelings, andbehaviours” comprising personal traits, attitudes, and values (Zho, 2016). Through establishingacademic collaboration and close engagement with students, HEIs, and governments in the region,
the AIMS Programme has enabled students to gain exposure to diverse cultural contexts andinternational environments to cultivate the skills necessary to become well-rounded and responsible
global citizens and build friendships and community ties both regionally and internationally.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Educaiton (MoE) Korea; the Korean Council for University Education(KCUE); and AIMS member countries, a research project has been conducted to better understandthe experiences of students participating in the AIMS Programme along with its outcomes. The
survey targeted over 500 people from eight countries who previously participated in the programme.
The results highlighted the strong impact of the programme on the participating students in termsof acquiring inter-cultural competencies and the ability to collaborate with people from diverse
backgrounds, which are among the core values of the AIMS Programme.
While the programme currently focuses on students as primary targets of mobility, it is important to notethat its above-mentioned unique structure also enables faculty and administrative staff from member
HEIs to gain exposure to the internationalisation process, for which cross-border collaboration, intercultural communication, and problem-solving skills are among the key elements to move forward.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

The AIMS Programme does not currently address teacher education directly in its mobility scheme.
The 10 disciplines above have been refined and selected through ongoing discussions and mutual
agreements between stakeholders, as either common areas of focus for member countries andparticipating HEIs or strategic priority areas for developing expertise in the region. Nevertheless,discussions have been held to add more disciplines and explore further opportunities for partnership,as the programme aspires to become a platform to promote broader academic mobility, including
mobility for teaching and administrative staff of member HEIs.
The mobility experience demonstratively provides learners with opportunities to strengthen key skills
required for teaching professionals in the digital economy, such as those associated with effective
communication, collaboration, and adaptability. In addition, with the transformation brought about bydigitalisation and its impact on the way teaching and learning takes place, anyone who has expertisein subject areas has the potential to be an educator. Therefore, the region must foster cross-bordercollaboration to promote mobility among general students and both pre- and in-service teachers whoplay a crucial role in shaping global citizens.

References
1. IMF. (2018). “Chart of the Week: The Digital Divide in Asia.” Last accessed on 7 February 2018at https://blogs.imf.org/2018/09/25/chart-of-the-week-the-digital-divide-in-asia-2/.
2. OECD. (2016). Innovating Education and Educating for Innovation: The Power of Digital
Technologies and Skills. OECD Publishing, Paris.
3. Zho, K. (2016). “Non-Cognitive Skills: Definition, Measurement, and Malleability.” Articlecommissioned for the Global Education Monitoring Report 2016: Education for People
and Planet: Creating Sustainable Futures for All.”– 109 –

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Real-Time Participatory Mapping
for a Disaster and Emergency
Preparedness System: A Case
Study of Teacher Involvement inCentre Sulawesi-Indonesia
Dr. Zulhamsyah Imran
Deputy Director for Administration
SEAMEO BIOTROP
Lecturer in Aquatic Resources Management
IPB University
Mr. Benny Purwonegoro
Student
Master of Science in IT for Natural Resources
IPB University
Mr. Slamet Widodo Sugiarto
Researcher
Remote Sensing and Ecology Laboratory
SEAMEO BIOTROPMr. Harry Imantho
Researcher
Remote Sensing and Ecology Laboratory
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Abstract
The Real-Time Participatory Mapping for Disaster and Emergency Preparedness System (RTPADEPS) has a significant role to play in disaster management. It is an idea to adopt open web
standards to share map services based on participatory geographic information system (P-GIS)
and spatial notifications for emergency conditions, such as disasters, accidents, and emergencies.
The objective of this research is to develop a collaborative web GIS based on real-time geo-tagging
of emergency occurrences. This model was generated due to a case study in the aftermath ofearthquake and tsunami in Palu, Centre Sulawesi, Indonesia. This system was not only applied togauge the heartbreaking occurrence but also estimate or analyse areas affected by the disasters,
along with damaged buildings and facilities. Moreover, it shows currently available access andfastest routes to impacted areas. Finally, the system could connect users to authorised agencies toinform them or request immediate action regarding emergencies. Through the integration of spatial
information into the web GIS and mobile platforms, it can quickly and accurately collect and share
information as soon as possible.
Keywords: Disaster preparedness, emergency, GIS, RT-PADEPS, spatial

Introduction
Indonesia is located within the ring of fire and is extremely vulnerable to natural disasters. This tropicalcountry has an abundance of natural resources, but it faces complex geographical conditions. In
addition, Indonesia also has human resources distributed in villages and urban areas. Most of theareas in the country are prone to natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic
eruptions, and liquefaction (Kusumastuti, et al., 2014). The government recorded several natural
disasters in 2000–2018. A couple of tragedies that include earthquakes, tsunamis, and liquefaction
occurred in Centre Sulawesi on 28 September 2018. These impacted the people who live in
vulnerable areas such as coastal zones.
A disaster and consequent emergencies can happen anywhere and at any time. As such, quick andappropriate actions to provide technical assistance and take care of victims are necessary. A reliable
and easy-to-operate system has thus been adopted and optimised using available resources andfacilities in certain locations and regions, such as RT-PADEPS. Human resources are also needed
to collect and provide valid sources of information. Integration into spatial technology tools can be
optimised by using a P-GIS (Forrester and Cinderby, 2015).
RT-PADEPS adopts an open web standard for sharing map services using P-GIS and spatial
notifications for emergencies. It can be operated by the government, schools, volunteers, or private
institutions to support authorised agencies or decision makers, as they take action and deal withemergencies and manage post-disaster processes.
This article describes the development of a web GIS based on the real-time geo-tagging of
emergencies.

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Literature Review
Collaborative Mapping of the School Community
Disasters can result in the loss of lives, injuries, and property destruction in a community. Risks canbe determined, however, as a function of hazards, exposure, vulnerabilities, and capacities (United
Nations [UN]/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction [ISDR], 2017). Identifying and quantifying
risks spatially can assess hazard intensity and vulnerability magnitude (Peggion, et al., 2008). Thesecan pinpoint sources of spatial collaborative information using GIS technology.
A GIS is the best tool for understanding and organising data gathering, management, and analysis.
In fact, online platforms, such as web GISs, can now analyse and visualise spatial data. They canalso be used to gain deeper insights to spot patterns and relationships (Esri, 2018). Web GISs canhelp users make smart and accurate decisions faster to manage natural disasters.
GIS technology can identify and quantify risks. It can be enhanced by a participatory mapping
collaboration with school communities that wish to help affected areas. Senior vocational schools
in Indonesia, for example, can serve as hubs of information. They can also be tapped to improveunderstanding and knowledge about mitigation, preparedness, and emergency response.

Participatory Mapping
Participatory mapping is a bottom-up approach that allows communities to create maps for certain
user types. In contrast with the traditional top-down approach, it relies on those with the power andresources to create maps that will benefit the masses either directly or indirectly (Warner, 2015). With
some modifications and newer tools, the participatory mapping approach can be made interactive
to produce more accurate data faster. Contributors can send and share data to support decision
makers in carrying out actions or crafting policies.

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing can distribute data processing to become more scalable in terms of resource andcapacity to serve multiple users at the same time. It has three basic concepts—infrastructure as aservice (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS).
IaaS involves building a computer infrastructure and virtualisation. All services are hosted on theinfrastructure. PaaS, meanwhile, involves an integrated platform for developing, deploying, testing,and supporting web-based applications. Finally, SaaS follows the business model for software
licensing, where development and support for the program is taken care of by the vendor. Users
can use the software through the Internet. In this research, the SaaS model was implemented forthe geo-processing service. Connecting to the information base from affected locations and sharing
data increased the ability of the system and the community.

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Methodology
Project Location
Two locations were chosen for the trial of RT-PADEPS—Palu City and Sigi in Centre Sulawesi.

Figure 31: Research locations

Data Requirements
Several types of spatial data were used in this project. Imagery, base maps, and thematic data wereobtained from government portals. The validation data was acquired through a field survey. All datarequirements are shown in Table 11.
NumberData Type

Resolution and
Scale

FormatSourceImagery Data
1

Very high resolution
(VHR)

2

0.3–0.5 metre

RasterGovernment
PrivateHigh resolution (HR) 10 metres

RasterGovernment
Private3DEM

8 metres or 30
metresRasterGovernment
Private4

Aerial data (UAV)

10 centimetres

RasterGeospatial Basic Information
1

Administrative
boundary

1:250,000

VectorGovernment2Road network

1:50,000

VectorGovernment

3River network

1:25,000

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NumberData Type

Resolution and
Scale

FormatSource4Land use andcover

1:25,000

VectorGovernment

5Countour

1:25,000

VectorGovernment

Geospatial Thematic Information
1

Soil

1:25,000

VectorGovernment

2

Climate

1:50,000

VectorGovernment

3

Slope

1:25,000

VectorGovernment

4

Vulnerability

1:250,000

VectorGovernment

5

Hazard1:250,000

VectorGovernment

6

Risk

1:250,000

VectorGovernment

7

Resilience

1:50,000–
1:250,000

VectorGovernment

8

Regional spatial
plan

1:5,000–1:50,000

VectorGovernment

9

Population

1:250,000

VectorTabularGovernment

10

Culyural, social,and economic

TabularGovernment

Table 11: Data requirements

The project focused on developing a database and various spatial data handling standards, RTPADEPS, and community training resources. The data was processed using several preprocessing
and spatial analysis approaches. RT-PADEPS’s web GIS consists of three main components (seeFigure 32).

Figure 32: Main components of RT-PADEP– 115 –

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The development of RT-PADEPS was divided into five major steps—assessment, database design,
system design, testing and evaluation, and training and implementation (see Figure 33).

Figure 33: System development process

Architecture
RT-PADEPS optimises the capability of Indonesia’s geo-processing services, which power
applications like ArcGIS. A geo-processing service does one or more tasks on a server (Esri, 2018).
Users are divided into two categories—administrator with full management capability and user withlimited capability. Figure 34 shows the detailed architecture of a typical geo-processing service.

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Figure 34: Geo-processing service architecture (https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/arcuser/portal-for-arcgis-101/)

Expected Results
The expected result from this project was a web GIS application that can be implemented forparticipatory mapping for disaster and emergency management. It should be easily accessible via
computers and mobile devices and support emergency actions from authorised agencies. The
design of RT-PADEPS is shown in Figure 35.

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Figure 35: RT-PADEPS expected output

Results and Findings
FGD and Rapid Survey
SEAMEO BIOTROP initiated several activities in preparation for the development of RT-PADEPS.
These include focus group discussions (FGDs) to assess the impact of disasters on affected areas.
One such FGD was conducted in State Vocational High School 1 of Sigi (SMKN 1 Sigi). This event
was attended by teachers and explored and assessed available data. Meanwhile, spatial datacollection and a rapid survey were conducted using drones in several impacted areas.
The FGDs revealed that all of the buildings in SMKN 1 Sigi were damaged by an earthquake on
28 September 2018. The participants proposed three courses of action—reconstruct the schoolbuildings, rehabilitate the school garden, and improve the school’s disaster mitigation and risk
reduction and management capability. The participants also mentioned that they did not have amanagement system that can assess and calculate losses and damage to facilities and buildings
due to lack of data before the disaster struck.

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System Prototype
Based on the results of the assessment, team researchers developed RT-PADEPS using Centre
Sulawesi as a case study. The researchers built a prototype of RT-PADEPS. The main interface had
several features that showed layer data, maps, and other information. The layer data supported alldata formats, such as vector, raster, and numeric data. The main map overlaid data from several
sources. The graphical system showed charts of available data. And a base map of all data sources(i.e., topographical data, open street map [OSM] data, imagery, and administration data) is alsoavailable (see Figure 36).

Figure 36: RT-PADEPS prototype real-time data interface

RT-PADEPS shows affected areas, including buildings and facilities. The information was collectedfrom various contributors that include school communities in the area.

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Figure 37: Real-time participatory data gathering

RT-PADEPS also allowed users to compare before and after pictures of affected areas using timeseries imagery data (see Figure 38).

Figure 38: Before and after comparison through RT-PADEPS

Future Model Development
SEAMEO BIOTROP Spatial Development Planning
SEAMEO BIOTROP was established three years after the SEAMEO Charter was signed on 26
February 1968. It is one of SEAMEO’s 26 regional unit and aims to “provide scientific knowledge toand build the capacities of institutions and communities in conserving and managing tropical biology
sustainably for the well-being of communities and the environment.” That is why developing spatial
technology is one of its most important concerns.

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SEAMEO BIOTROP has a comprehensive spatial laboratory called the “Remote Sensing and Ecology
Lab.” With several mapping equipment support, software, and spatial databases, it has become aleading centre in developing spatial technology and research and welcomes the cooperation andcollaboration of other organisations for projects and research initiatives.
Model Development Road Map
The prototype still requires further development and refinement in terms of infrastructure, capabilities,
and facilities so it can operate better. It also requires funding support from other institutions. The
prototype will be used for a training course on disaster mitigation and management for schools
starting 2019. A detailed road map for RT-PADEPS training use is shown in Figure 39.

Figure 39: RT-PADEPS training road map

Module Development
According to the RT-PADEPS prototype, two training modules for vocational school teachers are
required. The first will be used for fundamental to intermediate content. It will tackle eight topics—
introduction to emergency and disaster management; introduction to GIS and remote sensing
technology; introduction to GIS software and tools (licensed and open source); utilising GIS softwareand tools (licensed and open source); producing and editing spatial data; introduction to spatial andimage analysis for participatory disaster mapping and emergency preparedness; laying out, printing,and publishing maps; and field trips (survey and practice).
The second will target advanced learners. It will also have eight topics—data analysis for
emergency and disaster management; introduction to web GIS; spatial data querying; spatial model
implementation for participatory disaster mapping and emergency preparedness; using participatory
disaster mapping and emergency preparedness systems and geo-processing services; spatial andimage analysis for participatory disaster mapping and emergency preparedness; laying out, printing,and publishing maps; and field trips (survey and practice).

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Conclusion
RT-PADEPS is still in need of improvements before it can be widely implemented in vocational seniorhigh schools. It will require more case studies and data inputs to grow its database so its web GIS
functionality can truly become a good model for disaster mitigation and risk reduction management.

References
1. Esri. (2018). Open REST Standard Lets You Author and Use Maps and GIS Services
Almost Anywhere. Arc News Summer: U.S.
2. Forrester, J. and Cinderby, S. (2015). “A Guide to Using Community Mapping and Participatory
GIS.” A Managing Borderlands project funded by the Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU)
Programme of the Economic and Social and Natural Environment Research Councils under grant
number RES24050020.
3. Kusumastuti, R.D.; Viverita, V.; Hosudo, Z.; Suardi, L.; and Danarsari, D.N. (2014). “Developinga Resilience Index for Natural Disasters in Indonesia.”
4. McPherson, M., et al. (2008). “GIS-Based Modeling of Environmental Risk Surfaces forConservation Planning in Jamaica.” Journal of Conservation Planning, Vol. 4:60–89.
5. Warner, C. (2015). “Participatory Mapping: A Literature Review of Community-Based Researchand Participatory Planning.” Social Hub for Community and Housing Faculty of Architecture
and Town Planning. Technion.
6. Wold, N.R. (2017). “Participatory Web GIS Design—A Sustainable Recreation Decision Support
System for Missoula County.” Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, and Professional
Articles. University of Montana.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

STEM Village: Promoting andSpreading Awareness about STEM
to Families and the Society
Ms. Russasmita Sri Padmi
Ms. Ummy Salmah
SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics
Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract
In the 21st century, STEM competencies are sought-after fields that are significant in developing acountry. The advancement of a national workforce is often judged by the educational achievement in
STEM competencies by students and, consequently, by the quality of its STEM workforce. However,
the effort to support and sustain this endeavor rarely goes beyond the school classrooms. Families,
as the nucleus of civilisation and basic social unit of society, have a strong potential as a medium
for promoting STEM. This article aims to discuss STEM Village, a project by SEAMEO QITEP in
Mathematics, in an attempt to create a series of out-of-school activities designed for children andfamilies to promote and spread awareness of STEM through activities that are engaging, low-cost,context-suitable, and relevant to daily life.
Keywords: STEM, STEM Village, family, extra-curricular

Introduction
For the last two decades, STEM has become a popular innovative strategy to improve student
achievement. The acronym, “STEM,” was coined by the National Science Foundation in the 1990s(Sanders, 2008). In the U.S., STEM education has become the priority of the government and experts
have predicted that jobs in STEM will increase by about 17% in 2018 (LaForce, et al., 2016). STEM
education is not only concerned with integrating the fields of science, technology, engineering, andmathematics. It is an interdisciplinary learning where real-world problem- and project-based learning
is meaningfully implemented (English, 2016 and Force, 2014). STEM education has been developed
in several countries around the world and research has also been conducted regarding it.

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STEM education has been a major buzzword for quite some time now in Indonesian education. Even
though there are no regulations regarding the integration of STEM officially into the national curriculum,
various STEM-related educational agenda have emerged from diverse educational institutions (i.e.,seminars, workshops, etc.). In mid-2018, the Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC of Indonesia)
held a nationwide training programme for science and mathematics middle school teachers that
aimed to introduce STEM education and familiarise them with how to apply it in teaching.
However, the effort so far has been strictly confined to school settings. STEM lessons that havebeen introduced to teachers so far are designed for classroom application and are strictly concernedwith staying within curricular guidelines. The teachers’ concerns mostly revolve around assessment,
subject content, and how STEM education would help students excel in the national exam. As aconsequence, STEM education became viewed as an approach that strictly belonged to the school
environment.
This article will discuss the potential of an out-of-school STEM education programme and the design
for such a programme in an Indonesian context. On that note, it is not meant to be a detailed report ofa carefully designed research project. Rather, it aims to propose an idea and deliver an example thatthe readers might find worth trying in their respective contexts. Perspectives from the participants ofthe programme are also provided as supporting points of view.

OST STEM Activities
An educational programme focused on STEM for out-of-school-time (OST) is not an entirely newidea. In the U.S., the birthplace of STEM as an educational approach, there is growing interest andinvestment in OST STEM programmes (Bevan, et al., 2010). Federal agencies and researchers
advocate the use of OST to support and supplement the knowledge that students learn in school.
Aside from supporting formal learning, OST STEM activities are also beneficial to female and racial
minority students, which is a major agenda item for the U.S. educational system. Because OST
activities are not strictly linked to the school curriculum, these programmes are easily customisable
to fit students with certain needs, such as female or racial minority students.
By default, OST STEM activities are learning activities that occur outside formal school settings andare often described as personal, contextualised, and time-consuming (Dierking, et al., 2003). We alsoneed to make a distinction between structured and unstructured OST STEM activities (Dabney, et al.,2012). Structured activities include museum visits, after-school clubs, mathematics competitions,and the like, while unstructured activities are those that happen solely because of the students’personal interests (e.g., tinkering with objects, doing experiments on their own, or researching things
online). The OST STEM activities described in this article will be limited to structured ones.
Even so, structured OST STEM activities are still versatile and open to various options, such as
involving an established institution outside school like a museum or national park or offered by theschool as an extra-curricular activity. The activities can be conducted in indoor or outdoor settings.
The programme can be designed to require continuous attendance over certain periods of time, or
flexible participation, where the students are free to decide according to their availability and interest.
When it comes to knowledge, it can focus on certain content domains or lean more towards thegeneral application of STEM in everyday life.

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Despite the variation, there are several differences between OST STEM activities and STEM activities
within school settings (Bevan, et al., 2010). First, OST STEM activities tend to be less verbal andabstract. They are usually more tactile and built on sensory experiences with real-life resources(i.e., places, phenomena, data, and tools) that are often difficult to integrate into actual classrooms.
Second, OST STEM activities provide more ground for group or collaborative investigation, rather
than individual learning activities. Students who are not doing well with collaborative learning in aformal school setting can learn to work with others in an out-of-school setting. Third, because OSTSTEM activities are less confined within mandated curricular guidelines, the students can learn in amore flexible way that puts their knowledge development first, instead of merely focusing on exams.
Time is usually the biggest obstacle for teachers in trying out experimental lessons, therefore, OST
activities allow teachers and students to pursue ideas they find interesting at their own pace. Last
but not least, OST activities are low-stakes (i.e., non-evaluative). They put less pressure on students
to be correct or do well. This is especially important for students who have been discouraged bya conventional STEM environment (e.g., within school, discouraged either by being identified asincompetent, by judged that STEM subjects are not “suitable” for them). This usually happens togirls, minority students, or socioeconomically disadvantaged students.
Several reasons make OST STEM activities worth considering. As the initial movement for STEM
was started by the need for a more competitive workforce in STEM fields, it is no wonder that
programmes that focus on making students more interested in a STEM career are widely favoured.
The link between OST STEM activities and career choices are of interest because they emphasise
curiosity and the enjoyment of learning of certain topics, instead of emphasising achievement andtest scores (Krapp, Hidi, and Renninger, 1992). OST STEM activities ignite the students’ interest in
STEM fields and develop and expand their understanding, which leads to them to become moreaware of the role STEM careers in the society (Bevan, et al., 2010). Research by Dabney, et al.
(2012) showed that participation in OST STEM activities encourages students to pursue university
majors in mathematics and science, and eventually select a career in related areas. The less strict
confinement of the school curriculum, the lack of formal assessment, and the greater emphasis on
daily life applications all contribute to the importance of such programmes.
The National Research Council (2015) identified three criteria for successful OST STEM programmes—
being engaging, being responsive, and making connections. These criteria are broken down into
more detailed criteria, as shown in Figure 40.

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Figure 40: Criteria for successful OST STEM programmes

Family Involvement in OST STEM Activities

One factor argued by researchers as a main contributor to student interest in STEM subjects
comprise the novel and engaging problems that are relevant to real-life situations (Dabney, et al.,2012). Another factor found pivotal in the development of students’ attitudes towards STEM subjects
is parental involvement (George and Kaplan, 1997). The STEM learning ecosystem model createdby L.S. Liben (National Research Council, 2015) also identified that homes, neighbourhoods, andout-of-school experiences have an impact on student learning development in school (see Figure41).

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Figure 41: STEM learning ecosystem model (National Research Council, 2015)

Based on the results of these studies, community- and home-based OST STEM activities areinevitably a promising path for future researchers in this area.

Kampung STEM or STEM Village
We decided to design OST STEM learning activities involving families as part of the programme of
SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, which we called “Kampung STEM” (in English, “STEM Village”).
Children and mothers from communities around our office participate voluntarily in the STEM
programme held once a week with different topics and activities. The project is still in the initial stages
but is ongoing, with more than 12 mothers and around 10 kids regularly attending every session. ,as well as some irregular attendees.

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Although it is still in the initial phase, this programme attempted to apply the principles identified
as contributors to successful OST STEM activities. First, parental involvement is integral to theprogramme. And so, even though only mothers are participating so far, their activities are separated
from the children’s. Second, the contexts used in every activity are socioeconomically and culturally
relevant. This does not mean that the topics only stay within the zones that are familiar to the students.
We also attempt to introduce global issues to them while making sure that the learning process is
attainable from their starting point (i.e., either the local context or the students’ content knowledge).
The materials are designed to be low in cost and easy to acquire. Third, the activities provide practical,
tactile, and hands-on experiences for the participants and offer a chance to work collaboratively withothers. Last but not least, the programme is conducted in partnership with the local community.
Especially for the mothers, we made sure to incorporate the element of entrepreneurship to theactivities. Aside from making it more engaging, it also opens possibilities for supporting the family’s
economic needs. Above all, the overarching aim of the whole programme was to introduce andbring awareness of STEM in hopes of developing a positive attitude towards and interest in STEM
subjects.
The following are some examples of the activities conducted in this programme.

Batik Ikat Celup (Shibori/Tie-Dye)
Textile manufacturing is a huge part of Indonesian culture, which has resulted in a variety of traditional
textile colouring methods. These traditional methods commonly involve a resist technique or different
ways to prevent colours from reaching fabrics, thus creating patterns. One of the most renowned
is batik, which uses a resist method that requires drawing patterns on the fabric with wax, hence
preventing colour from seeping through the entire fabric. Batik is one of the most prized cultural
heritages of Indonesia and is an integral part of the society, from informal daily life to formal andluxurious events.
However, there are other colouring methods that are just as interesting but less explored, such as
batik ikat celup, also commonly known as “shibori” or “tie-dye.” The resist methods involved require
tying the fabric, thus creating resistance that prevents colour getting to parts of the fabric. Different
tying methods will result in different patterns and colour combinations.

Figure 42: A product of batik celup ikat

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Batik ikat celup is a potential STEM activity because of the science and mathematics involvedin making the patterns and mixing the colours, which can be either artificial or natural. From thetechnological perspective, the batik ikat celup method is a technology invented by humans in pursuitof easier cloth-dying methods. Meanwhile, the engineering aspects come from the form of creating
different patterns and colour combinations.
Aside from promoting STEM, batik ikat celup is also an excellent entrepreneurial activity. The batik ikat
celup fabrics and clothes produced by the mothers have been shown in several local exhibits andreceived interest from potential customers.

Ecoprint
Aside from tie-dye, another colouring technique that is also less explored is ecoprint. This colouringmethod strictly uses natural colour pigments found in plant body parts like leaves and flowers. The
leaves and flowers are laid down between two sheets of white fabric and hit repeatedly to break andrelease colour pigments. The fabrics are then rolled into a small fold, tied with rope, and steamed
or ironed. This process will produce the stamps of leaves or flowers on the fabric, thus creatinginteresting natural patterns.

Figure 43: Ecoprint activities of mothers

The colour pigmentation of leaves and flowers will serve as an excellent ground to learn about plants.
From the perspective of technology, ecoprint in itself is a technology invented by humans as an easycloth-dying method, while the engineering aspect comes from the creation of different patterns andcolour combinations.
Just like shibori, ecoprint is also an excellent entrepreneurial activity. The ecoprint fabrics and clothes
produced by the mothers have been presented in several local exhibits and been received positively
by potential customers.

Wiggle Bot
The wiggle bot activity is for students. This activity involves making simple robots from objects foundin the environment. The product is a simple robot with pens tied to a body made from cups andspinning arms moved by dynamo or motor.

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Figure 44: An example of a wiggle bot made by the children

The wiggle bot activity aims to introduce the simple principle of robotics—no matter how complicated,a robot needs both a power source and a motor to move. Today, robotic technology is used invarious fields with different levels of complication. We attempt to introduce the students to thistechnology by starting with something simple that can be easily acquired from everyday life objects.

What the Participants Think of Kampung STEM
We interviewed some participants of Kampung STEM to provide their perspectives regarding the
programme. The interviewees were appointed by the project manager and there is no parental
relationship between the mothers and the children interviewed. During the interview, the researcher
focused on gaining the participants’ perspectives on which Kampung STEM activity they benefited
most from and why, the scientific awareness they gained from the programme, and their future
expectations.
Three children took part in the interviews—Putra, Bayu, and Indra. Note that these names arepseudonyms. Putra, a third grader, and Indra, a sixth grader, mentioned the air-pressure rocket
activity as their favourite. Bayu, a sixth grader, was a big fan of the wiggle bot activity. The easy-to-findand cheap materials, often from scraps, were their main points of interest. They enjoyed obtaining
knowledge from activities that they usually do not do in school. They also liked getting a chance toplay with their friends while still learning and being productive. Even though their career choices are
not STEM-related, they cited the ability to create and build things as a benefit of Kampung STEM, as
depicted by following excerpt from the interviews:
Interviewer:
Putra:
Bayu:

What benefit did you gain from Kampung STEM?
So that when I grow up, I can make and build stuff…
… that are useful for the society.

The children found the activities exciting and could recount their science and mathematics aspects.
However, they still find it difficult to explain the role of science and mathematics in the whole experienceof rocket-flying or making wiggle bots move. This indicates that the activities need to emphasise theengineering aspect. The STEM Village instructors can let the children tinker around to solve problems
and discover solutions instead of giving them specific instructions to build things.

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As for the mothers, three participants were interviewed as well—Mrs. Puspa, Mrs. Jemma, and Mrs.
Julia. All of the names are pseudonyms, too. Mrs. Puspa (47 years old) and Mrs. Julia (43 years old)
are both stay-at-home moms while Mrs. Jemma (53 years old) is a market vendor. They all agreed
on textile-related activities as their favourite (e.g., ecoprint and tie-dye or shibori). They cited manyreasons such as the ability to channel their artistic expression and its entrepreneurship potential.
Further discussions on the benefits of Kampung STEM revealed how STEM activities can empower
women. Most if not all of them were stay-at-home moms who mostly do household chores. Kampung
STEM activities provided them a chance to socialise while still being productive. In case they want to
do their projects at home, they can manage to in-between doing housework. The entrepreneurshipaspect was their main and strongest interest, as the products from the textile activities turned out tobe lucrative for them. Mrs. Puspa, for example, said the following:“

I think what I love the most about Kampung STEM is that it has real, actual results.
We used to sit around with nothing to do. Now, we can do ecoprint instead. So,
our free time is not wasted anymore. We can go out and hang out while still being
productive… I want Kampung STEM to be an object of tourism, the identity of ourvillage. People can visit and we can generate more income from it.

”

Future expectations, aside from making Kampung STEM a tourist destination, include planned andorganised marketing. So far, marketing is done sporadically through occasional exhibits and mouthto-mouth promotion, which leaves ample room for improvement.
STEM Village so far has shown potential to become a platform for families to not only explore STEM
subjects and their relevance in solving problems in real life but also encourage STEM career choices
for children and provide entrepreneurial activities for mothers. This project brings the potential topromote STEM not only in a school setting but also in other contexts that are close to the children’slife, such as at home, within families, and in neighbourhoods.

Conclusion
However, as the STEM Village project is still in the initial stages, there are several concerns that weneed to address. The first one has to do with the topics. Even though the OST STEM programme
does not aim to adhere to certain school curricula, we still need to select and establish a sequenceof topics that can be used as guide in the STEM Village. The second concern is evaluation. We needto establish a way to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the programme. Last but not leastis scalability. Our hope is for the STEM Village project to reach a larger audience. As such, there
is a need for a reliable method that can be scaled according to the different settings or number ofparticipants.

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References
1. Bevan, B., et al. (2010). OST STEM: Building Experiences, Building Bridges. San Fransisco.
2. Dabney, K.P., et al. (2012). “OST Science Activities and Their Association with Career Interest in
STEM.” International Journal of Science Education, 2(1), pp. 63–79.
3. Dierking, L.D., et al. (2003). “Policy Statement of the Informal Science Education Ad Hoc
Committee.” Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40(2), pp. 108–111.
4. English, L.D. (2016). “STEM Education K–12: Perspectives on Integration.” International
Journal of STEM Education, 3(1):3. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40594-0160036-1.
5. Force, U.S.T. (2014). Innovate: A Blueprint for STEM in California Public Education.
Dublin, CA: Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation.
6. George, R. and Kaplan, D. (1997). “A Structural Model of Parent and Teacher Influences on the
Science Attitudes of Eighth Graders: Evidence from NELS: 88.” Science Education, 82(1), pp.
93–109.
7. Krapp, A.; Hidi, S.; and Renninger, A.K. (1992). “Interest, Learning , and Development.” In
Renninger, A.K.; Hidi, S.; and Krapp, A. (Eds.), Interest, Learning, and Development, pp.
3–25.
8. LaForce, M.; Noble, E.; King, H.; Century, J.; Blackwell, C.; Holt, S.; and Loo, S. (2016). “TheEight Essential Elements of Inclusive STEM in High Schools.” International Journal of STEM
Education, 3(1):21.
9. National Research Council. (2015). Identifying and Supporting Productive STEM
Programmes in Out-of-School Settings. Washington DC: The National Academies Press.
10. Sanders, M.E. (2008). STEM, STEM Education, STEM Mania.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Academic Mobility Strategies andChallenges: The T.I.P. Experience
Dr. Cynthia C. Llanes
Technological Institute of the Philippines (T.I.P.)

Abstract
This article presents the strategies and actions taken by T.I.P to meet challenges such as academic
mobility, specifically, its participation in the SEAMEO SEA-Teacher Programme.
Keywords: Student mobility, SEA-Teacher Programme, SEAMEO

Introduction
T.I.P. envisions to become a leading professional technological institution through fostering outcomebased education, a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, and an institution whose
graduates contribute to the welfare of the society.
In support of the educational objective to produce graduates who are globally competitive, T.I.P.
strategically partnered with local and international colleges and universities and kept close allianceswith professional organisations, government agencies, and industries. Through these linkage
partnerships, various areas of cooperation were realised to enhance the institution’s capability todeliver its functions of instruction, research, production, and extension. Major areas of partnership
include cooperative education, capacity building, collaborative research, and industry-commissioned
projects, among others.
The varied organisations that T.I.P. has forged linkages with have contributed to improving its curriculaand educational processes to become more relevant to the needs of the society. Thus, they havecontributed to the attainment of the institutional-intended outcomes for T.I.P. graduates.
T.I.P. continues to expand its cooperation with international partners with the end in view of strengthening
faculty competence, enhancing academic learning, and realising excellent performance throughacademic mobility.

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Government Policy on Academic Mobility
The Philippine government programmes on academic mobility are expressed through Commission
on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 55 s. 2016, also known as the“Policy Framework and Strategies on the Internationalisation of Philippine Higher Education [1].” The
CMO aims to:•

Articulate the Philippine higher education internationalisation policy to provide a national
perspective and context for various initiatives related to the subject•

Guide the Philippine higher education sector’s internationalisation efforts, bearing in mind national
interests, security, and identity while also contributing to the improvement of the country’s
competitiveness•Define the strategies that underpin the various modes of internationalisation•

Set the principles to guide Philippine HEIs in pursuing internationalisation programmes•

Encourage Philippine HEIs to adopt a programmatic approach to internationalisation•

Serve as basis for improving programmes, policies, and standards on internationalisation activities,
cognisant of the need for appropriate government regulation for a cohesive internationalisation
thrust and in affirmation of Philippine efforts to uphold its global higher education reputation

TIP Programmes on Academic Mobility
In support of the government’s thrust on academic mobility, T.I.P. implemented both home-based andcross-border internationalisation activities. Academic partnerships with local and foreign universities
were established to share resources, exchange students and faculty, and other collaborative
undertakings.

Home-Based Internationalisation
Lack of financial capacity is a major challenge for outbound faculty members and students of T.I.P.. A
majority of T.I.P. students belong to lower economic bracket families and the availability of government
funding is very limited. Thus, only a few can afford to finance an academic mobility activity.

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With this constraint for cross-border initiatives, T.I.P. intensified the conduct of home- or campusbased internationalisation over cross-border education through the incorporation of international
dimensions in the curriculum and learning process. Without the need to go out of the country,
international learning experience is provided through:•Aligning programmes to meet international standards: All engineering and computing programmes
are accredited by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. (ABET), a U.S.-based
accreditation agency. T.I.P. is also an ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance (AUN-QA)
associate member. AUN is an international organisation that promotes regional cooperation
among HEIs in Southeast Asia and around the globe, focusing on student and faculty exchange,
promoting ASEAN studies, information networking, and collaborative research.

•Integration of international teaching and learning materials: This is done in selected programmeswith the help of Cisco, SAP, Oracle, and ICDL, among others.

•

Joint projects with international content: International partnerships allowed T.I.P. students andfaculty members to collaborate with the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) [2], Jeju
National University (JNU) [3], and Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU), among others.

•

International conferences, seminars, and workshops: These give larger T.I.P. students groups an
opportunity to listen to lectures given by international resource speakers.

•

Visiting professors from international academic partners: Visiting professors are tapped to conduct
lectures on specialised topics in selected professional courses.

Cross-border education activities involving the mobility of students, faculty, and researchers arelimited to benchmarking activities and student exchange for internship.
Benchmarking activities with foreign universities is undertaken to learn international best practices,
including new technologies and innovative approaches (e.g., outcome-based teaching and learning),from the City University of Hong Kong [10], Melbourne University [4], the University of Sydney [5],and Monash University); novel student services (e.g., Career Services of Stanford University and
UC Berkeley); and innovations adapted to the culture and core competencies of participants (e.g.,
Technopreneurship of the National University of Singapore and UC Berkeley).
T.I.P.’s vice president for academic affairs is among the 39 college and university administrators andgovernment officials from 22 countries who participated in the inaugural round of the Education
USA Leadership Institutes to increase understanding of U.S. higher education and provide a unique
opportunity for reciprocal knowledge exchange between the U.S. and participating countries.
The T.I.P career centre director recently went on a benchmarking visit to Standford University and UC
Berkeley to gather more insights and career centre best practices, with the aim of further strengthening
the capability of T.I.P in managing its own centre [11].

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Key T.I.P officials also embarked on benchmarking visits to top-ranking universities in Australia suchas the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, and Monash University. They also met withexperts from the Institute of Engineers Australia [8], Assessment Research Centre, and AustralianCouncil for Educational Research (ACER) [7]. The visits allowed them to develop their capability
in competency- or outcome-based education. They also identified good practices in developing
outcome-based education teaching and learning systems and established network connections
with the HEIs they visited.
Another team of key T.I.P. officials went on a benchmarking visit to the City University of Hong Kong tolearn about implementing outcome-based teaching and learning. The best practices are now being
used as templates to fully implement the approach. Another benchmarking visit was conducted tolearn about the university’s facility for interactive teaching and learning [10].
Members of the T.I.P. Academic Council visited the George Washington University and learned bestpractices on student services and graduate programme administration.
T.I.P. also became a signatory partner of the SEAMEO SEA-Teacher Programme in 2016 [5]. Since
then, it has been actively involved in sending and hosting student interns to and from universities inThailand and Indonesia.

Challenges Faced in the SEA-Teacher Programme
As mentioned earlier, lack of financial capacity is a major challenge for outbound students of T.I.P.
Thus, the number of students applying for internship in the SEA-Teacher Programme is very minimal.
Security risk is another barrier for students who are deployed as interns in foreign countries thatare susceptible to manmade and natural calamities. Parents are hesitant to send their children forfear of their safety. Language barriers are also a problem for inbound students who have difficultycommunicating in English. Gender issues are another constraint for inbound students because T.I.P.
has no facility for mixed-gender housing. Students of different genders cannot be accommodated
within the same apartment. Therefore, only exchange students of the same gender can beaccommodated at a given time.

T.I.P. Implementing Guidelines for the SEA-Teacher ProgrammeWith the relatively short period of participation in the SEAMEO SEA-Teacher Programme, the following
implementation guidelines have been adopted:•

A more rigid screening process for inbound and outbound students to ensure that only those
who are intellectually and emotionally mature and financially capable are considered•

Pre-deployment orientation for all outbound students•

Orientation on the Filipino culture and crash course on conversing in English for inbound students•

Provision of a dedicated student buddy and faculty mentor for each inbound student– 136 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1•

Tapping student organisations to assist international students in adjusting to the Filipino culture•

Participation of inbound students in local cultural trips and other related activities

Conclusion
T.I.P.’s participation in the SEA-Teacher Programme opened opportunities for local and international
employment with attractive compensation packages for its graduates. In a February 2018 Jobstreet
survey, T.I.P. placed seventh among the schools most preferred by employers to hire fresh graduatesfrom [9].
Realising the benefits of academic mobility, T.I.P. commits to improve opportunities through better
assessment and evaluation results, formal internal monitoring, and external reviews. It will continue
to explore possible sources of funds to allow more students to participate in the SEA-Teacher
Programme. It also hopes to expand its cooperation with international partners with the end viewof strengthening student competence and enhancing academic learning and performance throughacademic mobility.

References
1.

CMO No. 55 s. 2016: Policy Framework and Strategies on the Internationalisation ofPhilippine Higher Education.

2.

T.I.P.News. “DC House Prototype in T.I.P. QC Launched with USAID STRIDE Visiting Professor.”
Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/266.

3.

T.I.P.News. “Jeju National University and T.I.P. QC Collaborate in Computer Graphics Artwork
Exhibit.” Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/251.

4.

T.I.P.News. “T.I.P. Benchmarks at the University of Melbourne on Outcome-Based Education.”
Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/210.

5.

T.I.P.News. “T.I.P. Joins Southeast Asia Pre-Service Student Teacher Exchange Programme.”
Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/288.

6.

T.I.P.News. “T.I.P. Officials Benchmark with the University of Sydney on Outcome-Based
Education.” Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/212.

7.

T.I.P.News. “T.I.P. Officials Meet with ACER.” Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/211.

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

8.

T.I.P.News. “T.I.P. Officials Meet with the Institution of Engineers Australia.” Retrieved fromhttps://www.tip.edu.ph/node/209.

9.

T.I.P.News. “T.I.P. Ranks Seventh Place in Jobstreet Survey.” Retrieved from https://www.T.I.P..
edu.ph/article/TIP-ranks-7th-place-in-Jobstreet-Survey.

10. T.I.P.News. “T.I.P. Visits Hong Kong University for Benchmarking.” Retrieved from https://www.
tip.edu.ph/node/165.
11. T.I.P.News. “U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Science, Technology,
Research, and Innovation for Development (STRIDE) Consultants Visit TIP for Career Centre
Capacity Building.” Retrieved from https://www.tip.edu.ph/node/255.
12. T.I.P. Strategic Plan (2013–2020).

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SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Improving Academic Competenceand Global Engagement: Student
Participation in SEA-Teacher and
SEA-TVET
Dr. R. Asep Kadarohman
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI)

Abstract
This article presents UPI’s involvement in the two student mobility programmes organised by SEAMEO,
namely, SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET. SEA-Teacher aims to provide opportunities for pre-service
student teachers from universities in Southeast Asia to obtain teaching experience (i.e., practicum)in schools in other countries in the region. Meanwhile, SEA-TVET aims to promote technical andvocational education and training (TVET) student and staff exchange, which includes cross-country
industrial attachments and internship programmes. Basically, SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET consistof three main activities—orientation, implementation, and reporting. The benefits of joining the
programmes include improving students’ content knowledge and pedagogical skills, competence,and qualifications; harmonising curricula and forming industrial linkages; and enhancing students’English language skills and global engagement. UPI also discussed challenges it faced in the
programmes such as short duration and lack of English proficiency.
Keywords: Student mobility, SEA-Tecaher, SEA-TVET, global engagement

UPI and Global Engagement
Since its establishment in 1954 as one of the educational institutions in Indonesia, UPI has become aleading HEI in the country that consistently focuses on teacher education. In 1998, UPI transformed
into a comprehensive university, enabling it to administer both teacher education as its core businessand non-educational programmes. Its teacher education programme focuses on the foundationof education, pedagogies, subject matters, pedagogical content knowledge, teaching practicum,
and research. Its non-educational programme, meanwhile, consists of foundation courses, subject
matter courses, internship programmes, and research.

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With its vision to become a leading university, UPI identified some missions (Peraturan Pemerintah
RI, 2014), namely:•

Providing quality education•

Conducting research rooted in local wisdom•

Developing teacher education•

Disseminating experiences and innovations for the development of the society

In the academic area, these missions are implemented in the form of general learning outcomessuch as:•Building scientific, educative, and religious attitudes•

Developing a sharing and caring personality in the workplace and in one’s social life supported
by global competitiveness and comparativeness•

Adapting to dynamic changes•

Developing good citizens with national, regional and global views•

Integrating skills such as learning and innovation, mastery of information, media and technology,
career and life•

Becoming lifelong learners

The above-mentioned learning outcomes are designed so that students can face the challenges
of internationalisation that exist today in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Based on the
blueprint of AEC in 2015, the education sector plays a significant role in building AEC by strengthening
the implementation of its economic initiatives; accelerating regional integration in priority sectors,
especially by facilitating the movement of business persons, skilled labour, and talents; andstrengthening the institutional mechanisms of ASEAN. The education sector also plays a significant
role in building the ASEAN sociocultural community by developing and strengthening the coherenceof policy frameworks and institutions to advance human development, social justice and rights,
social protection and welfare, environmental sustainability, ASEAN awareness, and narrowing thedevelopment gap (ASEAN, 2008).
A deeper look at AEC reveals that it focuses on a single market and production base, which has five
“free flows” as core elements (i.e., goods, service sector, investment, capital, and skilled labour).
ASEAN works towards regional harmonisation and standardisation by enhancing cooperation among
the members of the ASEAN University Network (AUN) to increase mobility for both students and staff
within the region and developing core competencies and qualifications for the job/occupational andtrainer skills required in priority service sectors.

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In response to the challenge put forth by AEC and as one of the institutions in ASEAN, UPI is
responsible for promoting knowledge of resources and sociocultural policies among universities
across the region. The university also has the responsibility to contribute to and actively participate
in developing synergy for institutional and regional mobility programmes. This is in line with a moreglobal initiative by UNESCO, which declared global citizenship education (GCED) critical. Thisinitiative requires students to immerse in technology-cultivated, autonomous and global-oriented yet
local wisdom-rooted education. The programme promotes the idea of global or world citizenship bypromoting equity in education for all students across the world.
One focus of GCED is transversal competencies such as intrapersonal and interpersonal skills,
global citizenship, media and IT skills, creative and innovative skills, and others. These competencies
need actual practice in global interactions to support global engagement. Students in HEIs are future
global citizens who have the privilege to become future leaders. As the world becomes smaller
and global, they should have global worldview and embrace the spirit of global citizenship. Since
the shrinking world is becoming more diverse, they should embrace values such as tolerance,
understanding, partnership, and collaboration.
On the other hand, ASEAN also has a mission to build awareness of ASEAN; develop the ASEAN
identity; and cultivate qualified, competent, and well-prepared ASEAN labour forces. This mission is
implemented in the form of SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET.
As such, UPI aims to develop good citizens with national, regional, and global visions by contributing
to and actively participating in SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET. This is in support of UNESCO’s globaland ASEAN’s regional initiatives to increase student involvement in global activities to turn them into
future global citizens and leaders.

Figure 45: Synergy of institutional and regional mobility programmes– 141 –

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SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET
SEA-Teacher aims to provide opportunities for pre-service student teachers from universities inSoutheast Asia to gain teaching experience in schools in other countries in the region. It responds to
SEAMEO Priority Area 5—Revitalising Teacher Education (SEAMEO, 2015). Its objectives include to
develop pre-service student teachers’s teaching skills and pedagogies, encourage them to enhancetheir English skills, give them broader regional and world views, expose them to diverse teaching andlearning situations and opportunities, and encourage them to become flexible.
Meanwhile, SEA-TVET aims to promote TVET student and staff exchange, which includes crosscountry industrial attachments and internship programmes. It responds to SEAMEO Priority
Area 4—Promoting TVET. Its objectives are to foster networking among TVET providers, provide
opportunities for participating institutions to work together through student and staff exchange andindustrial attachments, and share best practices and generate new and innovative ideas throughresearch collaborations. It will improve TVET standards and competencies in Southeast Asia
through internationalisation and harmonisation. It also aspires to promote and develop curriculum
harmonisation, along with the internationalisation of study programmes through lecturer/student
exchange, joint research, and industrial linkages. Finally, it hopes to create a sustainable networking
platform for the use of TVET leaders and institutions, industries, and related development agencies
in the region. SEA-TVET has six main activities—student exchange, staff exchange, industrial
attachment for students, industrial attachment for staff, sharing expertise and resources, and researchcollaboration. It focuses on several industries—hospitality and tourism; electronics, mechatronics,
and manufacturing; agriculture and fishery; construction; and other areas (as long as partners areavailable) (SEAMEO, 2016).
Basically, SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET comprise three main activities—orientation, implementation,and reporting. During the orientation session, the participants are introduced to campus life, theschool culture, the industry, and the culture of the place they are visiting. In the implementation
session, the participants usually conduct teaching observations, develop lesson plans, undergo
teaching practice, and form industrial linkages. The last stage is reporting where the participants are
required submit daily reports, presentations, and a final report in the form of a blog (SEAMEO, 2018).

Figure 46: Steps in SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET– 142 –

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SEA-Teacher provides benefits students by allowing them to learn different teaching skills andpedagogies, including how to make lesson plans for these; know about different school situations;improve their English proficiency; give them an opportunity to make friends with people with diverse
cultural backgrounds; and learn about local cultures. Meanwhile, mentors benefit in that they become
more familiar with different teaching skills and pedagogies that can lead to curriculum adjustments
and internationalisation; identify real linkages between industries and universities, which leads tocurriculum harmonisation; improve their English skills; and become more confident in interacting withinternational students.

Figure 47: Participating countries, institutions, and students in SEA-Teacher Batch 6

Figure 48: Evaluation results for SEA-Teacher for content and instruction organisation training– 143 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Figure 49: Evaluation results for SEA-Teacher strategies and skills for effective instruction training

Similar to SEA-Teacher, SEA-TVET also benefits not only students but also univeristy lecturers andindustry mentors. The students learn not only technical know-how but also experience living and“working” abroad, which enables them to learn new languages, adjust to various cultures, and obtainother regional experiences.
The teachers who participate in staff exchange also benefitin that they gain experience in living and“working” abroad and connect with teachers in the region. Teachers who work in host institutions
gain experience in serving international students.
Institutions such as secondary TVET schools, vocational and technical colleges, and polytechnics
that participate in SEA-TVET also enjoy benefits like expanding their network, learning from thegood practices of fellow institutions in the region, and gaining an opportunity to partner with various
institutions for student and staff exchange.
Participating in SEA-TVET also enhances industry performance of the industry in that they cultivate
students and staff members who are more knowledgeable about current industrial requirements. As
such, they also gain future workers who can perform jobs in multicultural working environment.

Challenges and Proposed Solutions
Participating in SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET are, however, not without challenges.
First, the program duration may be too short probably to avoid visa requirements. But one month may
not be enough for participants to gain enough experience, especially for SEA-TVET. Some industries
suggest an extension to 2–3 months. In the future, maybe SEAMEO can make arrangementswith ASEAN foreign ministers to forgo visas for participants to promote the mobilisation among
students and staff members. Possibilities for credit transfer between ASEAN universities can also be
considered.

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Second, many participants have limited English proficiency. As such, they cannot fully communicate
with peers. Sending institutions must exert more effort to improve their students’ and staff’s language
competency. Only by learning English can they truly gain knowledge and experience from SEATeacher and SEA-TVET.

Conclusion
Both SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET are beneficial to students in terms of content knowledge andpedagogical skills, competence and qualification, curriculum harmonisation and industrial linkage,English language skills, and global engagement. As such, the more ASEAN countries and institutions
participate, the greater the benefits. We also hope that HEIs outside the region, including thosein Japan, Korea, and China (AEC Plus 3), join the programmes so participants can have wider
job opportunities. Last but not least, to sustain the framework that SEA-Teacher and SEA-TVET
built, independent university partnerships are highly encouraged so more students can have more
opportunities for exchange and mobility.

References
1. ASEAN. (2008). AEC Blueprint. Retrieved from https://asean.org/wp-content/uploads/
archive/5187-10.pdf.
2. Peraturan Pemerintah RI Nomor 15 Tahun. (2014). Tentang Statuta UPI.
3. SEAMEO. (2015). “A New Education Agenda: SEAMEO’s Seven Priorities.” Retrieved fromhttps://seaTeacher.seameo.org/seaTeacher/images/Documents/7_Priority_Areas.pdf.
4. SEAMEO. (2016). SEA-TVET Consortium Guide Book. Retrieved from https://seatvet.
seameo.org/ docs/ GuideBook.pdf.
5. SEAMEO. (2018). SEA-Teacher Guide Book. Retrieved from https://seaTeacher.seameo.org/
seaTeacher/images/Documents/Guidebook.pdf.
6. SEA-Teacher. (2018). “Document of Programme Evaluation: SEA-Teacher Batch 6.”– 145 –

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the following individuals and organisations that contributed to thisjournal:•Dr. Roberto Araya, Professor, CIAE, University of Chile•

Dr. Masami Isoda, Professor, Faculty of Human Sciences and CRICED, University of Tsukuba•

Dr. Orlando González, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Assumption
University of Thailand•

Dr. Hiroshi Sato, Associate Professor, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba•

Dr. Yusuke Endo, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba•

Dr. Yoko Yamamoto, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba•

Ms. Kumiko Tomori, Comprehensive Education Centre of the Okinawa Prefecture•

Dr. Toh Tin Lam, Associate Professor, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore•

Dr. Hee Chan Lew, Professor, Korea National University of Education•

Dr. Soledad A. Ulep, Associate Professor, UP NISMED•

Dr. R. Alpha Amirrachman, Centre Director, SEAMEO SEAMOLEC•

Dr. Chantavit Sujatanond, Centre Director, SEAMEO RIHED, Bangkok, Thailand•

Dr. Zulhamsyah Imran, Deputy Director for Administration, SEAMEO BIOTROP•Mr. Slamet Widodo Sugiarto, Researcher, SEAMEO BIOTROP•Mr. Harry Imantho, Researcher, SEAMEO BIOTROP– 147 –

SEAMEO Journal • 2020 • Volume 1

Publishing this journal would not be possible without the leadership of the SEAMEO Secretariat
headed by Dr. Ethel Agnes P. Valenzuela. Special thanks to Allan L. White, PhD for his contribution
in reviewing the articles included in this Journal.

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© 2020
SEAMEO Secretariat
Mom Luang Pin Malakul Centenary Building
920 Sukhumvit Road
Bangkok 10110
Thailand