English EditionNo. 20March 2019

Rethinking of “Learning” and “Growth” of Teachers:
The 2018 Public Symposium Report

The Curriculum Center for Teachers held its 19th Annual PublicSymposium on December 16, 2018 (Sun.). We invited three
symposiasts under the theme of “Rethinking of “Learning” and“Growth” of Teachers”.
Professor Emeritus Hiromichi Ojima at the University ofTsukuba gave a speech entitled “Roles of Graduate Educationin Developing Teaching Professionals” based on his own
teaching experience in professional schools for teacher
education. He particularly emphasized his critical view of thecurrent situation of professional schools for teacher educationby contrast with matters to be addressed in graduate
education, which should be called “graduate schoolknowledge.” For example, “circulation of theory and practice”
as a key concept of professional schools for teacher education
is far from a convenient concept that automatically brings
something good. It is necessary to discuss what ways ofʻknowledgeʼ are assumed there and which are mutuallyconﬂicting. His proposed idea of “graduate school knowledge”
is something that is realized in the work which connects “theknowledge in action” carefully with the fertile knowledge
system. This "knowledge in action" as “a tiny spark” is created in“problem-based” learning oriented in actual issues in school.
Principal Yoko Kaneko, from a public elementary school inTokyo, delivered a report entitled “ʻLearningʼ and ʻGrowthʼ inProfessional Schools for Teacher Education.” With experience
as a teacher, she had studied at the professional school forteacher education at Tokyo Gakugei University and has
pursued her career as an educational supervisor, vice-principal,and principal. The principal spoke about how learning in theprofessional school has been used in activities along her career
path. On that basis, she made the following suggestions asexpectations for future professional schools for teacher
education: “to cultivate an ability to see oneʼs own practices
objectively from a birdʼs-eye view” and “to develop personnel
who can relate to and work with people of diﬀerent
backgrounds.” In this context, the characteristics of professional
schools for teacher education, as places where the so-called“straight master” and experienced in-service teachers can learn
together, should be highly appreciated and strengthened.
Associate Professor Takahiro Watanabe of Tokyo Gakugei
University introduced the content of “Practice of Curriculum
Design and Lesson Study” that has been prioritized to develop
and practice while looking back on the curriculum forprofessional schools for teacher education, which marks its
tenth anniversary this year. He presented the following points.
The “stamp-rally style subject structure” giving a fulﬁlling
impression at ﬁrst glance has shifted to the “integratedcurriculum”; and it is necessary to grasp, in a concrete manner,changes in the content and style of “questions” and “talks” in asingle lesson study meeting, not limited to the changes incurriculum and timetable structures. The associate professor
also presented a perspective that an enthusiastically initiatedreform would always make the essence a mere façade andformality. We were deeply impressed that these new eﬀorts
must constitute “double-loop learning” in the sense that theyneeded to question themselves constantly. (Kenji Maehara)

Introduction of New Visiting Associate Professor from Thailand

Curriculum Center for Teachers welcomed Dr. Phongthanat Sae-Joo, Assistant Professor at Khon Kaen University, inDecember last year as the International Visiting Associate Professor of 2018-2019. He is delivering lectures on computer
education and teacher education in the North Eastern region of Thailand at the Center until June of this year.
academic journal of the Faculty of Education of Khon Kaen
University (KKU) and am a peer reviewer of national andinternational academic journals. My research interests
include computer education, development of intellectual
equipment to enhance learning by students with computer
technology, construction of learning media with computers,game-based learning, and project-based learningmanagement.

Dr. Phongthanat Sae-Joo

Thailand has a 3-6-3 compulsory education system: the ﬁrst
three years are for kindergarten education; the subsequent
six years are for primary education; and the ﬁnal three years
are for secondary education. Students can then choose tocontinue with another three years of upper secondary
education or vocational education. During my experience of
10 years as a teacher of those seeking to become teachers, I
have had many hundreds of students graduate withBachelor degrees. They teach computer-related classes andother subjects in primary and secondary education inseveral provinces throughout the country. My pride in thesestudents is in their magniﬁcent teaching spirit. They areattentive to producing morally good students with great
potential. Although some of the schools to which they havebeen assigned are not physically well equipped, my former
students are not discouraged from practicing their teachingwholeheartedly. While studying at the university, theylearned and were trained to be well prepared to be goodteachers. Even after graduation, they must be assigned toundergo professional development for their coming
professional careers.
Presently, computer-related courses in compulsory
education address computing science and design andtechnology. These courses enhance digital learning,computing, coding skills, critical thinking, problem-solving,creative thinking, and 21st century skills. Computer study
programs must speciﬁcally examine the development ofstudents who can be computer school teachers equippedwith skills in contents and techniques for eﬃcient learning
management designs.
I am a full-time lecturer and the Program Chair of theComputer Education Department. For the past three years I
have been assigned to the position of Deputy Dean forStudent Development Aﬀairs. As a result, in addition toteaching in the program, I am responsible for arranging
student development activities for all students of the Facultyof Education. My responsibilities include monitoring theadministration of the Faculty of Educationʼs Student Unionand the design of activities in accordance with the policy
and guidelines of student development scheme of thefaculty and the university. Acting as a representative of theDean in attending several meetings has brought
experiences through which I have learned about theeducation system in Thailand, in addition to several projects
designed to produce teachers for local development and toproduce teachers with talents in mathematics, sciences, andcomputers. As academic aﬀairs, I am the Editor of theThe ﬁrst induction program in the North Eastern region

In Thailand, teachers for local development projects are
the focus of a large national project to develop teachers fortheir hometown schools. Khon Kaen University is the mostsuccessful university at which students can pass thequaliﬁcation examination for admission. I am assigned toimplement this project for the Faculty of Education at KKU,
not only during their study at KKU, but also when they
become teachers at schools (in the induction program) for
two years. Earlier, I completed the ﬁrst induction program inThailand for the upper North Eastern region of Thailand.
Interesting open class activities on how to improve classmanagement were conducted for in-service teachers.
Being a part of the Curriculum Center for teachers ofTokyo Gakugei University presents an opportunity for me tolearn and exchange experiences in teacher andteacher‒student production and development. I hope forbeneﬁcial opportunities and collaboration between ouruniversities and hope that the learning and exchange ofexperiences can be employed further for future teacher
development.
Phongthanat Sae-Joo
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University

Considering curriculum reform in moral education

Sam Bamkin

This period is a fascinating time to take an interest in
moral education in schools in Japan. The written
curriculum was ﬁnally revised in 2015, triggering aseries of stages of preparation to respond to the newrequirements and guidance. At the same time, it
triggered uncertainty and a fresh wave of critique fromthe media and concerned educators. The initial stage
was argued along ideological lines, with reference topedagogy. Three years later, the new curriculum isunderway in elementary schools, and planning isgaining momentum in junior high schools. The current
discussion is largely pragmatic, with reference topedagogy. It focuses on incorporating the concrete
requirements of the revision - mainly the use of atextbook, the creation of a syllabus map andassessment. However, it remains unclear whether thispragmatism is an act of acquiescence, the result of acurriculum more benign than expected, or somewhere
in-between. Either way, new requirements may holdadvantages for schools and teachers, who are also
aﬀorded scope to develop the curriculum locally.
Whilst on one hand the curriculum prescribes the useof a textbook, it still expects planning of moral
education in cooperation with community members
and a wide range of stakeholders, and in considerationof each school̀s particular context, and circumstancesof students. Furthermore, the curriculum guidancesuggests utilising a range of activities and content inclasstime, with room to develop new materials. These
including readings, discussion and presentation, butalso role-play, video, connection with studentsʼ
everyday life experience and aspirations, surveys tounderstand students, relations to the local community
or region, and stories from the teacherʼs experience. In
this sense, the curriculum encourages at least someaugmentation and swapping of content and teaching
methods, beyond what is provided in textbooks.
A separate requirement is the creation of an annual
syllabus map for moral education. Faced with theconcrete requirement of the annual syllabus map,
many schools have adopted the units of the selected
textbook, in the order printed, adding reference to links
with related existing content in other subjects andactivities. Following the textbook appears more
concrete and less time-consuming than cooperativeplanning and material development.
However, at the invite of curriculum policy, thesyllabus map and repositioning of moral education
could represent an opportunity to foster studies andactivities relevant to studentsʼ daily life and future
development. This may include topics that have not
traditionally been associated with moral education

Sam is a MEXT Research
Scholar at the Curriculum
Center for Teachers
between 2018 and 2020.
He was previously SeniorLecturer in Education at
De Montfort University,where he continues toteach.

classes. Some junior high schools in Tokyo publicallypresent planning to undertake aspects of career
education in moral education time, re-purposing
readings found in coursebooks. I recently observed a
local junior high school planning three weeks ofactivities leading up to student council elections. This
included moral education lessons which incorporated
activities, videos and readings encouraging reﬂection
relevant to participation in the school council. These are
not new topics, but ﬁnd a connection with moral
education and can be implemented in its classtime.
Elementary schools continue to use video materials,
such as NHK̀s Kokoro-bu and others.
Following the textbook encourages the adoption ofmaterials before considering how they are related tostudents̀ lives. The examples above, on the other hand,
begin with speciﬁc goals considered important by theteacher or school, then search for materials to match
the purpose. These speciﬁc examples may not be
relevant to all schools, but this approach is more likely
to generate lessons that are relevant to students' life inschool or society, whilst linking more closely with otherevents and educational activities. Finally, any concern
about undesirable content or government control overcharacter formation only grows under the assumptionthat textbooks dictate the syllabus and teaching
resources.
The textbook will remain useful for inspiration andprovide content for intervening moral education
lessons, as coursebooks have in the past. The syllabus
map will remain a useful reference point when addingand moving activities. However, the curriculum
currently allows scope to utilise moral education
classtime to support school activities, and can be
ﬂexible when teachers consider what goals areimportant ﬁrst, and match materials afterward.

Notice for readers
The Curriculum Center for Teachers, founded at Tokyo Gakugei University in 2000 as a Nationwide Joint Usage andResearch Center, has promoted curriculum research for school education and teacher education during the past 19
years of its service. In March 2019, the Center closes its history with the reorganization of research centers at theuniversity. In April 2019, the Jisedai Kyouiku Kenkyuu Center, the English language name of which has yet to be
determined as of March 1, 2019, is launched by realigning and integrating three centers at the university. Researchstaﬀ of the Center shall continue to promote research that contributes to school education and teacher education,using their experiences and networks to date, as members of the new Center. (Mariko Kaneko)Sites Where Teachers
Are Nurtured
Curriculum Center for Teachers,
Tokyo Gakugei University

Yasuyuki Iwata
The Curriculum Center for Teachers at Tokyo Gakugei
University was established in April 2000 as a nationwide
joint-use facility (Article 13 of the National School
Establishment Law and Paragraph 4 of Article 20 of theEnforcement Regulations for the Law). Although located onthe Koganei Campus of Tokyo Gakugei University, the Center isindependent from the faculties and graduate schools of theuniversity. Its mission has been to contribute to research bymaking the Center available to researchers in related ﬁelds
beyond the boundaries of universities: in other words, it isintended to be a Japanese public think tank related to teacher
education and curriculum study research. In addition to theDirector (concurrent appointment), 5 Center Researchers (3professors and 2 assosiate professors) and two Visiting Scholars(1 internal and 1 international) were budgeted for work in thefollowing three established divisions: Division 1 (Curriculum
Research and Development), Division 2 (Pre-service Teacher
Education Research and Development), and Division 3(Research and Development for In-Service Teachers).
In light of its mission of “nationwide joint-use,” itscollaboration with others has been positioned as a key
challenge from its inception. Collaboration is done not onlywith national funded universities and faculties of education,
including Tokyo Gakugei University, but also with national,public, and private universities in Japan that provide
pre-service teacher education under the “open system”
principle, as well as education centers in prefectures andordinance-designated cities that oﬀer teacher training.
Symposia such as “Future School Education and Teacher
Education Curriculum” and “Workshops on Practices for
Teacher Educators” have been held annually to discuss various
issues in teacher education and curriculum in a structured andmultifaceted manner. In addition, the Center has built aninternational research network centering on annualinternational visiting scholars (the incumbent Dr. PhongthanatSae-Joo is the 19th), has held international seminars, and has
remained involved in joint research projects. The results havebeen summarized in printed books and reports in Japanese

The building where the Curriculum Center for Teachers is located(Photo by Noriko Watanabe)

including “Future of Teacher Education Reform” (Sofusha,2006), “Reform Trend over the Japanese Teachers andAcademeʼs Role” (Tokyo Gakugei University Press, 2008), and “AʻPracticalʼ Program in Teacher Education: Learning from
Chinese knowledge” (to be published in 2019 from Tokyo
Gakugei University Press). Our reference room presents nationaland international materials related to teacher education andtraining as well as the school education curriculum, which havebeen used by researchers in Japan and abroad. With theincrease in international attention to challenges of Japaneseteachers, frequent inquiries have been made from abroad. At
the same time, ﬁve center researchers have taken charge of
research guidance at the Graduate School of Education (mainlythe school education course) and the Faculty of Education(students enrolled during academic years 2010‒2014) and haveprovided teacher education and researcher education.
After national universities were transformed into nationaluniversity corporations in 2004, the Curriculum Center for
Teachers, Tokyo Gakugei University became an attached facility
in a corporation and lost its legal status for “nationwide use.”
Nevertheless, it is stipulated in its rules and regulations that theCenter must maintain that mission. The Center has therefore
continued its activities without changing its fundamental
nature by obtaining competitive funds amid budget cuts.
However, pressure for reform on teacher education
universities after incorporation has extended to the Center. The
successor post of a center researcher was not ﬁlled at the end of2013 academic year. In addition, a university-wide reorganization
will commence from the 2019 academic year. Amid thosechanges, the Center will put an end to its 19-year history.

From the Editor
Corresponding to the reorganization of research centers at Tokyo Gakugei University, the Curriculum Centerfor Teachers is to enter a transition to becoming a new center. The current website will be preserved for sometime after April. The new website will be available as soon as preparations are completed. Thank you verymuch for being readers of this newsletter over the years. (Yoshimi Uesugi)
Staﬀ of Curriculum Center for Teachers
DirectorMAYAMA, Shigeki(Professor, Phylogeny and Taxonomy)
Center Researchers[Division of Curriculum Research and Development]
KANEKO, Mariko(Professor, Educational Sociology)[Division of Teacher Preparation Research and Development]
IWATA, Yasuyuki(Professor, Historical Studies on Teacher Training)
UESUGI, Yoshimi(Associate Professor, Media Education)[Division of Research and Development for In-Service Teachers]
MAEHARA, Kenji(Professor, Educational Administration)

The CCT is produced by the Curriculum Center for Teachers,
Tokyo Gakugei University.
Editor: Yoshimi Uesugi
Designer: Tsukasa Aoyama and Emi Oura
(Aoyama Lab., Calligraphy and Arts, Taxonomy, Tokyo Gakugei University)

Curriculum Center for Terachers, Tokyo Gakugei University
4-1-1 Nukui-kitamachi Koganei, Tokyo 184-8501 Japan
Tel: 81-42-329-7776 Fax: 81-42-329-7786
Email: currict@u-gakugei.ac.jp
Website: http://www.u-gakugei.ac.j/~currict/english/index.html