













   
    

The Journal Excelsior Vol. 1
Date of Publication

August 31, 2022

Publisher

CHIBA Kenji

Editorial Board Chairman

YOZA Hiroaki

EditorPublished by

KOMATSU Toshiaki
Morioka Chuo High School
4-26-1 Mitake, Morioka, Iwate, Japan
Phone: +81-19-641-0458
Facsimile: +81-19-641-5533
E-mail: info@chuo-hs.jp

Printer

TORYO PRINTING Co. Ltd.
2-22-50 Mitake, Morioka, Iwate, Japan
Phone: +81-19-641-8000
Facsimile: +81-19-641-8085
E-mail: info@toryo-net.jp

CONTENTS
Greetings from the launch of “The Journal Excelsior”

Expectations for “The Challenge of Change”
TATSUZAWA Naotaka

5

Trustees, General Manager of Headquarters, Tatsuzawa Education Group“Global Education and International Understanding Education”
CHIBA Kenji

7

Principal, Morioka Chuo High School & Junior High School“The Path to the First Issue”
YOZA Hiroaki

8

Editorial Board Chairman, Vice Principal, Morioka Chuo High School

THE JOURNAL First Issue / Commentary on Contributed Articles
KOMATSU Toshiaki

9

Editor, Professor, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology

Practice Liberal Arts Education－ Achieve People's Holistic Development―
Wu Jian11

Principal, High School Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China

To realize biodiversity and understand the significance of SDGs goals－ Science Club Activities as Extracurricular Activities －TAMAYAMA Mitsunori

21

Science Club Advisor, Biology Teacher, Morioka Chuo High School, Morioka City, Iwate, Japan

Multicultural Society and Education for International Understanding

Oh Sae Ho

29

Science Club Advisor, Deputy Principal, Ansan Gangseo High School, Ansan City, Republic of Korea

Management Structure and Roles of Faculty Members in Research Activities－ For the Development of Glocal Leadership to Create the Community of the Future －KINOSHITA Shu

39

Theme Research Administration Manager, Science Teacher
Okayama Gakugeikan High School, Okayama City, Okayama, Japan

Inspiration and Motivation
Aurea Obeso

49

Head of Secondary School, Colegio Ward, Buenos Aires, Argentine Republic3Personal Growth Through International Exchange－ Learning for both Students and Teacher －UENO Koji

57

Science and Biology Teacher, Okinawa Shogaku High School, Naha City, Okinawa, JapanLET YOUR STUDENTS DO THE WORK
Achdi Merdianto, S. Pd.

65

English Teacher, SMA Dwiwarna, Bogor, Indonesia

Leading the Way or Just Catching Up?
－ New Steps Beyond "Hello" in Japanese English Education －OSAKI Mami

71

English Teacher, Morioka Chuo Junior High School, Morioka City, Iwate, Japan

From “Learning by Teaching” to “Learning by Learning”
Chen Yijun

79

Zezhou County No.1 Middle High School, Jinchang, Shanxi Province, China

Movement in the Classroom
Alice Handscomb

87

English Teacher, Morioka Chuo Junior High School, Morioka City, Iwate Japan

Some ideas to get your students engaged and to have fun and promotecreative thinking in the classroom
Claire Neeson

91

Psychology Teacher, Impington Village College, Cambridge, UK

Working with local communities based on geographical considerations
YOZA Hiroaki

95

Vice Principal, Geography Teacher, Morioka Chuo High School, Morioka City, Iwate, Japan

Project-based learning driven by scientific in1uiry activities－ The improvement of water absorption and water loss experiment of plant cells －Yan Nv105

Zezhou County No.1 Middle School, Jinchang, Shanxi Province, China

4

Submission Rules

121

Postscripts

125

Greetings from the launch of “The Journal Excelsior”

Expectations for “The Challenge of Change”
TATSUZAWA Naotaka
Trustees, General Manager of Headquarters, Tatsuzawa Education GroupFor more than two years since 2020, the entire world has been at the mercyof the new coronavirus, and social and economic activities have been severely
affected. In the field of education, schools were closed, online classes were forced
to be held for long periods of time, and educational activities were forced to takeplace in an unprecedented environment. What is taken for granted is no longer
the norm, and students have spent their days learning and engaging in activities
while being perplexed by the strong restrictions.
This experience has made us appreciate what we take for granted, but it has
also made the future more unimaginable, and we are now asking ourselves whatkind of school management and education we should provide in this situation.
This year, social and economic activities are returning to normal, as the world has
made a decision to live with the new coronavirus, but global warming, economic
disparity, and unending conflicts remain global issues that must be resolved.
Environmental problems and epidemics have been major threats in thehistory of mankind, but in the modern era, human factors have added to thedifficulty of solving these problems. In addition, there is a sense that we aremoving away from a peaceful, safe, and happy society due to excessive economic
activities and struggles for supremacy. Against this social backdrop, it is themission of educators to respond appropriately to the needs of children born andraised, and to work together to create a better society.
The Journal Excelsior is published as an academic journal with contributions
from teachers at Morioka Chuo High School, its international sister schools,
and domestic partner schools for education from a global, mid- to long-term
perspective. Morioka Chuo High School has been advocating the "developmentof human resources that can play an active role in global society for a longtime" and has been conducting global education activities as represented by the
CHUO International Education Forum. From the initial international exchange
activities, the school has developed into global educational activities and joint5research aimed at solving global issues, and the school, students, and teachers
are all working day and night as participants in the global society.
As society changes in this way, schools, education, and teachers need tochange accordingly. It is not easy for schools and teachers to adapt to thesechanges, but it is a challenge that they must continue to take on for the sakeof society and their students. In this issue of the Journal, there are many
examples of this challenge, and I would like to express my great respect for theirefforts. I would also like to offer words of encouragement to the readers of thismagazine, and hope that you will join me in promoting these activities for better
educational practices.

6

“Global Education and International Understanding
Education”
CHIBA Kenji
Principal, Morioka Chuo High School & Junior High School

Morioka Chuo High School has published the 23rd edition of Excelsior, acommemorative journal of the Global Human Resource Development Program,and now we are pleased to announce the publication of The Journal-Excelsior,a teacher's edition of the same. With the full guidance and support of Professor
Komatsu of the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, and withthe cooperation of reviewers Mr. Kanaoka, Mr. Kan, and Mr. Kurokawa, we havecreated a wonderful "accumulation of knowledge". We would like to express our
sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to the manuscript.
Morioka Chuo High School and its attached junior high school have beencommitted to "global education" since their opening.
In general, "education for international understanding" is based on theframework of "nations" in the international community, while "global education"
is defined as education that transcends national frameworks and prioritizes theinterests of the entire planet, rather than the interests of nations. I hope thatthe excellent efforts of each sister school will provide us with great suggestions
on what we teachers must do for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda-"SDGs"
and for the future of our students. I hope that the excellent efforts of each sisterschool will provide us with great suggestions.

7

“The Path to the First Issue”
YOZA Hiroaki
Editorial Board Chairman, Vice Principal, Morioka Chuo High School

The Journal-Excelsior, a collection of articles on faculty initiatives for global
human resource development, has been launched. The Journal-Excelsior aims toshare the experiences of teachers working to develop global human resources atschools in the network and to expand the circle of learning across borders. The
first issue of The Journal-Excelsior features 13 papers from Japan and abroad onteachers’ efforts in this area. We are confident that this issue will be a source oflearning and motivation for many teachers who are struggling on the frontlinesof global human resource development. We would like to express our sincere
gratitude to all those who supported and cooperated in the development of thispublication.
Mr. Ueno of Okinawa Shogaku High School, who contributed on article as
the culmination of his many years of educational activities, passed away frompancreatic cancer on June 25, may he rest in peace. We hope that his last article,
as well as all the articles published in this issue, will be utilized by teachers
around the world.

8

THE JOURNAL First Issue /Commentary on Contributed Articles
KOMATSU Toshiaki
Editor, Professor, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology

The Journal - Excelsior - was born as a journal specializing in educational
practices related to understanding international education at secondary schools
around the world. The Journal was born from the CHUO International Education
Forum (host school: Morioka Chuo Senior High School), which has been conducted
for more than 20 years. The first issue of the Journal gathered manuscripts from 13
teachers from six countries (England, Argentina, Indonesia, China, South Korea,
and Japan). All of the manuscripts were written by teachers in the field, and are very
worthwhile reading. Six manuscripts are from Japan (four from Iwate Prefecture,
one from Okayama Prefecture, and one from Okinawa Prefecture) and seven fromoverseas (five from Asia, one from South America, and one from Europe).
Some manuscripts are related to comprehensive educational practices of the institution,some are highly specialized such as biological research and regional studies, and others
are about biodiversity in nature and its connection to local and international communities
through various international exchanges and fieldwork club activities. Other manuscripts arepractical in nature, introducing various on-site innovations to motivate students and revitalize
the classroom. What these manuscripts have in common is the passionate and sincere attitudeof the teachers who work together with their students in the field of education.
The purpose of the first issue of the Journal was to show what teachers around theworld are thinking, what they are worried about, and what they see as their challenges,
and this has been achieved with great success. The Journal then seeks the truth about
how teachers around the world overcome their own challenges through daily trial anderror, and what remains unachieved. In other words, because every teacher is a workin progress, we hope you will pay close attention to what the Journal has to offer.
When teachers read the Journal, share their awareness of the issues withother teachers around the world, and gain new insights, they will be able toprovide feedback to each other and learn from each other. We hope that the
Journal will give courage and hope to many teachers in the field.

910−Achieve People’s Holistic Development−

Wu Jian（Princial, High School Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China）

SummaryHigh School Affiliated to Fudan University (FDFZ) will achieve thedevelopment of students while practicing liberal arts education and leave its own
unique exploration in the development of contemporary Chinese high school
education.

Key words
Liberal Arts Education, Student-Centered Placement System, Academic Tutor
System,College System, University micro-courses, Young Scholars Program,
Elite Student Development Program, Teachers' Career Development, Cultivate
Innovative Talents

Practice Liberal Arts Education -Achieve People’s Holistic Development-

Practice Liberal Arts Education

High School Affiliated to Fudan University (FDFZ) was founded in 1950
and has a long history of 72 years. FDFZ is one of Shanghai’s first experimental
model high schools, and one of the first model schools featuring science andtechnology education in Shanghai during the new “Five-Year Plan”. The campus
covers an area of about 76 acres, with three domestic high school grades and one
international department of grades 1-12 of more than 1,700 students and over
300 staff members.
In FDFZ, you can see a phenomenon that students are less pushed toschoolwork but more self-driven. As one student said, "When you walk into
the classroom after lunch, you may be greeted by a beautiful, complicated andregular graph made with a geometry drawing board, a theorem named after a
student on the blackboard, or a few logical reasoning questions like “how tomove a matchstick”. When you look back, you hear a heated discussion going on
behind you - about the relationship between the maximum number of musicalbeats and the richness of music. Of course, our world is not just science; weequally appreciate the poetry corner that a certain student insists on updating
every day, and we debate after language class over a question that may never
have the right answer."11

I n re ce n t ye a r s , W u
Yi Shu has been the mostinfluential figure among
FDFZ students. As a
FDFZ graduate of Class
of 2019, she won thes e co n d C h i n e s e Po e t r yContest in 2017 in front of
a cumulative audience of
1.1 billion people, drawing

High School Affiliated to Fudan University (FDFZ)

the attention of people in Shanghai and across the country. Wu Yi Shu grew up
with a keen interest in ancient poetry and literature, and it is supported by her
daily extracurricular reading. FDFZ has provided a broad platform for her interestto grow, and her language teachers often provide her with special guidance,
explaining the ideas of Chinese philosophy and the appreciation of classicalpoetry. At the same time, the university provides her with various literature
lectures and elective courses based on university resources, and there are also
literary clubs and debate teams on campus for her to express her inspiration andcommunicate with like-minded people. As a result, students with specialties likeWu Yi Shu are able to take advantage of the environment at FDFZ and maximize
their potential.
The philosophy of liberal arts education and the “self-driven, open andinclusive” learning environment allow students to expand their horizons, gain
insights, and engage in self-directed learning. FDFZ focuses not only on thegrowth of students during their three years in high school, but also on the future
trajectory of their lives, helping them to discover themselves, thus enriching theirlives and reflecting their values. As Principal Wu Jian explains FDFZ's educational
philosophy, “We cultivate people to produce a good continuity effect, to build acultural foundation that affects learners throughout their lives.”
Optimize Curriculum Design based on student development
Liberal Arts Education is like a bridge: one end connecting the country'ssocial development, talent supply and intellectual support; the other isconnected to the fate of each child and the hope of each family. Under theconcept of liberal arts education, FDFZ takes students as the center, establishesa scientifically rigorous and innovative curriculum system, and benefits the high-12pulpit, expert lectures, university micro-courses, scientific research practiceand other rich forms to create more learning opportunities for students. In
the process, FDFZ highlights the role of the high school stage as a transitional
interface between basic education and higher education, so as to cultivate
students' comprehensive ability to learn independently and adapt to the futuresociety.
Especially in recent years, FDFZ has carried out a developmental pursuitof curriculum construction, continuously enriched and improved the original
curriculum system, explored the college system training mode through theimplementation of placement system and mobile classroom, combined with thetutor system to provide counseling and support for students in different colleges,
so that students' comprehensive ability has been comprehensively cultivated.
Stimulate inner driving force: Perfect combination of “Eight Sections” and “FourSteps”In the construction of the curriculum system, FDFZ strives to reflect its own

Practice Liberal Arts Education -Achieve People’s Holistic Development-

quality disciplinary resources of Fudan University, relying on the academician

school-running characteristics and student development needs, emphasizing
richness, diversity and high selectivity, which is divided into eight major sections
according to the main content and training direction of the curriculum. “Chinese
People” is one of the educational elective courses in the humanities and classics
section, which takes the development of the times as its main line, as well as
takes the spiritual development of “Chinese” as its link. It selects the classicaltheory and literary image, presents the ideal people of Confucianism, Mohism,
Taoism, and Buddhism, the “awakened” people who converge on Confucianism
and Taoism in Wei Dynasty and Jin Dynasty, those who seek the true self in Ming
Dynasty, those who seek the truth in modern times, those who seek “liberation”
in contemporary times and those who are now “proceeding to the world”. It
includes various legends, mythological figures and chivalrous heroes, and strives
to present the spiritual development of Chinese People and guides students toconsciously participate in the process of globalization as a “Chinese”.
By studying this course, students can jump out of the traditional subject
curriculum structure and have a profound thinking on the question of “how tounderstand the idea of 'Chinese”, which not only has an intense driving force for“Chinese” and “Chinese culture”, but also strengthens their ability in cultural
selection and pursuit of the value of life.

13

Innovative teaching methods: Placement, Tutor & College System complement
each other
While the curriculum reform is gradually deepening, FDFZ has also carriedout in-depth exploration of teaching models. FDFZ adopts a student-centeredplacement system, breaking the concept of traditional administrative classes,
blending arts and sciences, avoiding the unity and homogeneity of cultivation,
and achieving the curriculum’s student-development-oriented design goals of,focusing on multiple choices, developing personality and shaping character.
One often sees scenes where students are shuttling between classrooms
in different classes. After each lesson, students are busy changing classrooms
and new learning partners. The course selection system that cooperates withthe mobile classroom gives students a lot of autonomy, so that they really havethe exclusive course of “one person, one class schedule” and truly become
the master of their own learning. This model is conducive to students' selfdevelopment and growth, but sometimes it also causes students to fall into the"confusion" of lack of belonging. In view of the above characteristics, FDFZ hasestablished an academic tutor system to further strengthen the personalized
career planning and further education guidance for students, and enhance theeffective communication between teachers and students.
Under the background of the gradual maturity of the “placement system”
and the “tutor system”, FDFZ explored the “college system” training method forall students on the basis of the practice of the College of Arts and Sciences, andtherefore established four colleges: Wang Dao, Bu Qing, Jia Zhen and Xi De. The
four colleges are named after the former presidents of Fudan University, and also
inherit the legacy of the old presidents, each with disciplinary characteristics.
Each high school student belongs to one of those four colleges at the beginningof enrollment, and FDFZ opens special courses for improving mathematics,
physics and chemistry and special courses on liberal arts literacy according to
the characteristics of students, providing space for students with spare energy
to develop more interests and hobbies. Under such an all-round and multi-leveltraining method, the comprehensive quality of FDFZ students has been further
cultivated.
As one student who graduated from Fudan Middle School said: “At first, I wascompletely helpless, it was the tutor who taught me the research method stepby step, which made me move from a reader of “Douban”, “Zhihu” to massive
CNKI papers; from having only hazy ideas to learning to finding theoretical

14

interview problems to achieving the successful completion of focus groups andcase interviews, and finally I finished the research report, and participated in thecompetition... Although I only know a little about the research process now, I
can definitely feel the improvement of my ability during the whole process, and
I understand more clearly that although research is difficult, as long as I believethat what I do is meaningful, I will eventually have gains from persevering.”
Breaking down stereotypes: Joint achievements of Micro-courses & Young
Scholars Program
FDFZ and Fudan University are geographically closely connected, and bothhave unique conditions for exploring the interaction between university and highschool education. Fudan University opens classes to FDFZ students, students canparticipate in the evening university courses; FDFZ students have also entered
the laboratory and library of Fudan University during the summer vacation,
participating in small projects or book clubs, and experiencing the charm andfun of academic research. The close interaction between FDFZ and Fudan

Practice Liberal Arts Education -Achieve People’s Holistic Development-

basis in the works of communication giants, from asking the naïve and shallow

eventually led to the teaching cooperation of the university's micro-courses.
Since 2018, FDFZ has opened a “university micro-course” with the support of
Fudan University, and more than 30 well-known professors have entered FDFZ’s
classrooms in just one year and opened more than 30 micro-courses. University
micro-courses are characterized by its concentration, continuity and shortteaching schedule, while single academic lectures are with longer duration andmore concentrated themes. Micro-courses can display scholars' academic ideas
more comprehensively and deeply. The flexible and in-depth teaching concept
gives university teachers more freedom of choice, so that they can choose anumber of topics to discuss with FDFZ students in the fields they specialize in,focusing on academic thinking process. These courses seamlessly connect theuniversity classroom on the basis of the corresponding curriculum sections of
the attached middle school, so that FDFZ students can understand the academic
characteristics of the discipline and discover and develop their own interestsand strengths. The attached middle school, known as the “most university-likehigh school”, has also further developed in the field of exploring “university-highschool” articulation linkage.
Deng Fei, Ph.D. in the Department of Oriental Studies of Oxford University
and researcher of Literature and History at Fudan University, has been engaged

15

in the study of archaeology and material culture of Song and Yuan art for many
years. She taught her classmates the lesson “Archaeology of Chinese Art”, usingarchaeological findings andtomb materials to explore
the culture, religion,
etiquette and politics ofancient China. Tao Yi Wei,a student of the class of2023, is deeply moved after
taking the elective course,"It turns out that the tomb
can contain such a grand' u n i ve r s e ' i n t h e s m a l lworld. Behind the mottled patterns is the fusion and unity of multiculturalism,
and the culture contained in the tomb is the 'fire of the underground world',
which guides generations of scholars to find the 'knowable world'. As a result, shelikens the course to “a scientific journey that breaks down stereotypes.”
This course is just one of dozens of micro-lessons. In recent years. A numberof university teachers have entered the high school classroom, and they have
set up courses such as “Public Health: The Eternal War That Changed the Courseof Mankind”, “The Briefest History of Mankind”, and “Introduction to Japanese
Culture” to explain knowledge and answer questions for students. They havedevoted themselves to turning knowledge into easy, teaching children in a
simple and simple way, sowing the “seeds” of related disciplines for them, so thatstudents can experience university general education and professional training
in the classroom.
In 2021, FDFZ continued to deepen its cultivation in the field of integration
between college and high school, launching the Young Scholars Program.
The program is a research group composed of students from FDFZ, New York
University (Shanghai), Shanghai University, Shanghai Pasteur Institute andteachers from the International Department of FDFZ, covering market economy,
physics, cognitive neurology, sociology, economics and virology. Under theguidance of professors, teachers and seniors, students will conduct in-depth
research on related topics within one year and achieve research results.
The Young Scholars Program continues the original mission of the university
micro-course, which is to allow students to find their future research direction

16

truly suits them, at a time when educational resources and personality choices
are complex and changing. In addition, the program goes beyond the traditional
disciplinary dimension to nurture more students with a sense of human destiny
by building a “nurturing community” that includes school, society, family andstudents’ peers. The program dedicates to making students more aware of thepeople around them through their research, and hopes that they will be able
to move from a purely disciplinary perspective to a broader one, caring about
the surrounding community, the country and even the world, and becoming a
globally competent person.
Cultivating a Liberal Arts career and building an exceptional teamAn excellent teaching staff is the backbone of FDFZ's educational andteaching activities. Designing career paths for teachers, providing platforms andopportunities for career development, and giving continuous process guidance
during development are necessary for FDFZ to run a high-quality school. FDFZ
integrates the advantages of Chinese and Western teacher career development

Practice Liberal Arts Education -Achieve People’s Holistic Development-

through real research and practice, and to choose the university and major thatmodels and creates paths and measures for teachers' career development fromfour perspectives: height, breadth, effectiveness, and humanity, to realize
teachers' value and enhance their sense of professional belonging and happiness.
In terms of height, FDFZ guides teachers to clarify the milestones andlong-term goals of their professional development and pushes them to stepout of their personal comfort zones to continuously discover and understandthemselves. In terms of breadth, FDFZ provides teachers with a variety of training
platforms for professional development and encourages teachers to pursue
professional development in university classrooms. It is recommended thatteachers under the age of 40 must spend half a year out of two years attending
a course related to their major at Fudan University or their professionalcounterparts to sharpen and improve their professionalism.
In terms of effectiveness, FDFZ focuses on the leading role of outstanding
teachers, which in turn creates an effective culture of internal motivation. Youngteachers have learned from many outstanding predecessors and have developed
a more comprehensive and stronger professional ideal. In terms of humanity,
FDFZ spares no effort to support labor unions, faculty councils and otherorganizations, opens faculty sports clubs, creates salons for young teachers, andstrives to create richer and more diverse group building platforms and exchange

17and interactive activities to enhance teachers' happiness and sense of belonging.
In specific teaching, FDFZ encourages teachers to “look beyond teaching”, toobserve their own teaching design more from the students' perspective, todiscover its rationality and effectiveness. Teachers are requested to contemplateon: “whether I provide opportunities for most students to participate in learning
activities”, and “whether I propose a curriculum that matches the students'
cognitive level”, “whether I provide opportunities for most students to participate
in learning activities”, “whether I ask open-ended questions that match students'
cognitive levels”, “whether I leave enough time for students to think”, “whether
I listen to students' expressions, not to interrupt them, and to give feedback tostudents' answers in a differentiated manner”, and so on.
These teaching details largely guide teachers to understand the criteria of“good” lessons, so that they can truly implement “student-centered” teaching
method into every aspect of teaching, rather than just staying at the level ofideas and slogans. As young teachers say, “A good classroom is not only aboutteaching, but also about learning. Only by thinking from the perspective of'learning' can we teach better.”
Sowing the “SEEDS” of liberal arts for a better future
In recent years, FDFZ has been taking multiple measures to cultivate
innovative talents. The continuous optimization of the curriculum structure,
the deepening of the educational reform, the continuous improvement ofteachers' quality, and theaccumulation of practicalexperience have provided
a good foundation for thecultivation of innovative
talents, inspiring and
g u i d i n g ge n e ra t i o n s o fstudents to become thebright stars of tomorrow.
Shi Fang Yan, who won
the gold medal in the National Mathematical Olympiad, lamented, “The sea iswide enough for fish to swim, and the sky is high enough for birds to fly, and it
was FDFZ that gave me the freedom to roam the world, and that’s why I mademy achievements.”

18

competition to build a platform for students to free their minds, practice anddiscover creativity. Lang Qing Lin, who successfully entered Bei Jing University,
participated in the Science and Innovation Competition and FRC (FIRST Robotics
Competition), and believes that the beauty of these experiences is that “you canlearn something beyond the test in practice.” A number of outstanding students
have drawn energy and wisdom from the fertile soil of FDFZ, and have been able
to develop their thinking skills.
In 2021, the number of winners of competitions in various disciplines
reached a new high. In 2021, a total of 45 students won the third prize or higher
in the Shanghai Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition, and 7
students won the second prize or higher in the National Olympiad in Information
Science. In 2021, there were a total of 45 winners of the Shanghai Youth Scienceand Technology Innovation Competition and 7 winners of the Shanghai Scienceand Technology Stars of Tomorrow.
In 2021, the university entrance exams of students from FDFZ were carriedout smoothly and orderly, and they have achieved good results in the admission

Practice Liberal Arts Education -Achieve People’s Holistic Development-

Since 2018, FDFZ has launched the “Du Zhi Cup” innovation experimentof high-level universities: the admission rate of top universities in Tsinghua
University, Beijing University, Fudan University, Jiao Tong University andHong Kong University is about 45%, the admission rate of “double-first-tier”
universities is over 60%, and more than 80% of students have been admitted touniversities of “211 Project”. In terms of international advancement, 20% of the2021 graduates of FDFZ’s International Department alone entered the top 10 QS
schools, and 69% entered the top 30 QS schools.
Over the past 70 years, the FDFZ campus has nurtured more than 30,000
graduates who, under the cultivation of its liberal arts education philosophy,
have become outstanding and innovative talents active in different fields andindustries. As FDFZ alumni say, “Students of FDFZ are not dullards who bury
their heads in their books, but are concerned about society and the development
and changes in China and the world.” “FDFZ provides a solid foundation foreveryone to expand their horizons, and by knowing themselves well andbringing their imagination, they can succeed in any field.” “Because of FDFZ’sdevelopment, diversity, vitality and positive energy, the minds and bodies of agroup of unruly teenagers are fully nurtured and incubated.” “The teachers of
FDFZ make it their greatest pursuit and happiness to teach and solve problems,and students naturally respect them from the bottom of their hearts. The FDFZ

19

teachers, whether they are leaders or lecturers, are all dedicated to their workand teach themselves. The goodness of FDFZ lies in its environment of loving
and nurturing talents, and in its pure and upright school spirit.”
As the “Golden Name Card of Shanghai Basic Education”, FDFZ, led by thephilosophy of liberal arts education, not only focuses on how education canmake students successful today, but also continues to focus on their future
development. From the love of family and country to the vision of the world,from the courage to take responsibility to the spirit of pursuing excellence, fromthe rigor of striving to the openness and tolerance of liberal arts, these spiritual
cultures have cultivated a batch of outstanding students who are motivatedand pursue excellence, making them grow into “masters of learning, mastersof FDFZ, masters of the country and masters of the times.” In the future, FDFZ
will combine the characteristics of the “Internet+” era, optimize the teachingmode and continue to set foot on solid ground, shoulder the responsibility
and morality, achieve the development of students while practicing liberalarts education, and leave its own unique exploration in the development ofcontemporary Chinese high school education.

20

−Science Club Activities as Extracurricular Activities−

TAMAYAMA Mitsunori（Science Club Advisor, Biology Teacher, Morioka Chuo High School, Morioka
City, Iwate, Japan）

SummaryThis article outlines the modest activities of the science club asextracurricular activities, which have been carried out with the students, who willlead the next generation, to realize biodiversity, while keeping in mind the 17
goals of the SDGs, in order to create a better world that is tolerant of others.

Key words
Biodiversity, SDGs, goals, living the paradox, tolerance for non-self Deformable
Fungi as a Tool for Global Perspective
1. Introduction
The textbooks for “Basic Biology,” which are required in high school courses,
begin with the theme of “Diversity and Commonality of Living Things,” butthe latest textbooks only mention that there are more than 1.9 million named
organisms on the earth, and the main emphasis is on “commonality.” Students
can answer this part of the common test correctly if they remember this number“1.9 million species,” but this number is increasing every day, and in fact,
textbooks up to last school year stated “1.8 million species.”

To realize biodiversity and understand the significance of SDGs goals-Science Club Activities as Extracurricular Activities-

To realize biodiversity and understand thesignificance of SDGs goals

The latter half of the 20th century and the 21st century have been called
the “age of biology,” and new facts continue to be discovered one after
another through active research. In the midst of this, there are fewer and fewer
opportunities for students to experience “biodiversity” in schools and society.
When asked to name organisms they are familiar with, students' answers are
surprisingly lacking in diversity. It is unreasonable to expect those who havenever had the experience of catching insects when they were young to realizethat the vibrations of the wings of a pinwheel held between their fingers are
so powerful that they can slip through their fingers and fly away. The term

21

“biodiversity” is just one of those things that people bring up when they want tosay, “I know that word.” Even if we illustrate the “complexity and elaborateness”
of plant structures to people who have never picked wild flowers to make flower
crowns or plucked weeds in gardens and fields by hand, we cannot convey the
toughness and fragility of the plant body.
The life phenomena that young people who are going through this kindof growth process learn mainly in high school classes are life phenomena
at the cellular and molecular level, within the subject of the “commonality”
of organisms. The low vaccination rate against coronaviruses is a worldwide
problem because the receptor protein on the cell membrane sends antigenic
information into the cell, and dendritic cells, helper T cells, and B cells, which
are responsible for the immune system, produce Y-shaped antibody proteins,
immunoglobulins (Ig), in the human body against the antigens of the virus andother viruses.
2. the paradox of intracellular symbiosis
The theory of “intracellular symbiosis” is the basis for the “commonality” oforganisms taught in high school classes. This is one of the modern “establishedtheories" that have been gradually accepted by the scientific community throughthe development of molecular evolutionary studies, and it is a landmark that
this theory is used in high school textbooks. This is because, in the unit on
immune mechanisms, such as vaccines, cells have a molecular mechanismthat distinguishes between “self” and “non-self” and eliminates “non-self.”
In this intracellular symbiosis theory, mitochondria and chloroplasts, which
are important organelles in eukaryotic cells that everyone knows about,were incorporated into another eukaryotic cell 1.9 billion years ago and lived
together without being eliminated or digested, even though they were non-self(symbiosis = “cohabitation”). This is because it is explained that the birth of thepresent eukaryotic cell is the result of the cohabitation of non-self with anothereukaryotic cell (cohabitation). This extremely rare phenomenon is the originof the present species. In other words, of the more than 1.9 million species thatexist today, the animals, plants, mushrooms, and fungi that we commonly thinkof when we speak of living organisms are, in the first place, contradictory and live
in a paradox.

22physics in the 20th century, believed that “being an entity that decreases entropy
in defiance of the second law of thermodynamics” is being alive, and his insight
led to the subsequent discovery of the molecular structure of DNA and the birthof molecular biology. However, as a living species, humans (Homo sapiens
Linnaeus) cannot escape from this law of life. However, if the approximately
7.5 billion humanité living on the earth today possess the “sapio” that Carl Von
Linné adopted when he coined the scientific name, or what René Descartes
called “bon sans,” and are aware that they are “thinking reeds,” as Blaise Pascal
called them, then they are able to eliminate the “non-self.” If I am aware that I
am a “thinking reed” as Blaise Pascal says, then I need to restrain myself fromtending to exclude the “non-self”. I believe that the recognition of the existenceof “non-selves,” even from the perspective of historical differences between
peoples and differences in religious values, is the key to living as humanité
beyond the biological species of humans, and this is what I want the generationin the process of forming values to learn in the field of “education.”
In textbooks, we learn that living a “paradoxical” life requires energy, asubstance called ATP (adenosine triphosphate), but living as a social being as
a human being also requires energy, which is reason and intelligence, and I
think this is what we learn from education. It is one of the narrow stereotypes ofignorant insight that there are only two sexes in terms of biology. Understanding
the “diversity” of organisms is synonymous with being tolerant of non-selves andunderstanding and respecting the “diversity” of peoples and languages; all 17
goals of the SDGs converge here. Everyone has the equal right to live happily (ElDerecho de Vivir en Paz) for less than 100 years, even though it is not a life thatanyone would have wished for himself.

To realize biodiversity and understand the significance of SDGs goals-Science Club Activities as Extracurricular Activities-

Erwin Schrödinger, one of the key researchers who pioneered quantum

3. Existence precedes essence.
Aristotle of ancient Greece examined the animals of the Mediterraneanand divided them into “blooded and unblooded animals,” but could we say thathe lacked a better understanding of the phenomenon of life than we do today
because he was unaware of the fact that living beings are made up of cells? I
believe that Aristotle became the “founder of biology” beyond the speculative
nature of his teacher Plato, whom he studied at the Academia, because hedirectly touched, dissected, and smelled “living things” himself.

23

The discourse “l'existence précède l'essence” may be an outdated
philosophical term now, but it has been used by generations of people in
Ukraine, Russia, Finland, Latvia, and elsewhere who have lived with their feeton the ground and their family ties as their only connection. I believe that thishas prompted a reconsideration not only among Europeans, but also among
many people today who live in an era in which the entire planet is in theirsights. Young people first of all need opportunities to scientifically “observe”
life phenomena operating in front of them in their daily lives, and elementary
education is required to ensure as many of these opportunities as possible. If aperson does not have any actual experience, there is no way that he or she will
be able to understand the molecular mechanisms of life phenomena when they
are explained to them. If one wants to know more about molecular mechanisms,
nowadays, with the development of the Internet and other means, it is possible
to learn enough even after going to advanced school or entering the workforce,as long as one's scientific curiosity is nurtured.
4. Science club activities as extracurricular activities
First of all, if you see a flower, I want you to touch its petals and leaves withyour fingers and skin to feel its softness. Animals are not just something you
see at the zoo, nor are they just pets that live like family members. The gojigeji (Pardon!) that wandered into a third-floor classroom during class and was
trampled by a teacher (the author) is a biologically equivalent creature out of
1.9 million species. During the 10 years or so that I have been in charge of thescience club as an extracurricular activity, I have wanted to provide the students,
who take time out of their busy schedules to participate in the club, with anopportunity to come into contact with real living creatures, even if only a little,
and I have been introducing them to “Myxomycetes, true slime molds,” which
I have personally studied since my student days. I have been introducing mypersonal research on “Myxomycetes, true slime molds” to my students. Thisis the first time any of the students have seen the organisms, and while somestudents stop there, others continue with interest.
There are two themes of the club's activities: taxonomic and biogeographicalresearch that provides basic data on biodiversity, and experimental research using
a condition called plasmodium, which can be done in the school science lab.

24

reported in Iwate Prefecture. We conduct field surveys and culture them inscience laboratories (moist chamber culture) to produce specimens as evidence,compile occurrence lists, and determine the similarity of each collection site.
This is an extremely simple activity, but it is also a process that gives students
a tangible sense of biodiversity. Since the identification process of determining
species names is difficult for students (even at the researcher level, species are
known to be a difficult group to define), the final identification work is done by
the author, but some students are enthusiastic about observation using stereo
microscopes, and several species have been found that have never been recordedin this prefecture.
Last year, nearly 500 specimens accumulated by successive generations ofstudents were donated to the Iwate Prefectural Museum, which recognized themas primary biodiversity resources in the prefecture. In doing so, the students ofthat time worked diligently to label the accumulated specimens and organize thedatabase in Excel. They were able to experience how survey data from their own
local area could be reflected in a database for the whole of Japan and become
part of a global-scale inventory.
In guiding the activities of thescience club, we do not try to makethe activities “high school-like,” butaim to gain new scientific insights
for professional researchers as well.
Although there is a limit to what we
can do, they appreciate our activities

To realize biodiversity and understand the significance of SDGs goals-Science Club Activities as Extracurricular Activities-

Of the 1,000 or so species recognized worldwide, about 200 have been

and have made it possible for us to
do scanning electron microscopy inthe electron microscope room at theFaculty of Science and Engineering of
Iwate University.
The experimental research using
plasmodium, which can be donein the science lab, begins with therearing of amoeboid plasmodium,25

which is a “difficult” task for the
new students. In order to study life
phenomena, one has to raise theorganisms, and this involves repeatedtrial and error while paying attention
to temperature, humidity, and otherfactors on an agar medium. That is allright. One of the things I want you to experience is to realize that what is written
in a single line in a textbook or on Wikipedia is the truth that has been acquiredby mankind through a great deal of labor and effort. As has been passed downfrom generation to generation, the students take the initiative in washing theexperimental containers themselves,
even though they say they smell bad
after the culture is finished, eventhough they may get moldy. When I
first witnessed this, I was impressedthat today's young people are not sobad.
Although there are times when
the students make continuous failures, some of them find a trick and master theart of culturing. One student was able to reproduce the maze experiment on his
own, thanks to the advice of Professor Toshiyuki Nakagaki, a two-time Ig nobel
prize winner, who was featured on the cover of the scientific journal “Nature”
and became a topic of conversation as to whether unicellular organisms haveintelligence. Although I have no intention of nurturing future researchers in thefield of biology, I believe that this was a great opportunity for him.
A student who graduated this spring decided to make a three-dimensional
experiment out of a two-dimensional maze experiment, and made a threedimensional model using agar medium, as shown in the photo below, butinstead of purchasing ready-made equipment and instruments, he used his
own ingenuity to obtain the results shown in the photo. A similar study had
already been reported by Prof. Adamatzky in England with more sophisticatedexperiments, but as an advisor who has been observing this student's activities
for the past two years, I can vouch for his hard work and high degree of26

5. Conclusion
One of the features of our school is that
we have sister schools all over the world. Whenformer students who participated in the sisterschool program stayed in Dakar, Senegal,
they brought back bark and fallen leaves andbranches as samples for wet room culture, andthe results of the culture in our science lab are
being compiled.
The lack of data on habitat survey
information in African countries for deformablefungi is also one of the issues that researchers around the world need to address,
but researchers in Finland and a museum in Belgium, due to its historicalbackground, have been conducting surveys in several countries. Although
researchers are growing up in Kenya and other countries, there has been noreport from Senegal at all, and they are encouraging us to publish it as it will be
the first report from Senegal in the world, and therefore of scientific value. The
former students of the school, who have since graduated and are now moving
on with their lives, are happy and proud of this. I am sure that the students who
were sent to Senegal did not forget my request to communicate with the local
people to collect samples, as shown in the photo, and it is no wonder that they
have excelled in their subsequent university studies, and I am sure that theirexperience was motivation for their development as teachers. It was a greathonor for the teachers to think that this would have been one of the stimulating

To realize biodiversity and understand the significance of SDGs goals-Science Club Activities as Extracurricular Activities-

independence.

factors in their development. They clearly enjoyed this activity. This is important.
(It is the author's undiscovered dream) to collect samples with the same
purpose not only in Senegal but also in our sister schools around the world,
cultivate them in their respective high schools and in our school, and create amap of the global distribution of the organism called deformable fungi. In orderto do so, it is necessary for each teacher to learn about this organism, whicheven biology teachers probably know only in words, but I am available to advise
on any matter upon request (mitsunori.tamayama@nifty.com). I don't know
how much sense there is in these extracurricular activities. It is all a process of27

exploration, but I am sure that I have made it this far because of my tenure at theschool, and I am grateful for the understanding and support of the school.

References
The following is a “Seeing is believing” website on what deformable bacteria are like.
https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Eumycetozoa&guide=Myxomycetes&flags=H
AS:28

Oh Sae Ho（Science Club Advisor, Deputy Principal, Ansan Gangseo High School, Ansan
City, Republic of Korea）

Summary
Korea's multicultural policy is being developed in the direction of creatinga society where people can live together by understanding and embracing
each other's culture and history with the goal of harmony and coexistence. Inline with this, Ansan Gangseo High School is promoting international culture
understanding education in which students effectively participate based on the
research result that multicultural acceptance index is not that high without directinteractions. We have sisterhood agreements with Australia, Japan, and Taiwan,

Multicultural Society and Education for International Understanding

Multicultural Society and Education forInternational Understanding

sending students to sister schools, teaching students with video classes, operating
mutual cultural education programs, and doing online interactive activities. Our
school has an exchange student program in cooperation with various institutions
to provide language education and ‘mutual cultural exchange’. In the future, wewill continue to promote education toward ‘intercultural education’ to foster‘world citizens’.

Key words
Multicultural Society, Interaction, Cultural Exchange, Reciprocal Visiting, Video
Classes, Online Exchange, Language Education, Educational Opportunities,
Identity, Integration, Intercultural Education, Global Citizenship1.Introduction
The lifestyle of eating, sleeping, and wearing combined with theenvironment, history, and social situation becomes a culture. So, a culture
appears in a wide variety of forms depending on the region and society. No
matter what culture you have, there is a reason why all cultures have occurredand continue. In addition, a culture can be the most important criterion forunderstanding society or country because it is an important factor in determining
the value and morality of local people's lives. Therefore, understanding andtolerance for a variety of cultures become an important competency to live in the29

global era.
Now, in most countries, people from various countries are living together
and creating a new culture. As in the past, the culture of the present andfuture will be created by the lifestyle that each member of society creates now.
Countries around the world are creating a new culture that will live in the future
by combining their own culture and the culture of new members in harmony.
In Korea, people from all over the world who have immigrated to attainan objective to make for a living and study are making a new society. The
Korean government and civic organizations are making great efforts to help
them. However, until now, Korea's multicultural family support policy has
been made in the direction of foreigners adapting well to Korean society andaccepting Korean culture. The purpose of the Framework Act on the Treatment
of Foreigners in Korea, which took effect in 2007, and the Multicultural Family
Act, which took effect in 2008, was for foreigners in Korean society to adapt to
Korean society and integrate with Koreans. Korea's multicultural society, whichprimarily revolved around Southeast Asia women's international marriages andKorean Chinese workers, is still rigid, emphasizing ethnocentrism, and focusing
on foreign immigrants' fairy tales and cultural assimilation rather than changes
in Korean society. The Korean government provides child care benefit to childrenof multicultural families, language development diagnosis and education,and educational visits to multicultural families. However, as the number ofmulticultural children increases rapidly, they are suffering from the lack ofmulticultural awareness and confusion in self-identity.
Presenting the humanitarian ideal as the founding ideology of the nation,
Korea is a society with an ideological foundation for embracing diverse cultures,
but the reality still has many problems to solve. Fortunately, in recent years,
efforts have been expanding to create a society where harmony and coexistence
are the policy goals, understanding, embracing each other's culture and history,
and living together. In the new global era of the 21st century, in order to forma society where members of various cultural backgrounds live together, theneed to support different cultures to grow into appropriiate cultures where
they live in the future society has increased. In this trend, Ansan Gangseo highschool is also making efforts to examine the current situation of multicultural
families and regional policies and conduct future-oriented international cultural
understanding activities to help form new local and social cultures.

30

Ansan Gangseo High School is a private high school located in Ansan,
Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Ansan is a coastal city located in the southwest
of Seoul within a 30-kilometer radius. In the 1970s, an industrial complex
was established nearby, and the population was greatly introduced mainly byworkers, and as of 2022, about 700,000 people are living in this city. About
10,000 companies are engaged in economic activities in Ansan and nearby areas.
Recently, the number of foreign workers is increasing rapidly, especially thanks
to active economic activities.
Students in Ansan have less resistance to foreigners and foreign culturesand have a high understanding of each other's cultures. Of course, it is difficult
to say that various foreign cultures coexist inside Ansan because foreigners areabsorbed by Korean culture and have no choice but to live a Korean-style life.
According to a report by the Gyeonggi Institute of Education , even multiculturalareas do not necessarily have a higher multicultural acceptance index thanMulticultural Society and Education for International Understanding

2.Main Idea

those that do not. It announced the results that even if many migrants reside,
multicultural acceptance is not high without direct interaction.
Fortunately, in recent years, there has been a view that unilateral absorption
or assimilation is undesirable, and each culture is changing in the direction ofrecognizing and living as it is. In line with this, Ansan Gangseo High School
actively develops international exchange programs and provides opportunities
for students to participate. Currently, activities for international exchange
programs have been dampened and suspended due to COVID-19, but every
member in Ansan Gangseo High School tries to explore opportunities to make aleap forward again.
Since the first student exchange program was started in 2010, our school has
formed a sisterhood relationship with schools in Japan, China, and Taiwan, andhas been conducting student exchanges and cultural experience activities andis also seeking related exercises during class. Through club activities, student
exchange programs and international cultural understanding activities are being
promoted whenever there is an opportunity. We are not only trying to experience
different cultures from ours out of curiosity, but also trying to understand eachother's cultures and proceed in the direction of multicultural understanding
education that lives together in the region. Through this article, I would like tolook back on the international exchange program operated by Ansan Gangseo
High School and think about the direction to develop it into a program to31establish a better relationship.
1) The Perception of Multicultural Society in Korean Society
Multiculturalism means a mixture of cultures of different ethnic groups andcountries in a society. Multiculturalism is an ideology that encourages cultural
diversity and aims for coexistence and integration based on understandingof different cultures. Multiculturalism is based on the universal right toembrace, recognize, and preserve all cultural communities for their members.
It is necessary to try not to impose one's methods on others by using power.
Social integration by embracing other cultures is to establish each person's
identity in spite of differences from other people or cultures. In modern society,'unification' is no longer an element of sustainable culture. In the global civilsociety, the universal value of mankind is directed rather than the legitimacy
of a homogeneous nation and pure blood custom. Therefore, the task of themulticultural era is not unification but integration. Integration for a multiculturalsociety includes a multidimensional process that involves various factors suchas legal status, political and social participation, and language ability based on
various cultural understandings.
2) Status of Multicultural Families and Multicultural Students in Ansan
The representative members newly introduced into Korean society areabout 1 million foreigners, including international marriage immigrants, foreign
migrant workers, and international students. In particular, Ansan belongs to a
local government with a high proportion of foreigners in the country, with 82,686
foreigners living in Ansan(as of September 2021) from 80 countries, the second
largest number of foreigners in Korea. The types of foreigners living in Ansan are
as follows.

32

25% being under 19, followed by those in their 40s (21%) and those in their 50s(18%).
Leading the establishment of the National Multicultural City Council
in 2012 to build a local government cooperation system, Ansan operates thenation's first and highest administrative agency dedicated to foreign residents toprovide one-stop services. In addition, Ansan is the only city in the country which
was designated as a special multicultural village zone by the government in 2009,
providing specialized services, systematic management of dense residences, andrevitalizing local tourism using exotic multicultural streets.
● The nationality of multicultural household members is Korea (75%), followedby China (Korean) (11%), China (77%), and Vietnam (3%).
Source : Gyeonggisisatoday (http://www.yitoday.com)

Multicultural Society and Education for International Understanding● The average age of multicultural household members is 37.3 years old, with

Total
Total Students

Number of Students
from Multicultural
Families

MulticulturalStudents Rate per
Total Students (%)

Primary School

32,594

3,762

11.5

Middle School

17,9371,195

6.7

High School

19,288

582

3.0

Total

69,819

5,539

7.93

Education level

Source : Basic Plan for Multicultural Education - Gyeonggido Office of Education

There are about 5,500 multicultural students living in Ansan, accounting
for 7.93% of the total students. The proportion of multicultural students is
expanding to 10%, and multicultural education policies reflecting this are also
appearing in various ways. Ansan helps the settlement of multicultural families
through the Ansan Multicultural Center and he Ansan Global Youth Center
entrusted with language education supports students' learning operating
programs, psychological and emotional support, and career counseling.
Moreover, programs to support multicultural students in each school aresponsored by the Office of Education.

333) International Understanding Education Activities of Our School
There are 21 multicultural students in our school, about 2.5% of the total
students, which is less than the average in Ansan. But given the local situation,
our school is trying to run various international programs to cultivate the culturalawareness attitude necessary in the global era.
Country of Birth
Japan

China

Mongolia

VietnamMiddle Asia

Middle-East

2

11

2

2

2

2

According to a report by the Gyeonggi Institute of Education, "The culturalacceptance index depends on the presence or absence of a direct humaninteraction rather than whether it is a multiculturally concentrated area or not."
It is said that students with multicultural friends show a higher multiculturalacceptance index than students without multicultural friends. Based on this,schools need to operate more programs with multicultural education than they
do now, and they feel the need to implement mutual cultural education on an
equal level through continuous interaction. In order to realize this, we are trying
to operate various international exchange programs as well as programs for
multicultural students living in the local area. In the direction of international
exchange, efforts have been made to promote future-oriented and relationshiporiented exchanges based on direct exchanges between students, rather than justexperiencing food and clothing. Our school is conducting an exchange activities
with sisterhood schools in Australia, Japan, and Taiwan under our own program.
After signing a sisterhood relationship with Hamilton Secondary College in
Adelaide, South Australia in 2007, students are sent every year to maintainlanguage training through participation in school programs and cultural
exchange activities through homestay. Also, video classes and mutual cultural
education using the Internet were conducted, and the educational activities
were introduced in Korea Broadingcast System news. Our school is promoting
a program to understand and exchange Chinese culture in consideration of the
majority of Chinese people living in the region. In 2017, we signed a sisterhood
relationship with Zhuwei high school in New Taipei City, Taiwan, and operates
programs such as video exchange, letter exchange, SNS exchange, and mutual
visiting cultural experience (homestay) and language training.

34

We are also actively participating in exchanges with Japan. In 2010, after
a sisterhood agreement was signed with Teikyo Junior-senior High School inTokyo, exchanges such as correspondence and SNS exchange, mutual visit
cultural experience (homestay) and language training have been made andstudents had a chance to study abroad for one year until 2019. In 2015, making a

Multicultural Society and Education for International Understanding

Zhuwei High School（新北市立竹圍高級中學）Exchange Visit

sisterhood agreement with Tokushima Bunri university in Tokyo, some students
have an opportunity to enter the university through correspondence and SNS
exchanges, mutual visiting cultural experience (homestay), language training,
and recommended admission by the principal. Since 2016, we have participatedin the Morioka Chuo High School International Exchange Program.

Cultural Exchange Experience with Sister School in Japan

Other than the school's own programs, we are actively promoting activities
in which foreign students participate in our school's educational programs incooperation with AFS, YFU, and Rotary Club.

35

Exchange Student (2017~18) Japan

Exchange Student (2018~19) Germany

Exchange Student (2019~20) France

Exchange Student (2019~20) Germany

Our students eagerly engage in the experimental learning programs toteach both language and culture of Korea to international students. Our schoolis also actively running international understanding education activities inconnection with the Ansan Multicultural Center.
Since 2009, multicultural understanding programs have been implemented
for our students and instructors from Ansan Multicultural Center provide
opportunities for students to receive experience-oriented cultural educationin classes and club activities. Based on these various activities, students in our
school are less reluctant to each culture, and they have become interested inrecognizing the culture of others and forming a new culture in which each
culture coexists. Many students in our school increasingly have a willingness
to take part in international exchange programs operated by school andcommunities and the number of cases in which some of the students who
experienced the programs aim to go abroad to pursue their dreams continues torise.
3. Conclusion
The most urgent problem in multicultural education is the Korean language

36

key is not to separate students from multicultural families so that students
can enjoy equal educational opportunities without being discriminatedagainst according to race, language, or cultural background. However, in
reality, multicultural students are often discriminated against due to language
acquisition problems and have difficulties in adjusting to society due to poor
basic academic skills. Schools, communities, and national programs to reduce
this need to work systematically. Because language and culture are inherently
closely related, teaching a language means teaching culture. The European
Union's multilingual policy can be referred to as a model to overcome thisproblem. t is also necessary to further expand the interpreter assignment
policy for each school level currently supported by the Office of Education.
Besides, it is necessary to encourage learning of the native languages andKorean, and to activate a bilingual education program that allows students frommulticultural families to adapt to Korean society while maintaining their own

Multicultural Society and Education for International Understanding

education of multicultural students and having pride in their own culture. The

cultures and languages. In addition, rather than forcing them to become Korean
unconditionally, mutual cultural experience programs should be provided so thatthey can recognize each other's cultural strengths and adapt to Korean culture.
The direction of international exchange and cultural exchange should not be
one-sided absorption or subordination, but rather the recognition of mutual
culture and the creation of the environment to live in a harmony. We should
Aim for intercultural education to understand the similarities and differencesof each culture, to look at the differences positively, and to create a new culture
with the goal of 'establishing appropriate relationships' through international
exchanges in the future by reflecting on the activities so far. Together, we have tofind a sustainable way to live in the future global society. Germany emphasizes
that social cohesion should be a task for society as a whole. Although integration
is an important goal of schooling, it is clear that integration must be achieved
while maintaining the personal and cultural identity of students from immigrantbackgrounds.
Korea is now aiming for an international society where people can live
together in a community without discrimination in terms of race and ethnicity byidentifying issues that affect interactions and links between communities basedon their knowledge of regional, national, and global systems and structures. .
The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education is also making efforts to organizeand support the 'Global Citizenship Education' curriculum, so it is expected37

that the international exchange program will be more actively operated in our
school to foster 'global citizens'. Our school will also actively participate in the
education office and local multicultural center programs, and make efforts toabsorb international exchange programs into regular curriculums in our school.
In addition, we intend to expand and operate exchange programs with morediverse countries on our own programs.

38

（Theme Research Administration Manager, Science Teacher,
Okayama Gakugeikan High School, Okayama City, Okayama, Japan ）Summary
In order to promote research on an issue for 500 students in one school
year, it is essential to establish an administrative structure, especially a system,and to clarify the role of teachers who act as facilitators. For second-year highschool students who are assigned to a seminar to conduct their research, theintroduction of a seminar leader system, the sharing of a goal image, and various
events such as social gatherings will help eliminate the sense of inquisitivenessamong teachers and students. For first-year students in high school, we will
prepare for second-year students' activities by using common class contents for
all classes to acquire knowledge and skills for inquiry activities, and to conduct
research activities within a given theme. The role of the teacher in the inquiry

Management Structure and Roles of Faculty Members in Research Activities

KINOSHITA Shu

For the Development of Glocal Leadership to Create the Community of the Future-−For the Development of Glocal Leadership to Create the Community of the Future−-

Management Structure and Roles of Faculty Members
in Research Activities

activities is to help the students to keep the direction of the inquiry and toencourage their own self-direction.

Key words
SGH, glocal type, issue-based research, curriculum development, facilitation,
self-direction
1.Introduction
Okayama Gakugeikan High School was accredited as a Super Global HighSchool (SGH) for five years from the 2015 academic year, and from the 2020
academic year, it has been accredited by the Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology as a special exception school for the glocaltype project of the “Project to Promote High School Education Reform in
Collaboration with the Community.” However, since the school was certified as a
glocal school, it has shifted to a school-wide program that covers all subjects andcourses.
Before the SGH accreditation, the concept of global education was “global

39

education = cross-cultural exchange with overseas sister schools,” but since theschool-wide implementation of inquiry activities, global education has become“a way of thinking about social issues that exist in the world as if they were ourown, just like social issues in Japan”. Since then, global education has shifted to“fostering a mindset that views social issues in the world as one's own affair aswell as those in Japan.” The next phase of our school's development is to hold ajoint research report meeting with high school students from our sister schools
abroad to showcase the results of our mutual exploratory activities.
The purpose of this report is to introduce the structure and curriculum of
our school's research project classes, and to inform teachers about the role of theresearch project in our school's global education.
Methodology
Okayama Gakugeikan High School consists of an English department (oneclass per grade) and a general education department (12-13 classes per grade),with a total enrollment of less than 500 students per grade and 1,500 students
in all. The regular course is further subdivided into several courses according toachievement goals*1, but all classes have one class period per week for problembased research. Since the main focus of the Theme Research class in the second
year of high school is the seminar activities (Theme Research II), Theme
Research I in the first year of high school is designed to help students acquire
knowledge and skills for seminar activities and to prepare them for the next year
by conducting theme research within a certain framework.
2-1. What is to be accomplished in the Subject Matter Research class?
In creating the curriculum, it is important to be aware of the perspectiveof what kind of students we want our students to become after completing theinquiry activities, and the guiding principle is the founding spirit of the school.
The school's founding spirit is to “nurture good Japanese who can play an activerole in the world,” and in order to nurture such students, it is necessary for themto not only have English language skills, but also to accurately recognize theirown abilities and qualities, and to develop the ability to solve social problems
in the community where they are based. Fostering these abilities will lead tothe development of human resources who can lead society, and in turn, fulfill
the school's founding spirit. Therefore, the purpose of the research project is to“cultivate glocal leadership that will create the future of the local community,”40

In the Theme Study class for first-year high school students, all the subject
courses are shuffled and the classes are reorganized for the Theme Study class.
Therefore, students from all courses are evenly present in the reorganizedclasses. This allows students to interact with each other outside of the research
project classes, and they seem to be stimulated by each other.
In the second semester, students begin research on a regional or global
theme based on the knowledge and skills acquired in the first semester, and in
the third semester, students present and report on the results of their researchas the culmination of their efforts to date. In the third semester, students
summarize the results of their research in the form of presentations and reports.

1st semester (acquisition of

2nd semester (start of

3rd semester

knowledge and skills)

research on an issue)(preparation of results)

・Changes in society・Acquisition of information
gathering skills
・Data analysis
・Presentation

・C onduct research on atheme related to "the region"or "the world"・Interim report as appropriate・Presentation preparation
・C o n d u c t i n g r e s e a r c hManagement Structure and Roles of Faculty Members in Research Activities

Subjective Research I (for first-year high school students)

For the Development of Glocal Leadership to Create the Community of the Future-

2-2. Curriculum introduction of Theme Study classes for each grade level*2-

and the abilities and qualities to be acquired are described in language (see 3-2).

debriefing sessions
・Compile into a thesis orposterResearch on an issue II (for high school sophomores)
From the second year of high school, students are assigned to one ofapproximately 20 seminars and begin their own exploratory activities according
to their own interests. A seminar leader is selected from among the students
in each seminar to play a central role in the seminar, and a monthly meetingof seminar leaders is held to share progress and communicate various events.
As for major events, an exchange meeting between seminars is held in thefirst semester, an interim report meeting is held in the second semester, and aschool-wide report meeting is held in the third semester as the culmination of
exploratory activities.

41

1st semester (acquisition of

2nd semester (start of

3rd semester (preparation

knowledge and skills)

research on an issue)of results)

・S c r u t i n y o f p r e v i o u s・C o n d u c t i n g a c t i o n ・Compiling reports, posters,

research(q u e s t i o n n a i r e s , f i e l d・D i s c o v e r y o f r e s e a r c hand other deliverables

surveys, experiments, etc.) ・C o n d u c t r e s e a r c hquestions and formulation

to verify hypothesesof hypothesedebriefing sessions both・P roceeding with results

・i n t e ra c t i o n w i t h o t h e r

and discussion

seminars

within the school and forexternal audiences

2-3. Management Structure
The management system involved in this year's Theme Study is headedby the core of the operation, which manages the operations of Theme Studies
I through III. With regard to high school sophomores who are engaged inseminar activities,
the seminar chairs ofManagement Core Members(7 faculty members)

each seminar take the・Curriculum development
・Management of various events

lead to encourage theseminars to run on
their own. The seminarleader is the leader who
grasps the progress inthe seminar, assists
in various events,

Theme Research I(18 teachers)
・One class per week
・Use of common contents

Theme Research II(38 teachers)・Management of seminar
activities
・Application for various
contests

Theme Research III(16 teachers)
・Scrutiny of research
results
・Career guidance

Seminar Director(20 students)
・Progress check of each seminar・Event leadersand ensures that allcommunicated information is known to the students.
Since common content is used by all classes in the first year of high school,a 30-minute meeting is held at least two days prior to the implementation of
the class to communicate the content to the teachers in charge, while meetings
for other grades are held irregularly (about 4-5 times a year) as needed. Since
third-year high school students are conducted on a class-by-class basis, eachhomeroom teacher is basically responsible for the class, but there are contents
shared by the courses according to the career goals of the department courses.
3. Problem Study I - Creation of Original Teaching Materials
3-1. Understanding the current status of students
Since there is a limit to the number of students that can be seen in classes

42second and third-year high school students. The questionnaire consists of about
50 questions, including questions on the student's activities during the year, suchas “whether or not he/she has traveled abroad” and “how many times he/she has
volunteered,” as well as questions on his/her behavioral characteristics, such as“whether he/she is aware of his/her own strengths,” “whether he/she can present
his/her opinions,” and “whether he/she always has questions.” The purpose of
the questionnaire is to determine whether the students are able to achieve theirresearch goals through the course of their research project. Since the purposeof the questionnaire is to objectively see how students have grown through thesubject research classes, it will be possible to see the growth of the school as awhole by conducting the survey according to the image of students the school
wants to develop, setting the questions, and accumulating the data.
To briefly introduce the actual situation of our school as seen from thesurvey results, it was found that while students have a high awareness of social
contribution and the awareness that they can make a difference through theirown efforts, they have low self-esteem and low tendency to think and act withManagement Structure and Roles of Faculty Members in Research Activities

for first-year high school students, and once at the end of the school year for

For the Development of Glocal Leadership to Create the Community of the Future-

conducted twice, once at the beginning and once at the end of the school year-

and club activities, an awareness survey (Glocal Questionnaire) of all students is

confidence. Taking these results seriously, we will revise the contents of the
Subject Matter Study I class and the management system for the next schoolyear.
3-2. Creation of original teaching materials
The school has set four qualities and abilities to be acquired through the
Problem Study classes: “metacognitive ability,” “analytical ability,” “conceptual
ability,” and “action ability”. In addition to focusing on one of these four qualities
and abilities, the following points were taken into consideration when creating
the teaching materials.
(1) Is the material useful for research projects starting in the second semesterand for seminar activities in the second year?
(2) Are there any students who will be left behind?
(3) Does it include a workshop format?
(4) Whether the class makes students think, “I am looking forward to the nextclass!”(1) is important, and students must be aware that they may lose most of the43

content of the previous year's course if they cross over from one year to the next
(in order to prevent this, first-year students will also practice their research in thesecond semester or later). In particular, conceptual abstract content is difficult
to apply in practice, so emphasis should be placed on how “usable” the skills
are. Although (2) through (4) are the same content expressed in different ways,
the secret of success is to make the class enjoyable for both the teacher and thestudents.
4. Problem Study II - Role of Teachers
4-1. Construction of a system
One of the problems that teachers face in research on an issue is that they
are in a state of “looking around,” not knowing how to proceed. In order to solve
this problem, it is necessary to show the goal image of the research project inadvance.
At our school, each seminar is required to submit the following two
documents at the end of the school year: one is a research poster for each groupthat conducted the research (about 1-4 students per group), and the other is a
research paper for the representative group of the seminar. The structure of theresearch paper and poster is similar to that of a university thesis or academic
paper. As an example, a template for a poster (left figure below) and an example
of a completed poster (right figure below) are shown below*3.

44

in Artificial Environments and Conservation of Tidal Flat Biodiversity” to answer
questions they had while working on the restoration of eelgrass beds. This
poster summarizes the findings of the students' fieldwork and experiments on
the germination of collected eelgrass seeds in the science lab. In addition to thisresearch, some of the papers and posters prepared by our students are available
on our reference website (*3).
Follow-up is essential in the process of creating such deliverables. For thisreason, once every two to three months, the school holds events that transcend
the framework of seminars, such as inter-seminar exchange meetings andworkshops on how to take questionnaires. By setting a goal to be achieved ateach event, the event itself serves as a rubric toward the goal of exploration.
For example, at the inter seminar meeting in June, students fill out the poster
template from “1. motivation for activity” to “3. issues” and share it acrossseminars. In the period leading up to the interim debriefing, we will provide
guidance on “how to take questionnaires” and “how to write an introduction”

Management Structure and Roles of Faculty Members in Research Activitiesstudents set the theme of “Factors that Promote Germination of Eelgrass Seeds

For the Development of Glocal Leadership to Create the Community of the Future-

plays a major role as a feeding and spawning ground for fish and shellfish. The-

The example research focuses on eelgrass, a marine seed plant thatafter the regular examinations and during the summer supplementary study
period, as well as other necessary guidance for the creation of posters as thedeliverables. Then, after the research report meeting at the end of January, thestudents will complete the writing of the research poster and the thesis as thedeliverables.
The deadline for submitting deliverables and the schedule of events are
distributed in a booklet to seminar instructors and second-year high school
students who begin the seminar at the beginning of the school year, so that they
can refer to it at any time.
Role of Teachers as Facilitators
In our school, nearly 500 students are assigned to about 20 seminars, where
they pursue exploratory activities according to their own interests. Although
the number of students in each seminar is uneven, each teacher supervises
approximately 10 to 20 students. Last year, there were 24 seminars and morethan 130 inquiry groups, which means that each teacher is responsible for about
5 groups. Many faculty members are assigned to seminars according to their own

45expertise, but some may be assigned to seminars that are not in their area ofexpertise, so relying on faculty manpower is not sustainable.
The role of the teacher in charge is not to work with students on inquiry
activities or to make posters for them (or most of them), but to create anenvironment that encourages students to be self-directed. Examples of thisinclude teaching students how to search for and read articles that serve as priorresearch, involving students in meetings with local governments, businesses,
and non-profit organizations as needed, and encouraging them to enter external
competitions. We recognize that it is the role of the teacher to support thestudents so that they do not lose sight of the direction of their exploration, butalso to help them to focus on the fact that they are the main actors in their own
actions.
5. Conclusion
In March 2022, at the end of the last school year, we had the first face-toface meeting with another school in several years to exchange research projects.
Although the other school was out of the prefecture, we were able to make theexchange a learning experience through close online meetings in advance. This
exchange meeting was a challenge that was left to the students from the very
beginning. We recruited core students from both high schools and had themdecide how to organize the event, and then had them prepare the venue andrun the event on the day of the event. The core students had no experience ofbeing in charge of such a large-scale event from the very beginning, and fromthe discussion stage, both sides repeatedly came to realize and clash with eachother. It was frustrating to watch from the sidelines, but it made me feel that thiswas a learning and educational opportunity. What made me feel the students'
growth more than anything else was the way the core students looked after the
meeting. The students reflected more on what they should have improved thanon what they had achieved, and they voluntarily reflected on what they had done
well and what they needed to think about more, looking ahead to the next event.
The teachers' well-meaning efforts to prepare a path may deprive students of
the opportunity to think and grow on their own. Of course, throwing everythingat the students does not work either, so the facilitation skills of the teachers,
which they have cultivated through their research on the subject, come intoplay. The challenge and prospect for the future is to create such great learning
opportunities for students and teachers alike in every situation.

46

of students' insights and for the growth of teachers.
Reference HP etc.
Okayama Gakugeikan High Schoolhttps://www.gakugeikan.ed.jp/course/index.html
Okayama Gakugeikan High School: Introduction of research activities
https://www.gakugeikan.ed.jp/introduction/glocal.html
Okayama Gakugeikan High School, Research Project Results for the 2021 academic year
https://www.gakugeikan.ed.jp/up_load_files/Glocal_Report_R3.pdf

Management Structure and Roles of Faculty Members in Research Activities

learning opportunities. Let's explore what we can do together for the expansion

For the Development of Glocal Leadership to Create the Community of the Future-international high schools, that would agree to work together to create such-

We would be happy to hear from any schools, both domestic and

47

48

Aurea Obeso（Head of Secondary School, Colegio Ward, Buenos Aires, Argentine Republic）

Summary

Inspiration and Motivation

Inspiration and Motivation

It is an interconnected world, in which education plays a major role inproviding the skills needed for a sustainable and inclusive society. The ICTs makethe “global village” a fact, therefore it is imperative for educators to make ourstudents see this fact through meaningful activities; We are facing a new world inalmost every area in education and technology. Significant experiences can help
different school communities in aspects which are related to global awareness, inboth theory and practice as well.

Key words
Diversity, School, Participation, Experiences, ICTs, Change, Teacher-training
college, Cooperation, Global citizenship, 21st century skills, Cross-cultural
understanding, Transformative education
Walls and rooms in our school have inspiring phrases, which were thought,
chosen and placed there, by its founders about 100 years ago. If you walkalongside wide corridors or sunny playgrounds, adults, children and adolescents
can read phrases such as “Think, and let others think” or “Plus Ultra” among
many others. They are friendly reminders of what education is all about. It isamazing that the school founders had, that long ago, such profound modern
ideas and vision. My school has always had a solid tradition that aims to warmly
embrace diversity; since its beginnings Ward School has always fostered, inboth students and educators alike, cooperative work, and state-of-the-art
methodologies that involve deep values and a philosophy of involving others;
this is a fact which is extremely rewarding and nowadays much more because,
thanks to the new technologies, we can see what other institutions do in thissame aspect, and even more, join efforts with other schools which pave the way
for present students who, in the near future, will be immersed in a world thatneeds dedicated global citizens, who should reconsider certain concepts likeinclusion and diversity.
ICTs make the “global village” a fact, Dr. Joan Kang Shin (Shin, J. K., &49

Crandall, J. (2014) says “The twenty-first century is not just different in number
from the previous centuries. We are facing a new world in almost every areaeducation, technology, population, environment, politics, economics, etc. It is aninterconnected world, in which education will play a major role in providing theskills needed for success. Teaching those skills is a requirement for all educators”
This statement implies more than an invitation, it poses on educators, a daring
challenge because we need to change old fashion teaching practises that havebeen rooted for decades in our daily practices; like Alvin Toffler said “Theilliterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but
those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn”. Teachers should choose to include
more open-minded ways, which invite our students to get involved in global
issues that are relevant to our present world. We need to rise to this historicalmoment which is all about change, commitment, and peace confirmation.
Participating in important events such as the Education Forum held every
year by Morioka Chuo High School, is of great significance toward more inclusive
education practices: students, and teachers from all over the world, fromvarious and different cities can interact and work together, a clear example ofcooperation in order to achieve a very relevant goal: reflecting upon issues that
improve our communities, our countries, and our planet. The Chuo High School
Education Forum is a stepping-stone experience that helps different schoolcommunities in aspects which are related to global awareness, in both theory
and practice as well; learners from all over the world, deal not just with extremely
significant topics but also, they do so in an amiable and collaborative way
researching, working together and co-authoring. Our students have an innate
natural way to overcome differences what is more, they accept them and thrivein them. In such cooperative events, young students show everybody, how easy it
is to welcome differences, and flourish peacefully in pursuit of a common goal.
The Forum and other similar experiences, are a great opportunity tostimulate our students in aspects related to 21st century skills, Trilling and Fadel(2009) list several topics related to this, which they call the “C” list.
•Critical thinking and problem solving•Creativity and innovation•Cooperation, teamwork, and leadership•Cross-cultural understanding•Communications, information, and media literacy50•Career and learning self-reliance•Collaboration across cultures
The world is showing us that we need to transform Education, withlifelong learning strategies. UNESCO proclaims “Why do we need to transform

Inspiration and Motivation•Computing and ICT literacy

education? Our world is facing unprecedented challenges - climate change,
violent and hateful ideologies, mass loss of biodiversity, new conflicts andthe risks of global pandemics to name only a few. What is “transformativeeducation”? it is the kind of education that empowers happy and healthylearners to take informed decisions and actions at the individual, communityand global levels.” Our students must relate themselves with the world and findcoherence between what they see at school and the world we all want to create;
learners should be involved in actual collaborative networking tasks, genuine
empathy boosters, complex problem-solving strategies, connection to otherhuman beings and nature. All the ideas, tasks and activities that we create as
teachers need to achieve that, and at the same time nurture a kind atmosphere(UNESCO proclaims “happy students”) in which everybody at school can feelvalued, acknowledged, safe and included in the community as full and active
members. Teachers should transform their teaching ensuring that the curriculum
content, pedagogy approaches, learning materials, and school environments aremeaningful. Again, that is why we need to put into practice activities that sparkle
in the school community, through format and objectives, relevant projects thatinvolve topics such as responsible citizenship in a global community.
Specialists agree the first step in order to achieve a real transformation in
educational practices, is to change teachers’ preparation, a true conversion inteacher training colleges, or support webinars/seminars, lectures for educators.
According to authors G. Kennedy · Gloria Latham · Hélia Jacinto, the 21st century
teacher-researchers need to:• become part of a global community of professionals to foster informed ongoing
discussions about teaching.
• get engaged in more multi-disciplinary, multi-sector research about teaching.
• guide the development of their own and students’ higher order thinking skills,
technological skills, skills of social interaction, and collaborative learning incontexts that are meaningful.

51• keep the teaching-discipline knowledge current and remain critical consumersof content.
Schools that organize or take part in events in which many other institutions
also are engaged, are summoning true participation that will eventually lead tostimulation and action for change and improvement. Moreover, when teachers
start working with other colleagues, they upgrade their own teaching and betterup their own work, since reflection brings questioning and re thinking strategies,
especially in our modern changing word. McCain and Jukes (2001) noted, “In
the past, when information had a much longer shelf life, learning was somethingthat was done once in your youth. Then you were done with learning for life. In
the good old days, what you learned in your youth prepared you for your single
career. Today, learning has become a lifelong process. Given the rapidly changing
nature of our world, people of all ages must constantly learn and relearn what theyneed to know. What they learned yesterday may no longer be valid in tomorrow's
world. Tomorrow, they will have to learn again because today's information will
already be out of date” (p. 89). Teachers will only teach or talk about making a
difference in a committed way, when authentic transformation happens in the
education and preparation of educators.
Whenever schools open their minds, hearts and doors, they get thetrue chance to improve education by providing their learners with actual
opportunities to live cross cultural experiences; making our students experimentglobal perspectives through school trips and overseas experiences is a satisfying
adventure that inherently implies a lot of effort and logistics, but everythingis worth the effort because we are really making a difference. Geographicallyspeaking, for schools in countries situated far away from the rest of the world, likemy own, travelling abroad to meet other cultures is a true challenge that must be
confidently taken, despite the problems or difficulties that may arise. Covid-19
restrictions made it impossible for a while to travel and work with others in
different countries; however, Technology came to the rescue with different
platforms and digital tools that helped us overcome the problem and remain
connected with others; the question is “Can our students have the opportunity
to achieve cooperative tasks and global experiences through technology?
Fortunately, the answer is “Yes, of course”! Our school participated in two virtualforums in 2021, the first one in May “3er Encuentro de Estudiantes Secundariosde ALAIME (Asociación Latinoamericana de Instituciones Metodistas deEducación)”, in which students from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, México,52

post pandemic Latin America. At the end of this virtual event, students produced
a statement which proclaimed that secondary school students from Methodist
schools, agreed to:·Learn how to organize time, regulate self-learning and studying habits

Inspiration and Motivation

Panamá, Perú, and Uruguay discussed future scenarios for university students in·keep in mind their responsibility of privileged adolescents who can study while
many others can’t·Pay attention to psychological and emotional aspects which lead to school
dropout·Be ready to ask for help as well as giving help to others who need it·Have and show empathy toward others·H elp families, cutting down superficial expenses, in these difficult post
pandemic times, in which the world economy has been weakened,·Promote local economy buying products in small community town or village
markets·Help the environment, saving energy, water, and fuels·Apply for university scholarships, so that superior education is available forthose who can’t have access·Maintain a fit healthy way of life, both physically and mentally·Keep up a hopeful point of view, despite international conflicts that affectdifferent countries·Foster artistic, recreational outdoor activities for those young students who needsupport, especially after several lockdown periods·Cope with uncertain future times, without becoming weak by these situations·Contribute to a positive and nurturing feedback between students and teachers
In one word, to help spread these ideas following John Wesley’s ideas “the world
is my campus”
The other virtual event was the Morioka Chuo High School Forum, which
despite time zone differences, proved to be a very refreshing activity for two
reasons, first because of the way the students communicated effortlessly andbecause of its topic “Think globally, Act locally”, topic that compelled ourstudents to research themes like, life on land, soil erosion, and how forest fires
affect our world; the students also were able to share how covid-19 situation
affected them and their schools and they even shared a melody from Argentinian53

musician Astor Piazzolla. Adolescents who are 18,059 km/ 11,231 miles apart,still share the same fears and hopes.
I had the chance to accompany my students on both opportunities and I
was a privileged witness of mine and other students’ inner capacity to naturallyinteract and spontaneously communicate with other participants, and how
they all, learners from distant, and varied places instinctively interconnected
themselves in such a relaxed way, dealing with very relevant matters, despite
the distance, the virtual setting, break-out groups, and typical technical delays.
They were able to exchange ideas, discuss proposals, debate key thoughts anddraw serious conclusions about important issues such as inclusion, human rights
and climate change. Beyond the dynamics of the forums, it was really rewarding
and satisfying to experience such a fresh way of communication among perfectstrangers, that fact is an instance of true hope for a better future; future global
citizens who want to create more than virtual hyperlinks, they want and canbuild real links and bridges with other peers. Sir Ken Robinson said “We areliving in times of revolution- I mean this literally, not figuratively. Humanity
now faces challenges that are unprecedented in our history. These challenges
are being driven by many interacting forces. They include the exponential rateof technological change, the massive shifts in population and our unsustainable
demands on the earth’s resources. (…) We need to think differently about
ourselves. Human resources are like the earth’s natural resources. They are highly
diverse and often buried deep beneath the surface. They need to be discovered,refined and applied” It seems our young and responsible students can show usthat they can overcome the difficulties described by Sir Ken Robinson, provided
we give them the chance to participate in enriching collective activities.
I mentioned before, at the beginning of this article, two core concepts“motivation and inspiration”, the question is: “Do we, educators, motivate
students by giving them opportunities of participation in meaningful experiences
related to a better and inclusive society, peaceful world and sustainable planet?” ...
or “Do young students inspire us when see them conscientiously getting involvedin such relevant issues with commitment and resolution? Surely both.

54

Global Citizenship Education. UNESCO. (2021, February 15). Retrieved March 20, 2022, fromhttps://en.unesco.org/themes/gced
Blog. Sir Ken Robinson. (2020, June 9). Retrieved March 20, 2022, fromhttps://www.sirkenrobinson.com/blog/
Edtosavetheworld. (2021, June 28). Three truths for post-COVID schooling. Education to Save theInspiration and Motivation

References

World. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from https://edtosavetheworld.com/2021/06/28/three-truths-forpost-covid-schooling/
Barrett-Fox, R., Bayne, B., Cooper, V., & Espinosa, G. (2020). How the Coronavirus Pandemic
Will Change Our Future Teaching. Religion and American Culture, 30(2), 147-186. doi:10.1017/
rac.2020.10
Morse, S. (2020). Pandemic Lessons. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 14(4), 427428. doi:10.1017/dmp.2020.407
Trujillo-Sáez, F.; Fernández-Navas, M.; Montes-Rodríguez, M.; Segura-Robles, A.; Alaminos-Romero,
F.J. y Postigo-Fuentes, A.Y. (2020). Panorama de la educación en España tras la pandemia de
COVID-19: la opinión de la comunidad educativa. Madrid: Fad.
Shin, J. K., & Crandall, J. (. (2014). Teaching young learners English: From theory to practice. Boston:
National Geographic Learning.
Kennedy, I. G., Latham, G., & Jacinto Hélia. (2016). Education skills for 21st Century teachers: Voicesfrom a global online educators' forum. Springer.
Robinson, K., Aronica, L., & Pérez Pérez Rosa. (2015). Escuelas Creativas: La Revolución Que estátransformando La Educación. Grijalbo.

55

56

−Learning for both Students and Teachers −UENO Koji（Science and Biology Teacher,Okinawa Shogaku High School, Naha City, Okinawa, Japan）

Key words
International exchange, problem finding, self-reliance, communication skills,
Challenging Spirit, Positive Attitude and Leadership, Co-education
1. Introduction
From the end of the 20th century to the 21st century, the Internet began toexpand. At the time, I was pondering how to utilize this new tool for education,
which had the potential to significantly change the learning environment.
Looking around me, I saw that the main uses were for research and learningand for sending out information via homepages, but I felt that there were evengreater possibilities.
I also began to think about using it for international exchange because of
its advantage of connecting with the world. For myself, the language barrier ofEnglish was the biggest concern at the time, and since I was also making my way
through international exchange itself, it was difficult for me to move forward.

Personal Growth Through International Exchange-Learning for both Students and Teachers -Personal Growth Through International Exchange

It was then that I came across iEARN (International Education And Resource
Network). 2.
What is iEARN?
T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l Ed u c a t i o n A n d
Resource Network is an organizationthat supports international collaborative
learning. It began during the Cold War
between the U.S. and the Soviet Union,
when a high school student in New York
City suggested to his teacher that he andhis Soviet counterpart engage in dialogue
because the Cold War would never end andit would be impossible to leave the matter

Mitsubishi RUMAPHONE

to adults. The teacher found a school in57

Moscow as an exchange partner and placed the then state-of-the-art analog
videoconferencing system in both schools. The latest model at that time wascalled a Lumaphone, which could send still pictures on a small screen, but it took
several seconds to send a single picture, during which time no conversation could
take place. Even so, the high school students were enthusiastic about seeing eachother's faces as they talked, and the conversation was very lively.
Upon hearing the news, teachers around the world offered to do the same,leading to the formation of iEARN. Today, it is the world's largest educational
network with teachers and students from more than 140 countries and regions,and has over 200 projects. And if online is not enough, once a year iEARN
members hold a world conference in a country somewhere in the world, withmore than 400 participants from dozens of countries each time. In Japan, theWorld Congress was held in Hyogo Prefecture in 2003, and was scheduled
to be held at Okinawa Shogaku High School as the main venue in 2021, but
unfortunately was cancelled due to the Corona pandemic.
3. We Want our Students to participate in the World Competition
The person who introduced me to iEARN asked me if I would like toparticipate in the 2001 World Congress in South Africa. I thought it would be myfirst and last chance in life to go to South Africa, so I decided to attend, and it wasthere that I had a life-changing experience.
Eight hundred educators and students from all over the world attended theconference at the University of Cape Town. People I met for the first time spoke
to me in a friendly manner as if we were old friends. Where are you from, whatkind of project are you working on, that sounds interesting, let's do it together.
I can only speak one language, but they patiently listen to me and we become
friends. There was a world where racial differences and national conflicts had
nothing to do with each other.
I want to bring my students here. It would be a shame for me to be the only
one to participate. I returned to Japan with the hope of somehow bringing mystudents with me.
In order to achieve this goal, which was not possible in a public school, I
transferred to a private school, Okinawa Shogaku. I then founded a club thatno one had ever heard of called Aiyan Okinshogakko, and for 20 years, he has
participated in the Aiyan World Convention.

58

The World Convention is held every year in July. At the convention, we reporton the results of our activities over the past year. Every year, starting in May
or so, all club members work on their presentations, drafting the manuscript,
translating it into English, and creating a PowerPoint file in English, all on theirown. It is quite a burden for the students, but when a bilingual student camein, we relied on this student todo everything and nothing else.
There were times when we banned
bilinguals from joining the club
because we felt that this would
make our activities meaningless.
However, we changed the policyb e c a u s e we fe l t t h a t re j e c t i n g
students who wanted to join the

In Khiva, Uzbekistanclub was problematic.
The students were encouraged to develop their own ability to express
themselves through friendly competition by asking each other what they had
thought about how to say what they wanted to say and how to say it in English.
Students who work diligently also acquire English skills, and most of them havepassed the second or first level of the EIKEN English Proficiency Test.

Personal Growth Through International Exchange-Learning for both Students and Teachers -4. Learning at the World Convention

Although club activities are combined at the junior and senior high schools,
the grades in which junior high school students can participate in overseas study
programs change each year, depending on their developmental stage and thecontent of that year's program. In most cases, students start from high school,
but there are also cases where students from the third year of junior high school
can participate, and in rare cases, students from the second year of junior highschool can also participate. Since the students go to various countries, emphasis
is placed on learning about the local area. We got acquainted with the Anne
Frank House Museum in the Netherlands through iEARN, and when attending
the Netherlands conference, we learned about Anne Frank's diary, visited theAnne Frank House Museum, and also visited the Auschwitz camp site in Poland.
All of us cried there and became aware once again of how wrong war and racism
are. The students have visited Auschwitz twice in total and would like to do it
again if they have the chance.
After the World Convention, we spent a few days touring the area, visiting

59

In Qatar. Message read out from the Japanese government. After this, students report on the current
situation in Tohoku.

local schools and homestaying with the students' families when possible. The
students would do preliminary research on the history and culture of the places
they would visit and decide on the course of their visit. It was like a tradition in
the department to choose not many so-called tourist destinations, but rather
negative world heritage sites or visits to poor areas. Sightseeing, they said, isfor adults, because now they have teachers who teach them about the negative
aspects of the world. In Slovakia, they toured a castle, which was not only abeautiful place, but also a torture facility, and they were greatly shocked by thehistory of the country due to the difference between the actual facilities andthe letters in the guidebooks, which only say that there are prisons and torture
facilities.
For quite a few students, the experience of these club activities seemed
to have made a big difference in their subsequent choice of universities andemployment, and even more than 10 years after graduation, students who keep
in touch with us tell us that the experience changed the way they live their lives.
5. From ICT Technology Acquisition to Silicon Valley Training
Since we interacted through the Internet, various ICT technologies became
indispensable, and since we used cloud services a lot, our connections with60

Silicon Valley training program held every March, which unexpectedly led to thechildren's growth.
Google, Apple, Evernote, and Pixar are the standard companies to visit, which
is attractive enough, but two weeks after Pokemon GO broke through, we wereable to visit Niantic. This company was the third in the world to be interviewed
after Pokemon GO was announced. They had turned down all of them, but they
were interested in coming from Okinawa with only high school students. I wasable to talk to the Japanese director. The interview was scheduled the day before.
I thought of an interview that would not ask boring questions like “Why did you
think of Pokemon GO?” I gathered information about the person I was visiting,and since I was interested in his way of life, I compiled a list of questions about
his life choices since high school. “I am now a sophomore in high school and I
am struggling with this question about my future. When you were a sophomore
in high school, had you already decided to go to college in the United States?” “
What made you think that way?” You told us that this was the first time for you to
conduct such an interview and that it was very interesting.
If they can prepare in advance, they may create a presentation as well as
an interview; at Pixar, they research their work in advance and summarize theirimpressions of the evolution of Toy Story 1, 2, and 3, for example, not only interms of storytelling but also in terms of technological evolution, so that each

Personal Growth Through International Exchange-Learning for both Students and Teachers -people from various Internet service companies also increased. This led to thestudent can Imagine. The students are very excited when they receive a responsethat they may be flattered, but that they have sparked a new idea.
The way of life of people working in these IT companies, such as Google,

In Sao Paulo, Brazil61

is in spiri n g a n d s e e m s t o b re a k
the conventional wisdom that thestudents had. Many of the students'
questions were about what they werethinking in middle school and highschool, about turning points in theirlife choices, and their eyes change
color when they realize what thisIn Dakar, Senegal

person was thinking when they were
the same age as they were. And students who had never given English a second
thought before, now see the need for it and begin to study hard or rethink their
future careers.
In the Silicon Valley training program, the motivation for participating is to
go to Google or to see Pixar, but by the end of the program, it is more about who
they met than about what they saw at the company. The reason why we put somuch effort into the Silicon Valley training as well as the World Convention is
because this kind of change really shows up in one week.
6. Support for Disaster-stricken Areas
What began through overseas exchanges was support for earthquakestricken areas and impoverished regions. It all started with the 2003 earthquake
in southern Iran. In that year, the first Iranian woman to win a Nobel Prize wasproduced, and it was a friend of a friend of iEARN's friend. We were happy that
our friend's friend had won the Nobel Prize, but then we learned that the same
year the earthquake hit southern Iran and many of our friend's acquaintances
had been affected. We wanted to share both joy and sorrow, and for the first time,
we started a fund-raising campaign in our club. Since then, our support activities
have expanded to include support for the earthquake and tsunami stricken areas
in Indonesia, and for impoverished areas in the Philippines.
Then, on March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck. A friend
from Indonesia said to me, “We have already received enough support from you.
Now we would like you to support your own country.”
Through the support activities, I have learned a lot. Many of our students
have told us that we have not only encouraged them, but that we have been
inspired by the power of the survivors to live strongly.

62

When asked, “What do you get out of this club?”Students answer, “It is a

power that will be useful five to ten years from now.” Students who entered the
University of Tokyo answered that they have learned “things that are necessary
when they enter society but cannot be learned by attending school normally.”
By visiting various countries and regions and interacting with people fromall over the world, students learn about the differences in environments andcultures. There was a big gap between what they learned from books and words
and what they actually saw and heard. Through cooperative learning, I learned
about the customs of others and accepted their thoughts and feelings. In theoverseas training program, they experienced a world they had never known,looked at their own environment in the world again, and thought about how tolive. As this is passed on to the younger students, it becomes a great growth.
Today's club activities do not require the help of an advisor. They plan anddraft their own activities and apply for projects on their own. The students, whowere children, are now as capable or more capable than adults.
When I summarize the activities, I write as if I have been teaching thestudents, but in fact I, the teacher, have been learning together with the students.
In fact, I, as a teacher, have been learning with my students or being taught by
my students. Perhaps education is not about the teacher teaching, but about
growing up together.

Personal Growth Through International Exchange-Learning for both Students and Teachers -7. What Have You Learned?

63

64

Achdi Merdianto, S. Pd.
（English Teacher of SMA Dwiwarna, Bogor, Indonesia）

Abstract
Active learning and differentiating instruction are popular nowadays. It is
not only because trending but yet believed to be practical in improving students’motivation, engagement, and interest in learning experience at class. There are a
few strategies the writer has conducted by on his experience that the readers canLET YOUR STUDENTS DO THE WORKLET YOUR STUDENTS DO THE WORK

try to apply as well.

Key words
active learning, differentiating instruction, teaching strategy
Have you ever felt drained out due to lots of classes and your voice almost
to mute? Did you find that your students became more passive since you tookstage all the time? If your answer is yes, it means that you are the spotlight ofyour class instead of your students. Anuradha (2021) states that, in a teachercentred classroom, the teacher talks excessively and students continue to listen
where teacher-student collaboration is discouraged. This approach tends to get
students bored leading to capturing less of their focus in the lessons.
To be energetic and mobile for every class we teach is somehow fine.
Nevertheless, it is exhausting and, in fact, active teachers don’t always represent
a good education as well. Active learning, as Tanja McCandie (2020) explained,
involves students in the learning process whose students’ participation isessential. However, the teachers’ role as a facilitator is more crucial to control themeaningful experience the students gained.
There are some strategies to create active learning in the classroom, such as:1) Sit in groups or pairs to allow teachers to monitor, move around the class andreally listen to the language they are producing. When I was teaching the tenth
graders which have various level of English fluency, I tend to pair my students
into three kinds of pairing: (a) Advanced – Beginner, (b) Intermediate - Beginner,(c) Beginner – Beginner, in order to figure out the amount of idea each team can65collect. For example, in discussion the main idea of the text in reading session,
the A teams were able to the closest context to the main information given
where the beginners asked to elaborate the idea – though they found a little bit
difficulty in describing how to get the answer, the B teams could get the idea
yet they managed to write almost all the sentence written in the text without
making conclusion or paraphrasing, and the last team – the Cs - used google
translate to understand the meaning of the whole passages so that they could
get the idea in Bahasa Indonesia and made another translation by taking some ofthe sentence like the B teams did. The effort to make them learn actively without
being dictated by teachers make them experience better in understanding thepassage. Then teachers gave feedback and appreciation to help them grow.
2) Debate on a recent issue to help students develop their communication,
listening skills and ability to draw from given information, as well as to make anddefend against arguments with logical and rational thinking. Since the level of mystudents were too various, instead of debating orally, in the online learning, I did
this in the form of writing class by using Padlet. I prepared some familiar motions
that they experience(ed) in reality, such as: The use of make up by the secondary
students and should there be homework for students. I divided them into 4groups: Proponent versus the opponent of the first motion and Proponent versus
the opponent of the second motion. In each turn, about 15 minutes, students
argue and explain their thought supported by fact they found on the internet.
It went for about three to four turns. In the main room, I asked randomly about
the reason they wrote those ideas and facts, the amount of time they needed to
discuss and got the necessary fact, and thus the feeling of, perhaps, contrasted
to the issue given. Imagine, when you don’t like any homework, but you need
to be the proponent of it. The fact that my students found it as an exercise toimprove their English, as being neutral, I believe they learned about criticism
from different point ofview. Who knows they
became the proponents
of homework?
Debate activity of SMA
Dwiwarna's Students in the
English Class
Photo credit: instagram of
Achdi Merdianto66

students - helps them develop lifelong skills in assessing and providing feedback
to others and equips them with skills to self-assess and improve their own workfor positive growth. Many ways to present this idea: using Google Form, Padlet,
Google Jamboard, Mentimeter, or even a direct heart-to-heart discussion in theclass. My students advised me to reduce my tempo in explaining the lesson,which recently became my habit to keep asking them if I spoke too fast, or how
they told me that they liked the gamification lesson they had for each of thechapters, which made them more interested to attend the class.

LET YOUR STUDENTS DO THE WORK

3) Share feedback - teacher to students, students to teacher, and students toStudents’ reflection in audio by using Padlet

Concerning point no. 3, to achieve the goal of active learning, teachers aredemanded to give students autonomy about what and how they want to study. It
allows them a chance to decide how they prefer to approach the activity.
In the first meeting where they have orientation, teachers may ask students
about how they want to study and their learning goal. It is a way to help themlearn how to make a decision on what they need.
After teachers share the semester plan, they can ask students to choose theway they want with a particular project. In my class, for example, in the Song
topic, I let them have any media to present their project. I give some available
options, like: interactive Canva presentation, Power Point Presentation, or any
interactive media that can support their performance. This, actually, supports theidea of differentiating instruction (DI) where teachers adopt to attend to student
diversity in inclusive classrooms. This way, students will feel more appreciated67

to their various interests. Thus, they are empowered without being dictated. In
addition, teachers add some lists that they haven’t heard or used in the classroom
from the students.
Carol Ann Tomlinson (1997) described differentiated instruction (DI) where
teachers anticipate the differences in students' readiness, interests, and learning
profiles and, as a result, creates different learning paths so that students have theopportunity to learn as much as they can and as deeply as they can. As a matterof fact, as a teacher, I have been trying to conduct all the procedures so that I canmake a difference.
John McCarthy (2014) stated that there are three steps for effective DI, suchas: (1) knowing the students' academic strengths, interests, and perspectives, (2)involving students in the planning process by giving them the academic criteria
used to assess the targeted content and related concepts, and (3) Team-teachingwith another teachers which opens an opportunity for students to have a voice
and perspective that is different from the main teacher in order to be successful. I
harnessed google form to diagnose the students’ learning style assisted and thenevaluated by the counselling teacher. This collection of information is valuable
data to assess their need and learning goal since they came from different levelof English mastery, learning motivation, and interest. This will help them findsuitable, effective, and meaningful so that teachers may facilitate their dreamclass.
Tomlinson and Imbeau (2010) suggest that teachers continually ask what
they need in order to be able to progress and what teacher needs to do to makethat happen. Indeed, teachers need to be involved in the process to design
successful learning experience. This does not mean that when students decide
what they are interested at to work on their project, they will need no assistance– they do need. As teachers, we need to make sure that the goal of the study isaccomplished well through guided learning from the creative process in class,or – for an extra hour – I let them send the draft for revision. It is a lot of works, I
know it, but if teachers intend students to gain meaningful experience on theircomposition, we need to spare some time. Lucky you when you can do it on yourworkhour. Yet, as an option, teachers may list the students’ common mistakes intheir composition so that feedbacks can be focused on those improvements.

68taught a chapter named Caption where I gave students example about works
related to the topic, such as: social media posts, comic strips, and news item. In
this matter, students are aimed to be able to communicate through English in aform of creative media happening at the moment.

LET YOUR STUDENTS DO THE WORK

Another example of active learning with DI I had in my class was when I

English Caption Project in the 12 Grade SMA Dwiwarna Indonesia

Some students recreated a story from silent comic or graph elaboration. I
found that 40% students were eager to make essay supported by data, in formof graph elaborated in the caption, and the others, around 60%, were with thecomic strip story. There were some reasons they had regarding their project, forinstance: the interesting media they are keen on, the challenge to write as essay
since they need to make one for the University entrance test, and the last was
the idea evoked by their recent reading. This simply gives them opportunity todevelop their interests and needs in a proper classroom.
Be remembered that your students are diverse. However, to make sure theygain something from your involvement at class is crucial. It is therefore be theteachers who differentiate effectively by using a range of data sources to pinpoint
what students currently know, and what they are ready to learn.

69References
Anuardha. 2021. What is the Difference Between Teacher Centered and Learner Centered Approach.
https://pediaa.com/what-is-the-difference-between-teacher-centered-and-learner-centeredapproach/Carlson, Amy Marin. 2016. What Is Differentiated Instruction? - Examples, Definition & Activities.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-differentiated-instruction-examples-definitionactivities.html
Gregory, Gayle H. and Carolyn Chapman. 2013. Differentiated Instructional Strategies: One Size
Doesn’t Fit All. Singapore: SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte. Ltd.
McCarthy, John. 2014. Students Matter: 3 Steps for Effective Differentiated Instruction. https://www.
edutopia.org/blog/3-steps-effective-differentiated-instruction-john-mccarthy
Schlendorf, Christine P, Elsa Sofia Morote and John Jay. 2020. Instructional Strategies in
Differentiated Instruction for Systemic Change.
Shareefa, Mariyam, Matzin Rohani, Nor Zaiham Midawati Abdullah, Rosmawijah Jawawi. 2019.
Differentiated Instruction: Definition and Challenging Factors Perceived. Islamic University ofMaldives.
Weselby, Cathy. What is Differentiated Instruction? Examples of How to Differentiate Instructionin the Classroom. https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/examples-of-differentiatedinstruction/

70

OSAKI Mami
（English Teacher, Morioka Chuo Junior High School, Morioka City, Iwate, Japan）

Abstract
Why is it that Japanese learners of English are able to speak simple greetings
in English, but are not very good at developing their English into conversation
beyond that level? As an English learner, I thought about what Japanese English
education has left aside in terms of communication in English based on my own
experience.
I would like to examine whether students have “speaking content andpassion” rather than English pronunciation and accuracy, whether the content
is derived from familiar real-life experiences, and whether they are prepared forconversation on a daily basis.
In addition, in order for Japan to move from the position of “trying to catchup” to “leading the way” in communication with foreigners, we should haveconfidence in Japanese pronunciation and consider interaction with non-native
English speakers.

Leading the Way or Just Catching Up? New Steps Beyond“Hello”in Japanese English Education

Leading the Way or Just Catching Up?
New Steps Beyond “Hello”
in Japanese English Education

Key words
English learning, communication, non-native English speakers, TED, Cool Japan,
small talk1. The Silence After “Hello”: The Current State of English Language Learners“Hello” is probably the most common English word said to Japanese
students by foreign tourists visiting Japan and foreigners living in Japan. Whenencountering a foreigner of European descent on the streets of Japan, Japanese
students will repeat “Hello” with excitement. The kind-hearted foreigner smiles
and says “Hello. How are you?” The students are more and more willing tocommunicate with each other using simple English expressions such as “Fine.”
In our school, the same kind of communication takes place between foreignteachers and students. It is a funny scene, and it helps to create an international
atmosphere. Whenever I see such a scene, I try to quietly observe it. In most71

cases, after a few friendly “Hello's” are exchanged, there is almost no active
conversation going on from the Japanese students' side, unless the teacher
asks more questions and tries to continue the conversation. The friendly andcosmopolitan “Happy Hour” comes to an abrupt end.
A simple greeting is an important part of human interaction, and it is notnecessary to have in-depth conversations with everyone. However, students
who would talk with their teachers and friends in Japanese for minutes on end,
in English, often end their conversations with a simple greeting. This is a great
opportunity for them to test their English skills, but rarely do they go beyond
greetings.
This is not limited to students. It is the same for adults. Even among those
who are fluent in English, very few people, unless they are very proactive, willcontinue a conversation that begins with “Hello” for more than 10 minutes. It
is easy to say that the reason for this is that English is not their native language
and therefore difficult to speak. However, I believe there are two more importantfactors: confidence and the desire to speak from the bottom of one's heart.
2.The difference between speaking with foreigners and speaking with otherJapanese
Speaking English itself is nothing special. Most people can improve theirEnglish to a certain level by increasing their vocabulary and understanding
grammar to some extent. The problem lies beyond that. The question is whether
or not you have the enthusiasm and the knowledge to speak with confidence
and enjoy the conversation. In other words, whether or not you can go beyond“Hello”. Speaking with a foreigner in English is not just a matter of convertingthe conversation we usually have in Japanese into English. Speaking a foreign
language is similar to a sport. Suppose a table tennis player has to participate ina tennis tournament. Even an athletic and strong ping-pong player needs to learn
the rules of tennis, switch from a ping-pong racket to a tennis racket, and train
muscles that are not normally used. The reason why English conversation is notprogressing is because they are trying to play tennis using a table tennis racket
and with the rules of table tennis.
What are some of the obstacles to conversation between Japanese andforeigners beyond proficiency in English, especially for Japanese in this day andage? I believe that there are two major ones.

72

Japanese are not able to speak English well enough.
One of the reasons for the lack of progress in English conversation is thebelief that one must speak fluently. When learning English in Japan, most of
the opportunities to speak English are in school classes or in artificially createdsettings such as English conversation schools. There, of course, there are teachers
who correct mistakes, and speakers inevitably become reticent. By trying to
speak correct English, they end up repeating the same expressions they are used
to and end up having bland conversations, swallowing what they really think.
Imagine the tastelessness of such conversations. We are lifelong learnersof English as a foreign language, and we must make ourselves more tolerant oferrors in pronunciation and grammar.
It is estimated that there are 1.5 billion English speakers in the world today,
but only a quarter of them are native English speakers, and 75% of them use
English as a second language (Figure 1). (Figure 1) In other words, three outof four people are non-native English speakers. While we Japanese are still too
busy being frustrated with our own pronunciation to use English, non-native
English speakers are learning, interacting, working, and living in English all over
the world. It is time we realize that we should be spending our time and effort
on something more important than perfect pronunciation. At the same timethat we accept Japanese English for ourselves, we must also grasp the various

Leading the Way or Just Catching Up? New Steps Beyond“Hello”in Japanese English Education

3. One of the reasons for the lack of progress in conversational English is that the

pronunciation characteristics of non-native English and become accustomed tocommunicating with other nonnative speakers.
TED(Technology,

Entertainment and Design)
sometimes has excellent talks in
English by non-native speakers,
and the world-renowned
architect Shigeru Ban is one ofthem. This is not because Mr. Ban
speaks fluent English, but rather

Figure 1.
Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology, United Nations, U.S. Visa Talk and Crystal D.
The English Club, based on data from A History of
the English Language, World English Population andPercentage of Non-native English Speakers (2019).

because his English has a distinctly Japanese accent. The English that Mr. Ban
must have struggled to acquire after graduating from high school and moving to
the U.S. is also his resume. As with all TED talks, Mr. Ban's presentation is highly73entertaining. He speaks in the manner of someone who has been trained in
how to effectively communicate what he wants to say to others. Perhaps he haslearned how to debate in the course of his work in the United States.
It is this kind of powerful English that I want my students to acquire. I
showed this lecture with subtitles to my second-year junior high school students
so that they could see that speaking persuasively and with passion can do morethan beautiful pronunciation and precise expression to win people's hearts andminds. Teachers should actively increase their students' exposure to high-quality
non-native English.
4. Are they prepared on a daily basis for what they are going to say?
Are we trying to have a conversation with a foreigner with our bare hands?
Conversation requires diligent preparation. Table 1 shows the results of a survey
conducted in 2018 by the Secretariat of the Intellectual Property Strategy Officeof the Cabinet Office among foreigners. It shows that foreigners are interested
in Japanese anime, manga, games, music, and food. These topics are familiar
to students. Instead of asking rude questions such as, “Do you eat natto? Whatkind of manga did you read as a child?” If junior high school students know inadvance that topics such as “Have you ever listened to Japanese music?” Thereis a high possibility that junior high and high school students will be able todeepen their conversations

What made you interested in Japan (select 3)?

through Cool Japan. In orderto do so, it is necessary to beinterested in a variety of things
on a regular basis and look atthings with fresh eyes.
Many foreigners areinterested in history andtraditional culture. Althoughthese topics are harder for
students to jump into thananime, etc., there is no need tosuddenly introduce tea ceremony
culture like Okakura Tenshin.
At first, i t i s e n ou g h t o t a lk
about the history of your town

74

Table 1. Survey of Foreign Attitudes toward Reproducing
Co o l J a p a n ( 2 0 1 8 ) . V i s u a l I n d u s t r y Pr o m o t i o n
Organization(Commissioned by the Secretariat of Intellectual
Property Strategy Promotion Office, Cabinet Office)whether you can speak in Japanese. You should also abandon the illusion that it
is Japanese people who know more about Japanese culture. As you explain, youwill have a chance to come in contact with a new way of perceiving Japaneseculture from a foreigner's point of view. In order to enjoy mutually transmitted
conversations, it is essential to have a strong desire to grow together throughregular conversation.
There is an episode I would like to share with you about how much I know
about things that are familiar to me.
It was about 30 years ago. When my husband (an American) studied abroad
at a Japanese university for a year
He became very close to Mr. A, who was living in the same dormitory. My
husband could speak Japanese to some extent, so there was no problem even if
Mr. A did not speak English at all. There were several other Japanese students
who became good friends, but Mr. A was so friendly that he invited my husband
to his parents' house.
When they returned from the trip, my husband said to me, “A is amazing. He
knows so much about his hometown. He knows about the festivals at the nearby
shrine and what plants grow on the mountain behind our house. I've never
met anyone who could tell me so much about the town where he was born.”
The person who was most respected and trusted by my foreigner husband (myLeading the Way or Just Catching Up? New Steps Beyond“Hello”in Japanese English Education

or familiar culture. Before speaking in English, I would like you to first consider

husband owes his life to his scooter) was not an English department or returnee
student, but A-kun, who spoke passionately about the history and geography of
his hometown in Japanese only.
When communicating with foreigners, what do you talk about? What can
you talk about?

In most cases, the things you can talk about with the mostenthusiasm and confidence are probably things you like or things around you,such as hobbies, hometown, family, and your neighborhood. In order to speak
about these things in English, we must consciously prepare ourselves on aregular basis. One effective way to do this is to travel.
5. Travel Advice
I strongly recommend traveling within Japan (or where you live), and doit alone. This is to learn more about Japan (and where you live). The reason I
recommend solo travel is because I want you to talk with other people wherever
you go. This is not possible with a companion. Talking with local people in the75

places you visit can be a simulated experiencefor students to communicate with strangers in aforeign country in the future. They will use theopportunity of travel to hone their conversational
skills. I myself try to visit as many places as
possible. (Photo taken in Nagano City, Japan, a
few years ago)
In order to make a trip, I have to research
about the place beforehand. If I am a railroad
enthusiast, I may read a few books to find out
the names of train lines and stations, and from,

Author in Nagano City

there continue on to the history and economy of
the area. You may be surprised to find that what you researched before visiting aplace is not the same when you actually see it. Travel is an extraordinary thing,a small adventure, an exploratory study. It is a good opportunity to connect thedots of information that we usually collect separately.
We focus on learning about the native people of Iwate Prefecture such as
Inazo Nitobe, Takuboku Ishikawa, and Kenji Miyazawa through field trips, and it
is very effective to visit museums and their birthplaces on your own.
If possible, it would be even better if students could have the opportunity
to be volunteer guides who introduce their hometown to tourists from otherprefectures or overseas. If our school's forum is held face-to-face, it would be aperfect opportunity.
The number of real-life stories you can affect the persuasiveness of yourconversations. If you have something to say, if you have something to convey,
listeners will do their best to listen to you, even if your English is slightly
incorrect or your pronunciation is difficult to comprehend. The following is
a discussion of conversational enthusiasm, which has not been given much
importance in English language education in Japan.
6. Conversational Enthusiasm As A Necessity for Conversation
There is a person whom I respect in terms of communication. I met a Korean
man with the English name of Jason at a party in the U.S. many decades ago.
When you go to a party in the U.S., it is usually the case that you talk to many
people at once, rather than to one person for a long time. However, I was 9months pregnant at the time, and it was easier for me to sit down, so I spent76

sitting on the sofa with me. Then Jason came in with the first word of “Hello.” Letme be honest. When Jason entered the conversation, I thought, “Oh my God!” I
felt a little depressed, thinking that I would have to spend at least 10 minutes inconversation with a guy who had just come to the U.S. to study and did not yet
speak much English. Sure enough, whenever Jason didn't understand a word, hewould ask “What does it mean?” He was trying to tell me how he felt about every
topic, albeit slowly. The conversation between the three of us lost some of its
lightness, but before long I began to look forward to what Jason would say next,
waiting to see what he had to say.
In fact, what he was doing was something I had been careful not to do atparties until that moment. I had been careful not to bother other people, notto interrupt, and not to ask questions immediately even if I didn't understandsomething. He is fulfilling the purpose of his study abroad program, which is tolearn English. He makes others wait until he is finished speaking, but he puts
more effort and enthusiasm into his remarks than anyone else. Witnessing his
tenacity, I thought to myself, “At this point, I speak English better than Jason,
but he will soon overtake me. If other students from Korea are studying like this,Japanese learners can't win.” If Jason had continued to learn English, he might be
a top executive at some American company by now, and if Japanese people could
have Jason's enthusiasm for speaking English, there might one day be a J-pop

Leading the Way or Just Catching Up? New Steps Beyond“Hello”in Japanese English Education

more than 30 minutes talking with an American named B who happened to beartist who surpasses BTS.
7 We should not “follow”, but “lead”.
Are we enjoying conversation in our daily lives? In Japan, there is a word“ishin-denshin,” or the ability to understand without saying a word. However, inorder to enjoy conversations with foreigners who do not have a culture of “ishindenshin,” you must be able to lead the conversation by offering your own topics
of conversation. For this purpose, it is necessary to make efforts to prepare “whatyou want to talk about and what you can talk about with confidence and be readyat any moment.”
In particular, when conversing with foreigners, each of us should be awarethat we are private diplomats. While enjoying conversation with others, weshould think about what we can give them as well as what we can receive fromthem.
However don't feel that you have to convey Japanese culture to a foreigner

77all by yourself. In the beginning, you should practice small talk (talking about
the weather, etc.). Yet it is not only the content of the conversation that needs tobe conveyed. Through our conversation, I want to get to know you as a person. I
want to have a good time with you. I want to share my thoughts with you." Thisis the first step in communication.
We open a window to the world with the greeting “Hello,” and throughthat window we communicate our thoughts in English. We want to be able toexplain parts of Japan to foreigners who want to know more about Japan using
our own unique English, based on our personal experiences. To this end, we
do not want to compare ourselves with native English speakers, but to build a
relationship where we can learn from each other and from our fellow non-native
English speakers around the world. Although the number of visitors is currently
decreasing due to the coronavirus, many tourists from neighboring countries,
such as China, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, and Thailand visit Iwate Prefecture
every year. We ought to interact more actively with these people. Let us makesure once again that English is one of the tools for this purpose and not just a
subject to measure our ability as one of the subjects for an entrance examination.
Otherwise, we will always end up catching up. In what ways can Japan lead theworld in the future? Let us start the conversation. From this country, from thistown, from this school.
“Step out into the world with great ambition.” Is our school's motto.
I hope that all of the people gathered at Excelsior will watch as our schooltakes this step forward.
The most fruitful and natural exercise for our mind is, in my opinion,
conversation.
Michel de Montaigne
References
Interpreters' View of Postwar History," Kumiko Torikai, Shincho Bunko
Techniques and Training for Expressing Your Opinions Logically in English" Kazumi Ueda and
Chizuko Tsumatori, Bere Shuppan.

78

Chen Yijun（Zezhou County No. 1 Middle School, Jincheng, Shanxi province, China）

ABSTRACT“Learning by teaching”,the traditional classroom method ,in which,theteacher’s dominant, and teachers are accustomed to teaching and students
accustomed to listening to teachers . But with the implementation of the new
curriculum standards, this kind of teacher’s monologue class mode will be
broken, when students and teachers will become the main characters in theclass, according to the students’ preview of lessons, the teacher arranges theparticipation of the students in class. This classroom mode is “teaching by

From“Learning by Teaching”to“Learning by Learning”

From “Learning by Teaching” to “Learning by Learning”

learning”. If we step further to try the “teaching by learning” model a little more
boldly, and to further restore the status of students as learning subjects, we can
ask students to arrange the student’s presentation and communication according
to the self-study before class. The teacher will be the trainer before class andthe supervisor facilitators after class. This teaching mode is the “Learning bylearning”of Zezhou No. 1 Middle School in Jincheng.

Key words
learning by teaching, teaching by learning, learning by learning
1.“Learning by Teaching”
A teacher, a book, a piece of chalk, a blackboard, and a class,which are not
only all elements traditional classes may include,but also its true portrayal.
In a traditional classroom, what the teacher teaches, how to arrange it, whatsituations to set up, what teaching aids to use, and what questions to presuppose
are in the control of the teacher in the classroom. Because the time of theclass is controlled by the teacher, the students basically have no opportunity toparticipate unless the teacher occasionally interspersed questions. Otherwise,a class would be the teacher’s ‘solo performance’. Although the class is finished,
the teacher merely finishes the class hurriedly according to the the contents
pre-set with the teacher unsure how much the students have obtained. Strictly
speaking, no one can teach us anything, and all knowledge, in essence, isacquired by students themselves.Teachers tend to view teaching as a process in79

which students cooperate with their teachers to complete classroom tasks andlesson plans. However, to a certain extent, they neglect that students are thereal subject of learning and that students are the important learning resource asa whole. At the same time, in this kind of class, teachers neglect or think littleof the analysis and understanding of the students. In this way, there will be acertain difference between the starting point he/she has set for teaching and theoriginal purpose of teaching. And many things he has explained in class may
already be mastered by the students, so that students’ attention in class will bescattered, occasionally leading to “Sleeping Classes”, not to mention dynamic
participation and productivity.
CONSTRUCTIVISM holds that learning is not a process in which the teacher
simply imparts knowledge to the students, but one in which the student
perceives, recognizes, thinks, and reconstructs, and one that the teacher can
not replace the role of the students. In the “Learning by teaching” class, thestudents become the passive recipients of knowledge imparted by the teacher
according to his/her experience, rather than the real subject of learning. In viewof this, we should look for a path through which the status and respect of thelearning subject can be restored. And this path is a classroom mode —“Teachingby learning”. Since May 2009, Zezhou No. 1 middle school has had the courage
to break through the traditional teaching method of “unifying the world”byteachers in the classroom, tearing down the platform, setting up the platform forthe students, and promoting the teaching method of “learning and guiding spiraldevelopment big classroom”, with forty minutes divided into several sections,
letting the class present certain link, enhancing the students’ enthusiasm and theinitiative of learning, simultaneously enhancing the study efficiency as well, andmore importantly, restoring the students’ status as the subject of study.
2.“Teaching by Learning”
What is “Learning by teaching” ? Learning-based teaching is a kindofteaching strategy for teachers to determine the starting point, method andstrategy of teaching according to learning situations. “Learning Situation” refers
to the basis of students’ knowledge and ability, the years of schooling , cognitive
level of students, the degree of students’ active preview in class, the students’emotional state towards new knowledge, etc., that is, the teacher determines
the starting point of teaching according to the learning situations, chooses
appropriate teaching methods and uses more practical teaching aids to stimulate

80

constructively, finally achieving the aim of enabling each student to obtaincertain knowledge, skills and emotional sublimation.
To some extent, “teaching by learning” restores the status of students
learning as subjects, which means that teachers no longer arrange classes only
according to their own past teaching experience or their own presupposition, andaccording to the actual situation of students ,arrange the content of the class,the scene, the choice of teaching aids to organize the classroom and complete
the teaching tasks. However, in the “teaching by learning” class, students andteachers are involved together, where both need to change their concept, andalso try to ensure the smooth process.
As the famous Chinese educator Mr Tao Xingzhi said, “it is exciting students’curiosity to learn instead of teaching students effectively that makes a good

From“Learning by Teaching”to“Learning by Learning”

students’ thirst for knowledge, thus enabling students to learn and communicate

teacher.” So the first idea that needs to be changed in the classroom mode of“teaching by learning” is to restore the student as the subject of learning, andthe teacher must change “teaching students to learn” into “guiding students
to learn”, so as to truly ensure the students’ status as the subject of learning, allowing students to self-study, try, explore, discover and solve problems.
Then the teacher carries on with the guidance according to the student’s selfstudy situation, and then constructs the content which will be presented in theclass as well as arranges how to carry on with the effective questions generationand explore the solutions to the questions. Here, we find that “teaching bylearning”class mode can really reflect the role of students, so to promote thecurriculum reform many schools are basically using this teaching strategy andclassroom mode now. From this point of view, what should be changed first is theteacher’s concept of teaching methods. In addition, there is a need for students
to change the concept of self-learning. “The key to teaching lies in leading theway and enlightenment.” To open the door of students’ understanding what
they learn, we must let students learn first, and then the teachers teach based onlearning situation. In the self-study class, the teacher explains the teaching goals,
instructs the students to study independently by thinking, reading the learningmaterials and taking notes, and then complete the ‘Xuedao’(“ 学道 ”，a learningand homework system). Before the next class the teacher learns about the study
situation by marking the ‘Xuedao’, after that the teacher starts to organize theclass. Because of learning in the first place and finding problems after learning,
students can enter the classroom with a clear goal to solve problems and puzzles

81and with eagerness to learn actively. Sometimes it is even not necessary forteachers to inspire and guide students to play the role of learning as a subject.
Students’ potential can be fully developed. Therefore, in order to let the students
become the masters of learning and make the central task of teaching fall on thelevel of “learning”instead of “teaching”, we teachers should try to cultivate thestudents’ sense of autonomy, let students’ problems exposed in the “self-reading,self-training, self-evaluation” process. Therefore, the role of teachers lies in thetargeted guidance seizing the opportunity.
Zezhou No. 1 Middle School, has been actively exploring the classroommode of “Learning first”(student-centered learning) since the beginning of
the curriculum reform. What does that mean? This can be explained in thecontext of the class processes in Zezhou No. 1 Middle School. Every class inZezhou No. 1 Middle School can be divided into seven processes: Xuedaobased study, self-study session, marking and evaluating the Xuedao, group
discussion, presentation in classroom, a brief summary, test and feedback on
performance, and then Xuedao-based study again for the next cycle. To be
specific,firstly,students learn the ‘Xuedao’ autonomously and independently
which are handed out at the end of the last class according to requirements. The
students then complete relevant exercises in the Xuedao and hand them in to theteacher.Next the teacher marks and evaluates the ‘Xuedao’ so that he\she knows
about the learning situation and concludes the students’ blind spots or puzzles.
The teacher goes on with a second preparation for the new lesson, including theimportant points that will be discussed in groups and presented in class and the
difficult points the teacher will explain and expand. Meanwhile,the teacher will
arrange the process of this lesson according to the learning situation, and collectthe points to be emphasized in the summary and the key points to be tested at
the end of the class.Therefore, from this point of view, “teaching by learning” firsthighlights the precondition of students’ autonomous and independent learning,
and next the teacher’s designs and organization of the class according to learning
situation, and at last students’ discussion, presentation, questioning, summaryand evaluation according to the teacher’s designs.
At the stage of “teaching by learning”, students’ status as learning subjects
will be achieved to a certain extent, and students’ desire to learn will also be
stimulated. However, at this stage, to some extent, it is actually the teacher who
is still dominating the class, which is just transformed from the former teacher’s
one-man show into the present teacher-student co-progress show. So, in a sense,82will not easily give up his\her dominant role considering his\her own teachingexperience and concept. Therefore, in order to restore the students’ status aslearning subjects as much as possible, it is necessary to emancipate the mind andrealize the transformation from “learning by teaching”to “learning by learning”.
3.“Learning by Learning”
What is “learning by learning”? First of all, we must understand that thefirst subject of learning is students; secondly, it should be noted that the second
subject of learning is still students. In other words, students become the reallearning subject, and at this stage, teachers become guides or helpers.So, how toachieve “learning by learning”?
The first step of “learning by learning” is to continue the step of “teaching

From“Learning by Teaching”to“Learning by Learning”

the teaching by learning class will not go too far,which is because the teacher

by learning”, that is, the arrangement of independent self-study before class, sothat students could have plenty of time to preview learning materials, consult
learning materials, think about relevant problems and finish the Xuedao of
this class. In this way, students have a general understanding of the content of
this class, which is the pre-class preparation the “text study”. If it is a process of“problem exploration” and “expansion and improvement”, students will think,
discuss, consult and feed back according to the guiding problems designed in the
Xuedao in independent self-study before class, so as to form their own learningachievements and expose their existing problems at the same time. Thus, theXuedao submitted are a true reflection of the learning results of students’ selfstudy class and the main approach for teachers to know about the learning
situation as well. After marking the Xuedao and learn about the learning
situation, teachers will prepare for the second step.
The second step is to make courseware. After mastering the learning
situation, teachers can make an elaborate preparation for the learning methods
and class contents according to the content. Generally speaking, a class will
be accompanied by PPTs (Powerpoint), smart notebooks, videos, pictures andmicro-course explanation. The use of these teaching aids can awaken andstimulate students’ thirst for knowledge to the greatest extent from the auditory
and visual aspects in the classroom.
The third step is pre-class training. Teachers usually train subject
spokesperson and group on duty before class. The training will cover the
problems existing in the Xuedao, exploring the causes and solutions to the83

problems, the key and difficult points of this class, the setting and organizationof the class process, the arrangement from the students’ presentations in class,the synchronized recording and solutions to problems, the evaluation andfeedback from the group on duty, the use and explanation of the Xuedao inclass and so on. The practical effects of the third step and the pre-class training,
directly determine whether the learning task in class can be completed andwhether the expected effect can be achieved. Therefore, the third step shows
the uniqueness of “learning by learning” . So why do teachers conduct pre-classtraining? This involves the latest achievement of the current curriculum reformin Zezhou No.1 Middle School, which is the “walking class” classroom mode.
What is a “walking class” ? “Walking class” is that a teacher takes two or threeclasses at the same time. According to the classroom mode, the “walking class” of
Zezhou No.1 Middle School can be divided into three types: “overall perception(mind map)”, “layered breakthrough (text study, problem exploration, expansion
and improvement)” and “overall output”. Among them, “overall perception(mind map)” , “overall output” and “text study” are that teachers walk among
different classrooms and students stay in unchanged classrooms assigned, while“problem exploration” and “expansion and improvement” are that both teachersand students walk. In this kind of class, the importance of pre-class training is
obvious and self-evident.
The fourth step is in-class presentation. Due to the comprehensive
preparation of students’ pre-class independent learning and teachers’ preclass training, the class is basically the presentation and exchange of students’learning achievements. In class, the group on duty and the subject spokesperson
are organized to complete a class together. The presentation in class is notdeliberately arranged before class, but about the outcome report jointly discussed
by students in class, or the discussion and solutions to common problems.
Therefore, in the classroom, heated discussions, scenes of debates, the eyes ofpraise and laughter of problem solving can be found everywhere. In one class,the expected learning objectives can be basically achieved through comments in
the Xuedao app, objective perception, problem preview, study group discussion,presentation in classroom, summary, test, evaluation, feedback, etc.
The fifth step is follow-up consolidation. What if problems found by students
in class are not solved effectively in the absence of the teacher? At this time, thegroup on duty or the subject spokesperson will record the relevant informationand give feedback to the teacher in time in order to ask for a timely solution,84

platform, which is a kind of network resources or learning platform, for theteachers and students to solve the problems together. Meanwhile, teachers canalso upload typical examples or questions related to the class to the learning
platform for students to refer to and even test independently, so as to promote
the consolidation of knowledge.
In conclusion, “learning by learning” can be summarized in the following
four aspects. First, the quality and quantity of students’ pre-class learning
determine the height of in-class presentation and communication. Second,
the range of students’ pre-class independent learning determines the depth ofstudents’ in-class discussion and presentation. Third, the breadth of students’pre-class data review determines the width of students’ while-class discussion.
Fourthly, the degree of pre-class preparation determines the while-class validity

From“Learning by Teaching”to“Learning by Learning”

or the generated problems will be published through the E-channel learning

obtained by students.
Although we say that the potential of students is endless, we still do notignore and underestimate the role of teachers. For example, the preparation of
exercises, the elaborate design of problems, the pre-class training, the timely
guidance of problems generated in class, the after-class follow-up counselingand problem solving, and so on, are inseparable from teachers However, underthe “learning by learning” teaching mode, the role of teachers in class has beentransferred to pre-class elaborate preparation and after-class careful followup counseling; the workload of teachers is not reduced, but transferred to thequality of work of teachers.As a result, the role of teachers has transformed fromexplainers and instructors in class into pre-class reading guides, trainers andpost-class supervisors.In this way, the requirements for teachers are more andhigher.
The change from “learning by teaching” to “learning by learning” changes
the role of teachers and students, rather than teaching basic rules or teachingapproaches. Teaching and learning growing together, which means that teachersand students teach and learn from each other. What we lack now are notresources or methods, but the courage and gumption to explore resources andmethods. Daring to break the convention, and forging ahead toward a totallydifferent path while following the teaching rules and principles, have beenachieved by Zezhou No.1 Middle School.

85

86

Alice Handscomb（English Teacher, Morioka Chuo Junior High School, Morioka City, Iwate, Japan）

Summary
It has been widely acknowledged by educators around the world that

Movement in the Classroom

Movement in the Classroom

movement in the classroom can have a positive impact on students’ learning.
It has even been found that sitting at a desk for a full class period can hinder
student learning and engagement. In Japan, it seems that the style of teachinghas, until recently, been traditionally lecture-based and teacher-oriented.
However, recently, thanks to technology, classroom design and improved
teaching methods, we are starting to see changes in Japan as well. It is my hopethat teachers in Japan will become more familiar with methods that incorporate
movement in the classroom.

Key words
Movement, engagement, gesture, motion, energise, focus, performance,
behaviour, role-play, skit, play, comprehension, participation, technique, method
From my experience of being educated in the UK, and with eleven years ofteaching experience in Japan, I have seen numerous effective teaching styles,
many of which use movement. I intend to introduce some of the teaching
methods that I have observed and applied in my own lessons and consider theireffectiveness and what kind of impact these have on students.
I will discuss five reasons that movement in the classroom is effective andgive some examples and techniques that we as teachers can apply in our lessons.
1. Movement energises students’ bodies and their brains
According to research by Chaouloff (Chaouloff F., 1989), moving our bodies
may stimulate the production of brain chemicals norepinephrine and dopamine,
which energise and elevate mood. Of course, in school, playing sports andtaking part in physical education classes are of great importance, but even in theclassroom there are ways that we can implement movement.
One way that I use movement in the classroom to energise students is byplaying the game “rock-paper-scissors” before beginning an activity. Not only87

is it a “fair” way of deciding who goes first, but it is also a simple and fun way to
get students moving their bodies and interacting with their classmates. Anotherway to wake up students at the end of a long day is to ask them to stand up for
activities.
These are just two examples of ways we can use movement to energise
students in the classroom. Short, simple ideas such as these can improvestudents’ moods without impacting too much on the length of the lesson.
2.Movement improves students’ behaviour
I have often observed that junior high school students in particular have a
lot of energy and many students find it hard to sit at a desk and stay focused
during lessons. There is even scientific evidence that young people are especiallysusceptible to restlessness, and they need to move because of “fluctuations inbasal metabolism” (Wiles and Bondi, 2007).
At first, I was frustrated that the teaching methods I had previously beenusing in high school or adult classes didn’t seem to be working in junior highschool and I couldn’t understand why students wouldn’t behave well in myclasses. However, I soon realised that “bad” behaviour was often due to lack offocus, and rather than wishing that the students would calm down, I should befinding ways to allow students to move more during lessons. This in turn would
improve students’ behaviour during classes.
I have introduced activities in my lessons that allow students to move more.
Instead of having students sat at their desks doing a vocabulary or spelling test,
I prefer to make the activity a board race. Students take turns coming up to thewhiteboard to write the words. Taking the time to do games and races rather
than have students just sitting at their desks helps them to remain focused on
activities, so behaviour is generally better.
3.Movement helps students to retain content more
Recently, many studies have shown a relationship between actions,
gestures, and exercise and memory performance. It has been found that physicalmovements can affect our ability to remember. In one study by Cohen (Cohen
R.L., 1981), participants were tested on their ability to recall actions. It foundthat it was easier for them to recall “self-performed” actions rather than simply
hearing or reading instructions for the actions without them being performed.
In my English lessons I use gestures and actions to help students to88

according to students’ levels. For example, I have used animal gestures in a
warm-up activity to help junior high school students to remember animalnames. I have also used gesture games at high school level to teach students
the difference between “play”, “practice,” or “go” when talking about sports.
Performing skits or plays is another way to aid students’ memories when they
are learning key phrases. Learning lines for a play goes hand in hand with their

Movement in the Classroom

remember key vocabulary and phrases. These activities are easy to adapt

actions and movement around the stage, so it is easier for them to rememberthem.
4.Movement helps teachers to gauge participation and assess students
Movement and physical responses are also a useful way to monitor students’participation in class, which can be of benefit to the teacher. There are simple
ways this can be implemented in the classroom. For example, when asking
students to do a pair-work activity, I often ask them to stand up, and only sit
down once they have finished it. By doing this, it is easy for me to know which
students have finished, how long the activity takes, and which students are
struggling and may need some assistance.
Another way is to use movement to check comprehension. Students canmove their bodies in a “true or false” quiz by making a “true” or “false” gesturewith their arms. I also often ask students simple “yes/no” questions that they can
respond to physically simply by raising their hands.
5.Movement is fun
Above all, I believe that lessons at school should be fun. In a study to ask
students if they enjoy lessons more when there is movement, it was found that“students overwhelmingly described movement in the classroom as fun” and“better than the boring way of learning!” (McMullen, Kullina and Cothran, 2014)
I’m sure that if you ask your own students the same question, you will get thesame kind of response. So, if you are looking for ways to make lessons more fun,why not integrate movement into your classroom and include activities thatstudents enjoy.

89

References
Chaouloff F. “Physical exercise and brain monoamines: a review” (September 1989) Retrieved 18
June, 2022 from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2678895/
Wells, Stephanie. “Moving Through the Curriculum: The Effect of Movement on Student Learning,
Behavior, and Attitude” (31 May, 2012) Retrieved 18 June, 2022 from http://mat2012wells.pbworks.
com/w/file/fetch/54431635/Wells,%20MRP.pdf
Christopher R. Madan and Anthony Singhal .“Using actions to enhance memory: effects ofenactment, gestures, and exercise on human memory” (19 November, 2012) Retrieved 18 June,
2022 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3536268/
McMullen, Jaimie. “Moving in the Classroom – What Students Say!” (30 April, 2019) Retrieved 18
June, 2022 from https://blog.moving-minds.com/2019/04/30/moving-in-the-classroom-whatstudents-say/#:~:text=Probably%20the%20most%20unsurprising%20finding,where%20there%20
were%20sitting%20down.

90Claire Neeson（Psychology teacher, Impington Village College, Cambridge, UK）

Summary
For the first few minutes of a lesson make the focus ‘Change your
Perspective’. Ask your students to carry out the following few simple tasks withthe emphasis on ‘change and how it makes you feel’:
1a the Crossed Arms Challenge:
For practitioners facing a large class and not a lot of time, this exercise reallygets the point of change across. After the introduction of the “change” subject,ask the students to “cross their arms.” My operational definition of “crossed” isfolding their arms together, as if they were bored or waiting for something. Oncethey have completed this task, ask them to “cross their arms the other way,”
reversed of what they just performed. I guarantee that 90 percent of the class will
struggle with it.
Discussion Questions:•How did it feel when you were asked to cross your arms the other way?

Some ideas to get your students engaged and to have fun and promote creative thinking in the classroom

Some ideas to get your students engaged and tohave fun and promote creative thinking
in the classroom•Did it come naturally or did you have to stop and think about it?
•Were you comfortable with doing this differently from your normal process?
•What are some things that make people resistant to change?
Teacher Notes
When people cross their arms, they do so naturally, without even thinking
about it. When they are asked to fold them the other way they, for the mostpart, stop, refold their arms again and then try to figure out which arm wason top, which arm moves first and so on. Try this yourself and see. Encourage
participants to consider and share their own personal emotions related tomaking changes.

91

1b Change How You Communicate
Ask the students to find a partner – someone they don’t know very well. Halfof the class are asked to sit either on the floor or a chair back-to-back with theirpartner. The other half are asked to sit on their hands.
The students are then asked to take it in turns (no more than one minuteeach) to tell each other about a really good holiday they went or about asurprising or exciting event from their lives.
Discussion Questions:* How did it feel to speak to someone in this way?
* What was it like not being able to see/use your hands?
* What other skills did you have to use to facilitate the conversation?
1c Did you see the gorilla?
Short youtube clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo
which is focused on seeing but not seeing ie not seeing the whole picture
and only concentrating on what you think is important.
2 Verbal ping-pong – in pairs. Choose a topic e.g. ‘food’ – one person starts
by naming anything to do with food e.g. ‘sushi’, ‘restaurant’, ‘hungry’, ‘apple’ etc.
Their partner must immediately return with another word about food (like they
are returning in a game of ping-pong). The rules are:* no hesitating, each word must be returned immediately* keep looking into your partner’s eyes, no looking up, down, away etc.
* no laughing!
* no repeating words which have already been said
The winner is the first person to have defeated their partner 3 times.
This game can be used to introduce or review key topics being studied inclass. It’s lots of fun, the students really enjoy it.
3 Relay race. This game will require a large whiteboard at the front of theclass and marker pens.
Choose a topic (to introduce a new theme or review prior learning).
The students are in 2 teams. Each team lines up behind the lead student,
facing the board; the lead student holds a marker pen. On the teacher’s count92

associated with the topic. They then run back to their team, pass the marker onand the next student does the same – this continues until the teacher yells ‘Stop!’.
The rules are:*the same word cannot be repeated per team* words must be correct i.e. related to the topic* spelling doesn’t matter* no copying from the other team (at least try not to get found out if you do
copy!)
The winning team is the one who has the highest number of correct words/
phrases at the end of the game.
4Speed-dating – students in role as one of the topics/studies/theories they
have researched – they ‘date’ each other in a speed-dating scenario. They must
prepare their notes and they have 1 minute per dating opportunity to tell theirpartner about themselves and to find out about them. At the end they shouldhave a good set of notes gathered from each person they’ve ‘dated’.
5 Get in Line as a way to establish the level of agreement with the topic thathas been researched. The teacher asks the students to line up across the room
according to how far they agree with the statement, ‘Spanish/Italian/Japanesefood is the best in the world’ for example. The teacher can select topics that are
relevant to the students’ current level/themes etc. This can then form the start ofSome ideas to get your students engaged and to have fun and promote creative thinking in the classroomof ‘Go!’ each lead student runs to the board and writes down one word/phrase

discussion on the topic.
There are so many ways you can breathe life into your lessons and really
get the students engaged. Hopefully you will use some of these silly-but-usefulgames in your lessons to really enhance the experience of both you, the teacher,and your students.

93

94

YOZA Hiroaki（Vice principal, Geography Teacher, Morioka Chuo High School, Morioka City, Iwate, Japan）

Summary
The reality of university entrance exam preparation is a barrier to developing
international understanding based on the goals set out by geography classes.
As a step towards achieving the goals, I first promoted various initiatives in thecontext of extra-curricular club activities and area studies clubs. These initiatives
achieved a certain degree of success, but the question is how to apply anddevelop them in regular classes in the future.

Key words

Working with local communities based on geographical considerations

Working with local communities
based on geographical considerations

Problem-finding and problem-solving skills, initiative and proactivity, publicness
and ethics, sense of responsibility and mission, spirit of challenge, teamwork andleadership, cooperativeness and flexibility
1.Introduction
In today's globalised world, a major challenge is how to put the goal ofgeography education into practice in actual educational settings, This goal is
to “develop human resources who have a comprehensive understanding ofdiverse geographical issues and who can participate in community developmentwith a sense of attachment to their local area”*1. During my previous tenure
at Okinawa Shogaku High School, I aimed to shift from a teaching style thatmainly focused on preparation for university entrance exams. Following what
is called international understanding education, students identify local issues
on their own, think of solutions and put them into practice. In the process, theycollaborate with the local community and, based on a sense of belonging to the
local community, develop a sense of responsibility and mission, initiative andpositivity, an intrepid spirit, cooperation and flexibility*2.
2. methodology
There are significant time and technological constraints on visiting local
communities to address the above issues during class time. We have been95

tackling this issue with the students through extracurricular club activity
and regional studies club, which is engaged in research and practice of local
communities. Since studying the transition of social life in Naha City based on
geographical considerations through maps and field surveys. This led to thetheme of revitalising the shopping streets in the city centre that have lost theirliveliness of the old days. The project proceeded as follows.
1. research into the history and function of shopping streets
2. survey of the current state of shopping streets
3. i nterviews with shopping street associations, NPOs, government andbusinesses
4. developing an action plan to formulate and test methods (hypotheses) for
revitalisation
5. implementation of the action plan
6. modification and implementation of the action plan based on practical results.
7. summary and dissemination of a series of activities
3. Background to the initiative
According to the Guidelines for Senior High School Teaching, the objectivesof Senior High School Geography B are “to examine the geographical eventsof the modern world systematically; to examine various regions of the modern
world geographically with historical background; to develop geographicalawareness of the modern world; to cultivate geographical views and ideas; andto develop awareness and qualities as Japanese citizens who live independently
in the international community. It is stated that”*3. While geographical study is amethod of analyzing and comprehensively understanding various events basedon the region, systematic geographical study is a way of thinking in which causal
relationships and geographical features are systematised by geographical field forstudy and research. However, it is undeniable that in actual educational settings,
more emphasis is placed on preparation for university entrance examinations
than on achieving this goal. Many teachers are faced with a dilemma. The morethey focus on preparation for entrance examinations, the more they diverge fromwhat they should be teaching. When I was in my thirties, I was sent to Argentina
by JICA, where I struggled to develop the values, worldview and qualities needed
to live in a global society as I encountered cross-cultural barriers. My aim was toshare these experiences with my students and plant the seeds of a global human96

from the knowledge-oriented teaching in regular classes due to the horizontal
class curriculum for all classes and the limited number of class hours. Eventually,
as a step towards realising the ideals I was aiming for, I decided to form an extracurricular club and put them into practice there.
In February 2000, I set up the Okinawa Shogaku High School Regionaland International Exchange Club (later renamed the Regional Studies Club)and engaged in a variety of activities under the theme of 'Resolving local andinternational social issues from the perspective of high school students living
in Okinawa . As the club's advisor, my three roles were (1) to provide students
with ideas, (2) to provide opportunities and (3) to encourage activities. The
Community Studies Club has been involved in confronting the local and global
challenges of society.
It was a great discovery that the initiatives of high school students could
gain the understanding and support of the local community. These activities
also seemed to have greater news value than expected. They were often covered

Working with local communities based on geographical considerations

resource in the classroom. Unfortunately, however, I was unable to break away

extensively in the media. However, the most significant achievement, in myopinion, was the significant change I saw in the students who took part in the
project. The students became aware of their inherent potential, turned theirattention to society and developed the qualities of global human resources
mentioned above. It was a change beyond my initial expectations and onethat surprised everyone around me, including parents, teachers and friends.
The students developed an awareness of the geography of the modern world
by examining geographical events systematically and geographically in thecontext of the historical background of the region. In addition, they cultivatedgeographical views and ideas, and developed an awareness as Japanese citizens
who live independently in an international society *3. This was a major clue
towards achieving the goal set out in the upper secondary school teachingguidelines.
4. ‘Machimodoshi’ activities - participating in community development whiledeveloping problem-finding and problem-solving skills
The efforts of the Regional Studies club produced certain educational results.
However, the process of participating in actual community development in theprocess of formulating hypotheses for solutions through research and learning,and practicing and verifying them on their own was not sufficient in the previous

97

activities. Therefore, we sought to improve this process and to link it to anothergoal of modern geographical education: developing human resources capableof making independent regional development with the participation of local
residents and developing area management and policy decisions that make useof regional resources such as nature, history,
culture and products*4.
In 2018, one group from the Regional
Studies club launched ‘Machi-modoshi’
activities. These are activities to restore
the liveliness of the old days to the central
shopping street of Naha City the prefectural

Figure 1: Naha City in the 17th century

capital of Okinawa, also known as Machigwah.
As seen in Figures 1 to 3, the topography andurban area of Naha City have changed overtime. In addition, a map of tram routes that

Figure 2 Topographic map of Naha City in 1921

ran in Naha City until around 1930 led to arealization of the fact that the city centre had
shifted between the pre-war and post-war
periods. Until around the 1980s, Machigwah
was crowded with shoppers from inside andoutside the city as it acted as the kitchen of
the common people.

Figure 3: Present-day Naha City andprewar streetcar route map
Inside the circle is the central area.

Machigwa originally arose spontaneously and unplanned, and along themaze of streets that spread out like a meshwork, there were restaurants serving
local cuisine, food and delicatessen shops, clothing shops, daily-use shops, andshops that had been built under US military rule.
Shops selling imported goods from Western countries and neighbouring
countries, hamburger fast-food outlets, ethnic instrument and costume
shops, souvenir shops, and more spread out in disorder, creating an exotic
atmosphere not seen anywhere else in the country. However, with theprogress of motorisation, the consumption behaviour of the general public
transformed towards a focus on roadside and suburban speciality shops andlarge supermarkets. As a result, shopping streets, which were at the heart of theconsumption behaviour of the common people, declined. Such a nationwide
trend became noticeable in Machigwa from around the 1980s.
Machigwa, which used to be the kitchen of the common people, was98over Japan and abroad. As a result, the unique atmosphere of Machiggwa has
gradually faded away, and the common people have become more and moredistant. Furthermore, “local urban centres with historic townscapes are unable tocope with motorisation and are in decline... Japan's regions have become uniform
and homogenised, and there is a uniform ‘fast climate’ across the country that has
nothing to do with unique regional characteristics”*5. This wave of transformation
came undeniably to Naha City as well. Fast climate is a phenomenon in whicha wave of suburbanisation is sweeping into the countryside, homogenising thelandscape of Japan and causing the loss of regional uniqueness.
The students who worked on the Machigwa town restoration activities, tobring back the old liveliness to Machigwa naturally had no knowledge of the old
liveliness of Machigwa, or the role it had played in the past. We started with ahistoric study based on geographical considerations. In addition to research using
literature and the internet, they visited Machigwa and interviewed the shopping

Working with local communities based on geographical considerations

then forced to shift its target to tourists who came in large numbers from all

street association, shop owners and NPOs working to revitalise Machigwa. They
then conducted a survey of the current situation in Machigwa, including the
products handled by the shops, the characteristics of the customer base, theage groups of passers-by and the ratio of local customers to tourists. Based onthese literature and field surveys, they decided that (1) they would convey thehistorical attractions of Machiggwa to young people and children, and revitalise
Machiggwa through them, and (2) they would revitalise Machiggwa as a placethat is loved by both local customers and tourists, rather than relying solely on
tourists. With the theme of the project developed, the following hypotheses werethen formulated.
1. I f the customers of Machigwa are heavily weighted towards tourists, thesurvival of the business is at risk should tourists stop coming for some
unforeseen reason. Therefore, local customers must be attracted back.
2.The key to the revival of Machigwa is the younger generation of elementary,junior high and high school students. Let them experience the charm of
Machigwa and make them regular visitors, so that they will bring their parents
to visit. This will lead to the development of a new customer base of young
housewives.
3. B y bringing young people to Machiggwa and making it a place for them,
the whole Machiggwa community can look after and educate them, thereby
reviving the community's educational power. This will resolve the problem of99

children isolated and deprived of food due to poverty, and the decline in the
educational function of families and communities. This is a challenge that is
manifested by the fragile economic situation and complex social conditions
caused by Okinawa's geographical remoteness and insularity.
4. L ocal residents can deepen communication with each other by revisiting
Machigwa, and develop civic pride, the attachment, pride and sense of
responsibility towards a region.
5. If the above hypotheses become reality, Machigwa can be further developed asa shopping area loved by both local residents and tourists.
Literature studies on the revitalisation of shopping streets, as well as model
shopping streets for regeneration formed the basis of the above hypotheses.
These include ‘Showa no Machi Shinmachi Dori Shopping Street’ (Bungotakada
City, Oita Prefecttheure) and ‘Mizuki Shigeru Road’ (Sakaiminato City, Tottori
Prefecture), and field research in ‘Okinawa City Ichibangai’ (Okinawa City,
Okinawa Prefecture), an anti-thematic and inconsistent town development
project that lacked the above hypotheses.
In particular, “the town was a stage deeply involved in one's development,a place where, through living and playing, one could acquire the rules ofassociation with children and adults, learn the framework of the culture andparticipate in it.” *6 “What is needed is the concept of ‘town education’ insteadof ‘food education’. ‘Street education’ is the idea of promoting healthy childrearing through life in the city.” *7 “In the past, there were candy shops andstationery shops in both Tokyo and the provinces. By hanging out and shoppingin such shops every day, one can naturally learn attachment to the local area,
independence, how to greet people and how to communicate.” *8 “If the residents'
living time, living space and values are shared or organically linked, and if
communication is close, the local community is stable.”*9 The learning from theliterature was very useful. The next step was to create an actual action plan basedon the hypothesis. The students narrowed down the target group to primaryschools students and planned and implemented a ‘Machigwah Exploration
Guide by Niinii and Nei Nei’ (‘Niinii’ means elder brother in Okinawan dialectand ‘Nei Nei’ means elder sister) to tell the charms and episodes of Machigwah.
With the cooperation of the shopping street association, shopkeepers, NPOs andneighbouring children's centres, the following six steps were taken.
1. preliminary course planning and request for cooperation from shops

100

3. preliminary guiding exercises
4. prior publicity through the shopping street association, local newspapers andlocal FM stations, and requests for media coverage; 5. the actual guide, which
incorporates food tastings and a quiz-style stamp rally.
5. the guide's full production, incorporating tastings and a quiz-style stamp rally.
6. post-learning by asking the participating primary school children to draw apicture on the theme of a shop they would like to see in Machigwa, in order toimpress on their minds the impression of Machigwa.
After implementing the plan, the students felt a solid response from thechildren, shopkeepers, NPOs and the media. However, they also realised thatthe town revival plan targeting primary school children did not immediately
lead to the hypothesised results. Many shopkeepers smiled and cheered thestudents' efforts, but they did not seem to take the hypothetical revival seriously,
i.e. that local customers would actually return to the shopping streets, leading

Working with local communities based on geographical considerations

2. pre-workshop with participating primary school children

to an increase in income. The need for a long and continuous effort to test the
hypotheses was keenly felt. Rather than thinking about the future, shopkeepers
are desperate to survive in the present. “Phrases such as ‘a town where hearts are
in harmony’ are irresponsible and ‘pretty words’. If you don't make money, you
can only decline. History has proven this”.*10 These words struck a chord with thestudents, and it was an even greater achievement that they learned a great deal
from them.
Based on the results and reflections of the project, the town revival activities
were continued and developed as follows. (1) Collaborating with shopkeepers
to set up stalls at local events, and simulating how to attract young people
as customers based on the customers they attract and the sales they make.
(2) Participate in local forums and workshops to deepen their learning anddisseminate their community revitalisation activities. (3) Re-implement the‘Machigwah exploration guide by Nii Nii and Nii Nii’ by extending the circle ofsympathy to high school students from other schools, and if the customers of
Machigwah are heavily weighted towards tourists due to the Corona disasterfrom 2020, their survival will be threatened when the number of tourists stops
for some reason. Concerns were unintentionally realised. Although the town
revival activities had to be suspended due to the Corona disaster, they have since
been passed on from senior to junior members of the community, and are now

101approaching the five-year anniversary of the start of the project.
5. Conclusion.
The response to the Machimomodoro project has been strong, with theactivities being reported on many times in the media, and the project receiving
grants from Naha City and local businesses, as well as prizes in various
competitions. Through these hands-on learning experiences, the students had
the opportunity to work with local residents, members of the local administrationand parliament, businesses and various organisations, and gained a great asset in
the form of a sense of responsibility to the local community and the experienceof proactively participating in community building. The significance of theactivities will gain even more weight in the future due to the Corona disaster.
In addition, I also evaluate that the following major steps have been taken.
- D evelop human resources who can comprehensively understand diverse
geographical issues and participate in regional development with a sense of
attachment to the region.*1- Cultivation of qualities required of global human resources, such as a sense of
responsibility and mission, initiative and proactivity, a challenging spirit, andcooperativeness and flexibility.*2- Achievement of the goals of geographical education, such as “a broad rangeof liberal arts and deep expertise, problem-finding and problem-solving skills,
teamwork and leadership, a sense of publicity and ethics, and media literacy.” *11
On the other hand, we believe that the following two points that we still face
are major issues that we must continue to explore and address as geographyteachers.
1. there is a danger that collaborative learning with the local community may
become transitory and half-hearted as students move on and graduate. The
goal of fostering a sense of independence and responsibility for community
building could conversely become an irresponsible one that inconveniences
the local community. We must seek to create continuous and responsible
initiatives to prevent this from happening.
2. the fact that the Machimoshi activities were able to achieve a certain level ofsuccess was largely due to the fact that they were based on extra-curricularclub activities and involved a relatively small number of people. The time andtechnical constraints that would have to be overcome in order to universalise102must face this challenge without looking away and continue to explore how todevelop geography lessons as they should be.
In April 2022, I assumed the position of vice principal at Morioka Chuo
High School. As I am fascinated by the rich natural climate, history, and cultureof Iwate, I am also beginning to see the regional issues that Iwate faces. Basedon my experience at Okinawa Shogaku, I am looking forward to tackling theregional issues in the field of education in Iwate. In the process, I would like topass on to our school's faculty and staff the spirit of co-operation between theschool and the local community.
References*1 and *4 External report, 'Geography education that opens up contemporary issues' (2007 Science
Council of Japan / Committee on Geographical Research / Humanities, Economic Geography

Working with local communities based on geographical considerations

such a method for all students in the school classroom are significant. We

and Regional Education (including Geography Education) Subcommittee / Regional ResearchCommittee, Anthropology Subcommittee).
*2 and *11 'Interim Summary of the Council for the Promotion of Global Human Resource
Development' (2011, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology).
*3 'High School Courses of Instruction Geography and History' (2014, partially revised edition,
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology).
*5, *8, *9 'Fast Climate Japan' (Miura Exhibition, 2004).
6 'The city is necessary' (Kei Minohara, 2000) *7 'Declaration of a de-fast climate' (Exhibition Miura,
2006).
*10 'Earning towns change rural areas' (Hitoshi Kinoshita, 2015).
Fig. 1 'Coastline before 1700' (Rare Materials Digital Archive, Okinawa Prefectural Library).
Fig. 2 'Topographic map of Naha City 1/50,000 of 1921' (GSI).
Figure 3: 'Okinawa Electric Railway Route Map' (archive UG2-Home Page).

103

104

−The improvement of water absorption and water loss experiment of plant cells−

Yan Nv(Zezhou County No.1 Middle School, Jincheng, Shanxi Province, China）

SummaryThis experiment teaching is based on project-based learning and using themode of the general process of inquiry experiment, “raise a question -makean assumption - design an experiment - experiment implementation - draw aconclusion - summary and exchange”. By creating a living situation, this subject
what is driven by the string of questions is divided into three small experiments.
It innovated in three aspects These are in different experimental materials,
different concentration of sucrose solution, different external solution solute
selection. The students who completed the experiment by themselves felt theperm selectivity of protoplasm layer, and they felt the structure matching withfunction. Initially they formed the concept of life and environment adaptation.
Then, they possessed certain experimental operation ability, exploration ability,
scientific thinking ability. It can help us achieved the expected experimental
results and the expected teaching objectives.

Key words
Project-based learning, Problem-driven, Scientific inquiry, Plasmolysis, Deplasmolysis
Background
Problem-driven teaching is based on constructivism teaching theory andbased on the teaching content, a series of interlocking questions are designedin the context to drive students to acquire new knowledge and know how
knowledge is generated in the process of thinking and solving problems in the

Project-based learning driven by scientific inquiry activities-The improvement of water absorption and water loss experiment of plant cells-

Project-based learning driven by scientific inquiry
activities

process of inquiry activities [1,2]. “Water absorption and Water loss of Plant
cells” is the content of chapter 4, Section 1 of compulsory 1: Molecules andCells of high school biology for human Education edition. As an exploratory
experiment, this experiment aims to enable students to master the general steps
of exploratory experiment, and to design experiments and conduct experimental

105

operations by themselves. At the same time, in the experiment, the students felt
the function of the membrane to control the entry and exit of substances, andrealized the functional characteristics of membrane selective permeability, laying
a solid foundation for the subsequent study of the trans-membrane transportmode of substances. This paper takes “Plant cell water absorption and water
loss experiment is improved” as an example, based on project learning, throughquestion driving and learning in doing, the students can experience the generalactivities of scientific inquiry.
1. Project Cause
Before this experiment, students have learned about osmosis, water
absorption and water loss of animal cells. Plant wilting is also common inreal life. The student is still not clear about the principle of absorbing waterand losing water of plant cell. Does it have the same principle as animal cells?
Students need to explore further. This topic carries out inquiry activities in theform of project learning to answer doubts, and further improves students' core
literacy while
experiencing general activities of scientific inquiry. The learning objectives ofthis inquiry activity are as follows:
1.1 Scientific thinking: The students used a digital microscope to observe thedifferent plant water uptake and water loss phenomenon, preliminary learn tomicroscopic observation, records, statistical experiment method. The students
can analyze the structure of plant cell suction filtration basis and conditions,interpret the relationship between cytoplasm wall separation and restoration andthe selective absorption of different substances by the protoplasmic layer.
1.2 Scientific inquiry: The students could learn the general steps ofcooperative inquiry, develop certain scientific inquiry ability, make reasonableassumptions on the questions raised, provide evidence for demonstration, andtry to experience the work of scientists.
1.3 Life concept: The students could experience selection permeability ofthe protoplasmic layer and comprehend the life concept of the adaptability ofstructure and function, and the adaptability of organisms to the environment.
1.4 Social responsibility: It is necessary to have responsibility to explain
biological laws in production and life by applying the knowledge of water106

2. Projects design
The focus of this topic is to clarify the principle of plant cell water absorption
and water loss, that is, plant cell protoplasm layer is equivalent to a semipermeable membrane, the elasticity of protoplasm layer is larger than the cellwall, when there is a difference in concentration on both sides of the protoplasm
layer, the cell will have osmosis water absorption or water loss. The difficulty is
to experience the general process of scientific inquiry. In order to better masterthe general steps of scientific inquiry, this project is divided into three small
experiments that are gradually in-depth and interlocking:In experiment 1, the students investigated the conditions of water absorption
and water loss in plant cells. By observing the outer epidermis cells of onion
purple scaly leaves, the inner epidermis cells of onion scaly leaves and hibiscus
flower petal cells (the darker part of the petal base was selected in Figure 1),
which were placed in 0.3g/ml sucrose solution, they analyze and summarize theonion

hilbiscus flower
Figure 1. The selected parts of the red square of the onion And
hibiscus flower petals are the materials for temporary slide.

Project-based learning driven by scientific inquiry activities-The improvement of water absorption and water loss experiment of plant cells-

absorption and water loss of plant cells through osmosis.

structural basis and conditions of water absorption and water loss of plant cells.
Moreover, it is inferred from this experiment that not only onion epidermis cells
can be used to observe the phenomenon of plasma wall separation, but also
onion inner epidermis cells and hibiscus petal cells and other mature plant cells
can be observed.

107

In experiment 2, the concentration of the external solution was investigated.
Students had questions about the selection of sucrose concentration inExperiment 1. Why did they choose 0.3g/ ml sucrose solution? The students
think that we need to design a series of concentration gradient to explore,
but choose a concentration gradient, our students through the literature,
to determine the 0.1g/ml, 0.2g/ml, 0.3g/ml, 0.4g/ml, 0.5g/ml, 0.6g/ml six
concentration gradient[3]. By observing the changes in the size of central
vacuole and the position of protoplasmic layer, students found that the degreeof cytoplasmic wall separation of Hibiscus petals increased with the increaseof external concentration. When the concentration exceeds a certain level, thedehydration is excessive, and death occurs.
In experiment 3, the effects of different external solutions on the separation
and restoration of the plasma wall of the same plant cell were investigated.
Plant cells were placed in 0.05g/ ml sodium chloride solution and 0.045g/ ml
potassium nitrate solution respectively [2], and the automatic recovery of plant
cytoplasmic wall after separation was observed. The students were guided
to analyze and compare the selective absorption of different small molecule
substances by the protoplasmic layer, so as to better explain the selective
permeability of the protoplasmic layer.
3. Project implementation
This topic is carried out in accordance with the general process ofexperimental inquiry (asking questions, making hypotheses, designing
experiments, implementing experiments, drawing conclusions and summarizing
and communicating). There are six to eight students in a explore activities group.
3.1 Task 1
We explore the conditions under which water absorption and loss occur inplant cells.
Situational import
Wilted leaves were soaked in clean water, and they will soon become stiff.
When the cabbage is chopped into a filling, salt is often added, and after a while
you will see the water oozing out.
People put too much fertilizer into the soil will cause wilting of seedlings.
These phenomena explain, plant cells also resemble animal cells, can produce108

is concerned with the concentration of solution of the outside world likewise.
Ask questions
What are the structural basis and conditions for water absorption and loss inplant cells?
Hypothesis
Mature plant cells have a large central vacuole, and the protoplasmic
layer is composed of vacuole membrane and cytoplasm in the middle. Bothvacuole membrane and cell membrane are selective permeable, so we make thehypothesis: protoplasm layer is equivalent to a semi-permeable
membrane, when protoplasm layer on both sides of the existence ofconcentration difference, plant cells can produce osmotic action bibulous orwater loss [4].
Design experiment
We innovated the experimental materials. At this time, it was the season ofhibiscus flower opening. Students immediately thought of hibiscus petal cells
as experimental materials. Through preview, the material selected is the outerepidermal cells of purple onion scaly leaves, then can the inner epidermal cells
be used as experimental materials in this experiment? Therefore, we finallydecided to use the outer epidermal cells of purple onion scales leaves, white
inner epidermal cells of purple onion and hibiscus petal cells (the darker part ofpetal base was selected for Figure 1) in three experimental groups. The external
solution was 0.3g/ ml sucrose solution, and the experimental process followed
our teaching materials.
Experiment implementation
Students first prepared the experimental materials, including fresh Onions

Project-based learning driven by scientific inquiry activities-The improvement of water absorption and water loss experiment of plant cells-

bibulous or lose water phenomenon. The phenomenon of bibulous or lose waterand freshly picked hibiscus flower petals, and prepared 0.3g/ ml sucrose solution
and 0.3g/ ml sucrose solution with red ink (Figure 2A, B). We got tweezers,
blades, slides, cover slides, water, red ink.

109

Specific experimental steps
First, we selected fresh onion scale leaves and hibiscus petals, used a blade to
draw a square on the outer epidermis of onion scale leaves, the inner epidermis
and the base of hibiscus flower petals, and teared off the epidermis withtweezers. The students putted a drop of water on a clean slide.
The students putted the torn skin in water drops to flatten it, covered it witha cover glass, and made into three kinds of temporary slide: purple onion scales
Leaf epidermal cell , purple onion white inner epidermal cell and hibiscus petals
cell .
Second, the size of the central vacuole of the cells (Figure. 2C) and thelocation of the protoplasmic layer were observed under a low power microscope.
Third, sucrose solution was dropped from one side of the cover glass (0.3g/
ml sucrose solution with red ink was used for the external solution of the white
inner epidermal cell group of purple onion), and drainage was carried out withabsorbent paper on the other side of the cover glass. Repeat this a few times andthe plant cells soak in the sucrose solution.
Fourth, a low-power microscope was used to observe whether the central
vacuole of the cell became smaller, where the protoplasm layer was located, andwhether the cell size changed.

A

B

C

Figure 2
A, Students weigh experimental drugs; B, Students prepare reagents for the experiment. C, Students use adigital microscope to observe and record experimental phenomena.

Fifth, drip water from one side of the cover glass and drain with absorbent
paper on the other side of the cover glass. Repeat this a few times and the plant
cells soak in the clean water.
Sixth, the students observed with low power microscope whether the central
vacuole of the cell gradually becomes larger, and where the protoplasm layer is,whether the cell size changes.

110The students recorded the observed experimental phenomena in real timeand accurately with digital microscope and made PPT for group communication.
Drawing a conclusion:
The protoplasm layer is equivalent to a semi-permeable membrane, throughwhich water molecules can pass but sucrose molecules cannot. When there isa difference in concentration between the two sides of the protoplasm layer,
mature plant cells can absorb water and lose water.

O

I

H

the initial state in water

sucrose solution

adding water again

Figure 3. Experiment I The plasmolysis and de-plasmolysis phenomenon of different plant cells. (Thearrow indicates the reduced protoplast after plasmowall separation.) The first line is to observe theinfiltration of water absorption and water loss of the outer epidermal cells of purple onion (O). In the firstline on the left picture, it is observed that the protoplasm layer is close to the cell wall and the central
vacuole is filled with water. In the middle figure in the first row, when the external solution was 0.3g/
ml sucrose solution, it was observed that plasmolysis occurred in the outer epidermal cells of onion,
the protoplasm layer was far away from the cell wall, and the large vacuole in the center decreased involume and deepened in color. In the figure on the right of the first row, sucrose solution was washedaway by drainage method, and the outer epidermal cells of onion were soaked in clean water again. It wasobserved that the protoplasm layer gradually approached the cell wall, and the large vacuole in the center
became larger and lighter in color, and the phenomenon of plasmolysis and de-plasmolysis occurred.

Project-based learning driven by scientific inquiry activities-The improvement of water absorption and water loss experiment of plant cells-

Communication of experimental results (Figure. 3)

The second line was the result of purple onion white inner epidermal cell and hibiscus petals cell (I). The
third row was the result of hibiscus petals cell group (H). we can conclude the same results as the purple
onion epidermal cells. It is when the solution is 0.3g/ml of sucrose solution, cell plasmolysis phenomenon
happens (the picture in the middle of the second line and the third line). The sucrose solution was washedby drainage and the cells were infiltrated in clean water again. It was observed that the protoplasmic layer
gradually approached the cell wall, and the large central vacuole gradually became larger and lighter incolor, resulting in plasmolysis and de-plasmolysis (the picture on the right of the second line and the thirdline).

111

3.2 Task 2
Explore the concentration of external solution for plasmolysis and deplasmolysis.
Ask questions
Students learned from Experiment 1 that the concentration difference
between the two sides of the protoplasm layer is one of the conditions forwater absorption and water loss of plant cells. Why was the concentration of
sucrose selected 0.3g/ml in Experiment 1? In experiment 1, students found that
hibiscus petal cells were easy to extract and plasmolysis time was fast, and theexperimental phenomenon was obvious. Therefore, we decided to select hibiscus
petal cells for the next experiment. The students had new questions. What are
the effects of different concentration of sucrose solution on water absorption andwater loss of hibiscus petal cells?
Hypothesis
We know that the concentration difference between the two sides of thesemi-permeable membrane determines the degree of water absorption and water
loss of cells, so we hypothesized that different concentrations of sucrose solution
would have different effects on hibiscus petal cells and the degree of plasmolysis.
Design experiment
By consulting the literature, we determined the concentration of sucrose
solution to six groups, with 0.1g/ml, 0.2g/ml, 0.3g/ml, 0.4g/ml, 0.5g/ml, and
0.6g/ml [3].
Implementation of the experiment
Specific steps are shown in the following table (Table 1).
Table 1 Specific steps of the experiment 2

112

1

2

3

4

5

6

2.The size of the central vacuole and the location of the protoplasmic layer were observed
under a low power microscope.
3.Sucrose solution was added bydrainage method（g/ml）

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

4.Low power microscope was used to obsere whether the central vacuole of the cell
gradually became smaller, where the protoplast layer was located and whether the cellsize changed.
5.Drainage method dripping water.
6.Low power microscope was used to observe whether the central vacuole of the cell
gradually became bigger,where the protoplast layer was located and whether the cell sizechanged.

Communication of experimental results (Figure 4A,4B)
The students recorded the observed experimental phenomena in real timeand accurately with digital microscope and made PPT for group communication.

0.1g/ml

0.2g/mlthe initial state in water

sucrose solution

Figure 4 An Effect of sucrose solution at low concentration on plasmolysis of Hibiscus petal cells. In thefirst row of the left picture is the initial state of the cells, and the right figure shows no plasmolysis of
the cells when the external solution is 0.1g/ mL sucrose solution under low magnification. In the second

Project-based learning driven by scientific inquiry activities-The improvement of water absorption and water loss experiment of plant cells-

1.Making temporary slide ofhibiscus petal cells

group, the initial state of the cells was shown on the left, and the plasmolysis did not occur in hibiscus
petal cells under low magnification when the external solution was 0.2g/ ml sucrose solution on the right.

Drawing a conclusion
The degree of plasmolysis of hibiscus petal cells increased with the increaseof the concentration of external solution. When the concentration of external113

0.3g/ml

0.4g/ml

0.5g/ml

0.6g/mlthe initial state in water

sucrose solution

adding water again

Figure 4 B Effect of sucrose solution with high concentration on plasmolysis of Hibiscus petal cells. In
the first row (0.3g/ml sucrose solution group), the second low (0.4g/ml sucrose solution group) and thethird low (0.5g/ml sucrose solution group), we obtained consistent experimental results, except thatthe plasmolysis time was different. on the left pictures: initial state of hibiscus petals cells; In the middle
pictures, when the external solution was sucrose solution, the plasma layer of hibiscus petal cells was far
away from the cell wall, the volume of the central vacuole was reduced, the color was deepened, and thephenomenon of plasmolysis occurred. In the right picture, sucrose solution was washed away and hibiscus
petal cells were infiltrated in clean water again. It was observed that the protoplasmic layer gradually
approached the cell wall, the volume of the central vacuole gradually increased, and the color became
lighter. Plasmolysis and de-plasmolysis occurred when the sucrose solution was 0.3g/ml, 0.4g/ml and
0.5g/ml. The fourth was the result of 0.6g/ml sucrose solution group. In the middle figure, the plasmolysis
occurred when the external solution was 0.6g/ml sucrose solution. But in the picture on the right, thesucrose solution was washed away by clean water, and the hibiscus petals cells were infiltrated in cleanwater again. The cells died due to excessive water loss, and no de-plasmolysis occurred.

114

cells resulted in death.
3.3 Task 3
Explore the influence of different external solutions on the plasmolysis andde-plasmolysis of the same plant cell.
Ask questions
The first two experiments have concluded that water molecules can passthrough the plasma layer, while sucrose molecules cannot, in order to better feelthe selective permeability of the plasma layer. By looking at the literature andasking the question, when the external solution is sodium chloride solution orpotassium nitrate solution, what is the difference in the experimental results?
Hypothesis
Because of the selective permeability of the protoplasmic layer, it ishypothesized that different kinds of solutions have different effects on theseparation and restoration of the plasma wall of the same plant cell.
Design experiment
The experiment is divided into two groups, the first group with theexperimental material is onion epidermis cells, the second group with hibiscus
petal cells, respectively, each group is divided into three experimental groups:
the first, the external solution is 0.3g/mL sucrose solution, the second, theexternal solution is 0.05g/mL potassium nitrate solution, the third, the external
solution is 0.045g/ml. The concentration of sodium chloride solution andpotassium nitrate solution was selected by referring to the literature [4], andthe osmotic pressure of sucrose solution was equivalent to 0.3g/mL The specificsteps were as follows.
Implementation of the experiment (Table 2)

Project-based learning driven by scientific inquiry activities-The improvement of water absorption and water loss experiment of plant cells-

solution exceeded a certain concentration, excessive water loss of hibiscus petal

Table 2 Specific steps of the experiment 3

115

Epidermal cells of onion scaly
leavesHibiscus petal cells

1.Making temporary slide
1

2

3

4

5

6

2.The size of the central vacuole and the location of the protoplasmic layer were observed
under a low power microscope.
3.Drop the external
solution

0.3g/ml 0.045g/ 0.05g/ml 0.3g/ml 0.045g/ 0.05g/ml
sucrose ml KNO3
NaCl
sucrose ml KNO3
NaCl
solutions solutions solutions solutions solutions solutions

4.Low power microscope was used to observe whether the central vacuole of the cell
gradually became smaller, where the protoplast layer was located and whether the cellsize changed.
5.Drainage method
dripping water

+

−

−

+

−

−

6.Low power microscope was used to observe whether the central vacuole of the cell
gradually became bigger, where the protoplast layer was located and whether the cell sizechanged.

Communication of experimental results:(Figure 5A ,5B)
The students recorded the observed experimental phenomena in real timeand accurately with digital microscope and made PPT for group communication.

sucrose solution
KNO3 solution
NaCl solution
the initial state in water116

plasmolysis of the solution

deplasmolysis

KNO3 solution
NaCl solution
plasmolysis of the solution

deplasmolysis

Figure 5A Effects of different solutions on the plasmolysis and de-plasmolysis of the outer epidermis cellsof purple onion. The first line was 0.3g/mL sucrose solution. The initial state of the cells was on the left. In
the middle figure, the plasmolysis occurred in cells observed under low magnification. In the picture on
the right, the sucrose solution was washed away by drainage method, and the cells were infiltrated in cleanwater again and the de-plasmolysis appeared. The results of plasmolysis and de-plasmolysis were observedin the second line of 0.045g/ml KNO3 solution group. The initial state of cells was observed in the left
picture. In the middle figure, the cells had the phenomenon of plasmolysis observed at low magnification.
The figure on the right shows the results of the 0.045g/ml KNO3 solution group with automatic recovery
after waiting for a period of time. The third is the result of 0.05g/ml NaCl solution group, the initial cells in
the left picture; In the middle figure, the phenomenon of plasmolysis occurred in the cells observed at low
magnification. The image on the right shows that automatic recovery did not occur after waiting a longtime.
Figure. 5B Effects of different solutions on plasmolysis and de-plasmolysis of Hibiscus petal cells. The firstgroup was treated with 0.3g/mL sucrose solution. The initial state of the cells was shown on the left. In
the middle figure, the plasmolysis occurred in the cells observed at low magnification. In the right picture,sucrose solution was washed away by drainage method , and the cells were infiltrated again in clear
water and the de-plasmolysis appeared . The results of plasmolysis and de-plasmolysis were observed in
the second line of 0.045g/ml KNO3 solution group. The initial state of the cells was observed in the left
picture. In the middle figure, the cells had the phenomenon of plasmolysis observed at low magnification.
The figure on the right shows the results of the 0.045g/ml KNO3 solution group with automatic recovery
after waiting for a period of time. The third is the result of 0.05g/ml NaCl solution group, the initial state

Project-based learning driven by scientific inquiry activities-The improvement of water absorption and water loss experiment of plant cells-

sucrose solution
the initial state in waterof the cells in the left picture; In the middle figure, the phenomenon of plasmolysis occurred in the cells
observed at low magnification. The image on the right shows that automatic recovery did not occur after
waiting a long time.

Drawing a conclusion:
Hibiscus petal cells and onion purple epidermis cells selectively absorb water117

molecules, potassium ions, nitrate ions and other small molecules, but do notabsorb sucrose molecules, sodium ions, chloride ions. When the external solution
is potassium nitrate solution, the mass wall separation will occur automatic
recovery. When the external solution is sucrose solution and sodium chloride
solution, it will not automatically recover.
4. Project reflection
From the point of the whole project learning process, from the choice of
projects, to drive sexual problems appeared in the process of the project, andto solve the problem through inquiry activity, are made by students to explore
actively, active learning project learning inspired the students' innovation ability.
4.1 In the process of project learning, inspire students' thinking collision, theemergence of new problems, and in different experimental material. In addition,
problem-driven teaching design was used to carry out project learning. A seriesof questions were set up. Question 1: What is the structural basis and conditionsof water absorption and water loss in plant cells? Through experiment 1,
students realized the conditions and physiological basis of water absorption andloss of plant cells and raised a new question: why the concentration of sucrosein experiment 1 was 0.3g/ml? What are the effects of different concentration of
sucrose solution on water absorption and water loss of hibiscus petal cells? Twoexperience through the experiment the hibiscus petals cytoplasm wall separation
degree varies with the increased with increasing solution concentration, when
the solution concentration exceeds a certain concentration, excessive water loss
and death. The first two experiments have concluded that the water molecules
can pass the protoplasm layer, and cane sugar molecules cannot pass, in orderto further choice through the sexual feelings protoplasm layer Question 3: whenthe external solution is sodium chloride solution or potassium nitrate solution,then what is the difference in the experimental results? In addition, the project
learning of Experiment iii and II is the best way to reflect the literacy of biology
subject.
4.2 It is also an extremely important accomplishment for students to develop
the aesthetic ability of innovation and practice in the core literacy system, andthe ability to combine information technology and intelligent technology withsubjects, and project learning has great advantages in these aspects[5,6]. In
the project implementation process, the students by using digital microscope
to observe the phenomenon of water absorption and water loss of plant cell,118

form of project results can be varied, with image class
PPT small paper experiment report Interpretation of that class, etc. (Figure6).
4.3 Three project study
is to explore the effective
way to promote the ability
and problem-solving ability.
In the study of this project,
students actively seek
solutions to the problems
raised through the general
steps of scientific inquiry,
implement teaching
objectives in the process ofacquiring new knowledge,
and improve their scientificFigure.6 The students recorded the observed experimental
phenomena in real time

thinking of analyzing and summarizing knowledge and their ability to solve
various problems. The teaching design scheme using driving questions caneffectively mobilize students' learning enthusiasm[7].Project-based learningwith driving problems can enhance students' innovation ability and form
students' motivation and interest in scientific inquiry activities. New knowledge
is discovered, absorbed and applied in the process of solving problems[8].
4.4 Meanwhile, project learning has also brought changes to the traditional
biology classroom: the characteristics of the subject have changed from simple
and abstract basic to comprehensive and vivid inquiry[9]. The status of studentschanges from passive acceptance to active learning [10]. The role of students haschanged from learning by themselves to learning in a group; Students' learningmode changed from listening to the teacher to independent inquiry; The purpose

Project-based learning driven by scientific inquiry activities-The improvement of water absorption and water loss experiment of plant cells-

learned to use the application of intelligent technology in this discipline in theof students changes from mastering knowledge to solving problems; Students'
thinking changes from simple and limited to innovative and divergent [11].

119References[1] Hawkins, Susan,Hertweck, Mark,Goreczny, Anthony,Laird, John.Student expectations ofproblem-based learning (PBL)[ J].MEDICAL TEACHER,2013:525---525.
[2] 吴惠剑 . 问题驱动教学构建核心概念 ：以 “渗透作用的概念” 教学设计为例 [J]. 中学生物教学，2020（03）：55-57[3] 陈亮 . “探究植物细胞的吸水和失水” 实验教学的创新、不足与展望 [J]. 中学生物学，2017（02):40-42[4] 鲁凤莲 .《探究植物细胞的吸水和失水》实验教学改进的探究 [J]. 新课程，2014(01):6-7[5] Dopico, Eduardo,Pevida, Dolores .PBL Teaching Method through Cooperative Learning[ J].
Global Journal of Educational Studies,2017[6] 卫俊婷 . 项目学习是核心素养落地的有效途径 [J]. 教育，2020(1):4-7（06):437-441 [8][7] Jiang Bo. Teacher as a Designer of project-Based Learning Practice[ J]. 美中外语 ,2015
彭飞娥 . 驱动性问题和任务设计策略 [J]. 教育周刊，2014(06):74-76[9] Skelin,

S.,Schlueter,

B.,Rolle,

D.,Gaedicke,

G..Problem-basedlearning(PBL)[ J].

MONATSSCHRIFT KINDERHEILKUNDE,2008:452---+.
[10] 闫女等 . 基因表达载体的构建模拟实验 [J]. 教育，2020[01]:66-70[11]Gunstone, Richard.Encyclopedia of Science Education || Problem-Based Learning (PBL)[ J].
null,2021

120

Submissions are welcome from administrators and teachers in educational
institutions!

Submission Rules

Submission Rules

Contact: info@chuo-hs.jp(1) Teachers submitting manuscripts to the Excelsior Journal (hereafter referred
to as the Journal) must belong to Morioka Chuo Senior High School, its affiliatedjunior high schools, or one of its cooperating schools in Japan or sister schools
overseas. However, with the approval of the Editorial Board, teachers affiliatedwith other schools may be allowed to submit manuscripts.
(2) Manuscripts for submission must be unpublished. The submission period
is four months from January 1 to April 30 each year. However, the outline of
the theme and tentative title should be submitted to the Editorial Committee(preferably by March 31) after confirming the author's intention to submit.
(3) Manuscripts for submission should be in A4 size, horizontally written, 40
characters × 36 lines (about 1440 characters for Japanese or 430 words forEnglish) per page, and only manuscripts prepared using Microsoft Word will
be accepted. The font type should be MS Mincho for Japanese and the font size
should be 10.5. Titles should be in font 16 and headings in font 12. (See page 3
for an example.)
1.Title: The title should be written in English or Japanese, and should be concise
and easy to understand.
2. Overall structure: The structure should follow the following format: *Introduction (where the problem lies)/purpose and background of the survey
Methodology/ Basic procedures (design, sample, case, experiment or observation
and analysis)
If previous research has been reviewed, it should be noted here.
Conclusion (Conclusions and Issues) / Results and conclusions of the study (ifapplicable, specific data and their statistical significance), future issues, etc.
References
3. Key words: 5 to 10 key words should be included. Keywords and terms thatare internationally accepted in the field of education should be used to express

121

concepts and content.
4. Structure of the article: Definition of the problem or topic under investigation,
theoretical background, design and methodology, description of
results, explanation of findings, conclusions, limitations of the study, and future
prospects.
5. Graphs and tables: There should be numbered consecutively and inserted in
the correct place within the body of the article.
The layout should be easy to read and not distorted.
6. References should be included at the end of the article. Authors are
responsible for the authenticity of citations.
(4) The content of manuscripts to be submitted should be based on the practiceof global education. For example, based on teachers' own social action andeducational experiences in cooperation and development, or experiences andideas for raising awareness of both students and citizens about global education(development education, human rights education, sustainability education,
peace and conflict prevention education, intercultural education, citizenshipeducation, values education, etc.). Research, cross-cutting studies, andinnovative/creative ideas for improving social rights, the quality of education andits environment (e.g., international relations, integrated education, curriculum
reform, teacher training, etc.) are also welcome.
(5) The number of manuscripts to be submitted should be limited to a minimumof four and a maximum of six pages, using the format described in 3) above,
including all figures, tables, reference lists, etc.
(6) As a rule, the Editorial Committee will provide feedback on submitted
manuscripts within one month after peer review. For each manuscript, theEditorial Board will appoint two Editorial Board members. If there are commentson the content, or requests for revisions or additional items, authors shouldmake additional revisions and submit the manuscript by the deadline.
Submission deadline April 30th
Review feedback due May 31st
Deadline for resubmission of final manuscript June 30th122

writing manuscripts for submission. If authors change the font, font size, or otherlayout, it may be adjusted at the editing stage for overall uniformity. The same
applies if the number of pages exceeds the limit. Submitted manuscripts will not
be returned.
(8) All contents of submitted manuscripts should be the authors' originalcontents. The source of any quotations, including figures, tables, photographs,

Excelsior Journal Submission Rules(7) Authors should use the format specified by the Editorial Committee whenetc., should be clearly indicated. The content of the submitted manuscript mustbe truthful. If the submitted manuscript is published in the journal, permission
is granted to reuse parts of the article for non-profit activities (e.g., conference
presentations).
(9) Manuscripts submitted in English will be translated into Japanese by the
Editorial Board. Similarly, articles submitted in Japanese will be translated into
English.
(10) (1) to( 9) of the submission rules may be discussed and revised by theeditorial committee as necessary.
Main title (Title should be no more than 20 words)- Sub-title - (if any)
Full name (full name, with the space between the first and last name)(name of country/school/position/subject)
Summary
Please provide a summary of your manuscript in this section, approximately 3 to
6 lines in length.
Keywords
Ability to find and solve problems, initiative and proactivity, public
spiritedness and sense of ethics, sense of responsibility and sense of mission,
sense of teamwork and leadership, cooperativeness and flexibility

123Introduction
In today's increasingly globalized society*1, the goal of geography education,“to develop human resources who can comprehensively understand diverse
geographical issues and participate in community development with a senseof attachment to the local community,” is being pursued in actual education at・・・・・・・

1.xxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
・・・
References*1 “Interim Summary of the Council for the Promotion of Global Human
Resource Development” (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology)

124

POSTSCRIPTS
It was a very enjoyable experience to be the first to read the papers written
by teachers from around the world about their efforts in the field. They were all
powerful essays that brought to mind the conditions in the classrooms and theingenuity of the teachers. I was struck by some of the most powerful papers.
I am sure that teachers around the world who are struggling day in and day
out will find this journal very helpful, thinking, “There is such a way of doing
things,” or “I didn't know there were teachers who went this far.” I feel very
honored to have been involved in the compilation of this refreshing journal.
Thank you very much for this opportunity.

KAN AkiraReviewer
Employee of a U.S. company
Manuscripts of global education practices from teachers around the world
have been gathered here. As a young man myself, I wanted to become a teacher.
I was a young aspiring teacher myself, so I was able to review themanuscripts with the utmost respect and great interest, as if I were there myself.
Each manuscript is filled with the teachers' passion for education, and I cansense the essence of nurturing the next generation to become well-rounded
individuals and that of global human resources. Unfortunately, conflicts are
surfacing in today's international society, but we “believe in a bright future” ofmutual respect. This is how teachers and students are practicing “contribution
to the international community" based on mutual trust. We sincerely hope thatmany teachers will read this journal manuscript and further expand the circle ofthis activity.

KANAOKA Masahiro
Reviewer
Full Member of the Japan Association for Global Competency Education

125

I would like to thank you for this wonderful opportunity that I, as an
employee of a company, have been given. To be honest, I was worried about
how I could contribute to the project since I am far from the field of education.
However, when I read the submitted papers, I was thrilled to see the enthusiasm
and ingenuity of teachers in the field, regardless of nationality. Although I
continue to have some concerns about how we could contribute to the project, I
would be very happy if our comments as reviewers, who are a little removed fromthe field of education, could contribute something, such as a new perspective, tothe teachers in the field. Thank you very much for this valuable opportunity.

KUROKAWA Hiroki
Reviewer
Employee of a private company

I would like to draw your attention to the year 9 years from now, which is
the year 2031. The year 2031 will mark a transitional point for our school in the
education of international understanding, global education, and the achievementof the 17 goals of the SDGs, which will transform the future of the earth. The year2031 will be a transitional point for our school. This is the year in which we will
publish the 10th anniversary issue of our magazine, which is sure to age well. We
look forward with anticipation to perusing the contents of the manuscripts thatwill appear in this issue. It is sure to be full of practical articles that will attract
the attention of mindful educators around the world.
This inaugural issue was born from the enthusiasm, sincerity, andthoughtfulness of President Masami Tatsuzawa. I am pleased, together withall concerned parties and readers, that the Tatsuzawa-ism of independent,
enterprising, and diligent study is now being transmitted to the world in thisform.
We sincerely hope that the contents of this magazine will continue to beenriched and developed in the future.

KAWAMURA Haruki
Editorial Committee
Adviser, Tatsuzawa Education Group Headquarters

126

Morioka Chuo High School has been publishing Excelsior for more than 20
years as a record of international education. The exchange with our international
sister schools has been a major topic of this publication, but due to the recent
restrictions on international exchange caused by COVID-19, we have been
unable to continue our exchange activities as before.
Until now, education for international understanding has often been viewed
from the perspective of students, but when viewed from the perspective ofteachers, a different aspect emerges. As I learned about the thinking of those
involved in education in various countries, I realized once again that the futureof the Earth depends largely on education.
I would like to express my gratitude to all those who were involved in thecompletion of this project.

KUMAKURA Hideki
Editorial Committee
Head of Teachers, Morioka Chuo High School

We want to share our “learning” with everyone in the world. This is thewish of those of us involved in editing the Journal. Despite the differences inenvironment, traditions, and culture, children are our future. And exposure todifferent values is a driving force for diversity.
Looking back on 2022 in hindsight, it may be a turning point in time. As
the world continues to battle the new coronavirus, interactions are temporarily
cut off, and it becomes more difficult to tolerate others. I now realize that it ismore necessary than ever to firmly communicate our thoughts and listen to what
others have to say.
We have received tremendous support from everyone around the world in
2011. I am truly grateful. I would be happy if I can repay that favor in any way by
sharing this “learning” with you. To all the authors who generously offered their“learning” practices. Thank you very much.

ABE Yoshitaka
Editorial Committee
Head of Teachers, Morioka Chuo Junior High School

127

128

 





 

   

  ­     
 ­ ­