Transformation of Modern Society andTeacher Training
to Develop Creative Teachers
SEAMEO-University of Tsukuba Symposium VII (Tokyo)
Theme: Reform and Development in Teacher Education for the Digital Economy
10 February 2019

Dr. Hiroshi Sato
University of TsukubaJapan11. Transformation of Society andthe Path for Education
 Future forecasts and educational training are closelyconnected.
 That’s because children will become working adults in thefuture. First graders in the 2018 school year will become
adults in 2032.
 They will turn 30 in 2042 and 40 in 2052. Even after 2050,
they will be the backbone of society.
 What sort of society will we have 10, 20, or 30 years in thefuture?
 It is necessary to forecast the future as much as possible
and teach people about the corresponding knowledge
that will be required.
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 We’ve seen with the evolution of the smartphone in the2010s, society is changing rapidly.
 Today, VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) aresaid to be on the next-generation platforms.
 The fourth industrial revolution is known as Society 5.0.
 As industrial structures change, work also changes, andso do the needed capabilities of workers.
 If those capabilities are changing, then the things weshould be teaching in school should also change.
 In short, the fourth industrial revolution and educational
reform are related.
3 Japan has always been an “education nation”.
 We need to continue to nurture education and scholarship.
If we don’t reform education and improve teacher
professional capabilities, we may be left behind by thefourth industrial revolution.
 We cannot forget that the quality of school education andteacher training is supported ultimately by academic
research.
 Education and research provide the foundation for thefourth industrial revolution.
4 After the fourth industrial revolution, human beings’ central
activity will be inquiry, which is the source of identity and selfefficacy.
 This sort of society is called a “harmonious and inquisitivesociety.” And this makes it the task of education to train for symbiotic
qualities and the ability to inquire or research.
 For a harmonious and inquisitive society, we need creative
teachers.
 We need to redefine a teacher’s specialty as being at its core acreative practice.
 It will become important to have a philosophy of symbiosis
and inquiry when training teachers at the university level.
5 In this speech, I will advance my arguments
based on this point of view.
 How will society change, and how should
school education and teachers change withit?
 As AI advances, teachers must change. What
are the immutable parts of being a teacher?
 And what makes a creative teacher?
 To realize this, what sort of training isnecessary?
62. The Development of Artificial
Intelligence and Work in the Near Future The further development of AI and robots is predicted. Ithas been forecast that the development of AI “is highly
expected to end up replacing about 49% of Japan’s working
population with technological AI and robots” (Terada et al2017, 96).
 Thus, how will the quality of work change?
 As AI takes center stage, new work related to it will be born.
It may be enough for people to find specialized work in thefield of supporting AI.
 It could be through sharing and collaborating with AI. For
example, doctors have begun collaborating with AI at theUniversity of Tokyo and Jichi (Collaboration with Japan’sprefectures) Medical University.
73. What will Become of Teachers?
 So how will the quality of a teacher’s work change asspecialized AI or first-generation general AI spreads?
 This question connects to how a teacher’s specialization
will be redefined.
 AI Researcher, Yutaka Matsuo predicts that AI will enter
the education field deeply around 2030 (Matsuo 2015, 51).
 If so, the relationship between AI and teachers should be
debated in education research.

8 Famous big data players such as Recruit, Microsoft,
Pearson, and IBM have already entered into businesses ofeducational practices.
 Strategies can be devised for measures andcountermeasures related to group learning by grade andschool through access to a database.
 In the UK and Australia, schools have large discretionary
budgets, so they use it to hire private education
consultants (former principals who open businesses) for
proposals and analysis.
 The principal needs to use the consultant’s knowledge
and data and also exercise leadership.
9 What will the teacher’s work be?
 I’d like you to envision teachers teaching students invarious classrooms and overseeing a homeroom.
 Each student has his or her own individuality, and theirguardians probably hold a variety of opinions. And theirfeelings change day to day.
 Teachers must read the students’ expressions,understand them, form a trusting bond, and teach alesson.
 However, the students are children, and they are notalways in touch with their own emotions.
 The classroom teacher needs to be observant. I don’t
think AI can handle that sort of work.
104. The New Teacher’s Specialty:
The Creative Teacher
 When we speak of being creative, we’re not talking
about designers or scientists, for example. Teachers
don’t have to force a uniqueness or originality.
 Instead, what is needed is the ability to see the actual
situation with the children and understand and analyze
the change, variety, societal features (for example,
change in play, friendships, communication), and family
environment of the students.
 Then, the teacher will shape the classroom experienceand the lessons to encourage a child to grow into an
adult who can enjoy a comfortable life.
11 Teachers should not just reply on AI; they should
think about what AI cannot do.
 AI cannot cooperate with others, negotiate, network,support (for example, helping a child expand his or
her narrow horizons.
 Help with difficulties faced with development.),
meaningfully change curriculum direction to reflect
environment and context, motivate, encourage, builda child’s confidence (inspire, influence, encourage,
fire up, help feel alive and vital). This is a teacher’swork.
12 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 criticizing a certain aspect, the observer should
put themselves in the teacher’s shoes and think what
they would do in a similar situation.
 “What sort of question would I pose to get the childto speak further?” Through this detailed vision, the observer canexchange ideas from the same stance as the teacher.
 It is important to say that this sort of lesson study is acreative activity for teachers.
13 The fourth industrial revolution’s advance means oursociety will be structured on our actual world, a mixof our world and the virtual world, and the virtualworld alone.
 If a school or teacher uses virtual material and AI,
teachers should keep a pivot foot in the actual world,bring up ethics, and support the children’s societaland realistic development.

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5. Teacher Training from Now - The
Tsukuba University Example
 I will offer one detailed example.
 From April 2017, the Master’s Program in Education at
the University of Tsukuba offered an international
baccalaureate degree through an accredited program.
 It is called the Pedagogics (International Education)
Master’s Program.
 The objectives of the specialization are to developinternationally minded inquirers with a soundunderstanding of innovative thinking in education andthe skills necessary to plan and conduct research on
issues in International Education.
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 As part of this educational training curriculum, therequired 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”
 “The IB Primary Years Programme”
 “The IB Middle Years Programme”
 “The IB Diploma Programme”
 “Professional Learning and Reflective Practice.” (There are many other subjects to choose from; amaster’s thesis is also required.)16 Normally, the method for introducing andexpounding on the principles of a curriculum happens
during lectures in teacher training.
 But in this class, the principles aren’t taught first; they
are acquired through inquiry and arrived at lastthrough this process.
 “With humanism as a basis, we respect symbiosis
and inquiry,” Akiko Taira told me when we talked on
January 17, 2019.
 “To conduct human-centric teacher training, we put
ICT to work. As the fourth industrial revolutionprogresses, humanity and students’ feelings ofaccomplishment become important, and at the sametime, the trend is to use ICT. The IB program ischanging in this direction too.”17 The IB teacher training program at the graduate school of
the University of Tsukuba is cooperating with schools.
 In the future, the university will cooperate with the SeniorHigh School at Sakado, a University of Tsukuba affiliatethat employs the DP program.
 Moreover, on December 11, 2018, the University ofTsukuba entered into a partnership agreement with theSaitama City Board of Education.
 The main objective is to cooperate with the Omiya
International Secondary School that opens in April 2019.
 Through this cooperation, a mutual exchange between theschool (lessons) and the university (research) will takeplace, and both the quality of the lessons and theacademic research is expected to improve.
18 Omiya International Secondary School has organizeda consistent 6-year middle school curriculum.
 First- through 4th-year students learn in IB MYP(middle years programme).
 Fifth-year students (similar to 2nd-year high school
students in Japan) and 6th-year students (3rd year ofhigh school in Japan) divide the students into threepaths: the global course (IB DP), liberal arts, andSTEM. In MYP, morning is used for All English time.
 Saturday morning is called Learner Directed Time.
One unit a week is on English Inquiry, and anotherweekly unit is spent on the 3G Project (Grit, Growth,Global).
19 The graduate school at the University of Tsukuba is
cooperating with more than just Omiya International
Secondary School.
 Because of the fourth industrial revolution, humanity
becomes more important than ever for our society.
Inquiry is the core activity of human beings.
 At the same time, we need to become tolerant ofdiversity and respect our symbiosis with others.
 To create this symbiotic, inquisitive society, we needcreative teachers.
 To activate the training of creative teachers, we willneed even more effort and tools from here on out.
20 Thank you very much for your kind attention.
 I was very glad to see all of you.

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References Tomota Terada, Etona Ueda, Hirotoshi Kishi, Aiko Mori, “Who Will Support
Japan’s Labor Force”, Toyo Keizai Co. 2017 The British Economist Editorial: “Technology in 2050,” Bungeishunju 2017
 Maki Sakamoto, “Maki Sakamoto Sensei Teaches You How to Understand AI inThis Book”, Ohmsha Ltd. 2017
 Yutaka Matsuo, “What’s Ahead for Deep Learning, the Future of AI”, 2015
 http://www.gdep.jp/seminar/20150526/DLF2015-01-MATSUO.pdf (accessed onJuly 21, 2015)
 Noriyuki Yanagawa, Noriko Arai, Shinya Oouchi, “Human Strength, Management
Styles in the Age of AI”, NIRA (Nippon Institute for Research Advancement)
opinion paper, No. 25, 2016.
 Shinya Higuchi, Otoya Shiroduka, “AI - The Definitive Edition”, Toyo Keizai Co.,2017.
 Central Education Council Report, “About Improving the Capabilities of Teachers
through Educational Training: Heading toward a Format where We Can Learn
from Each Other and Raise the Level of Educational Communication”, 2015
 Yoshiharu Habu, “The Core of AI”, NHK Publishing, 2017
 Andy Hargreaves, “Schools in a Knowledge Society and Education in an Age ofUnease for Teachers”, Kaneko Shobo, 2015
 Bubb, S. and Earley, P., Leading and Managing Continuing Professional
Development, Second Edition, Paul Chapman Publishing, 2007.
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