ISSA Activity Brief
Issue_05 Apr. 2021

ISSA AGORA"STUDYING,""THINKING,""LEARNING," AND ICT
Seiji KAWASAKI(Tokyo Gakugei University)

spend our lives nurturing lots ofsocial relationships. In doing so, ourequity mind is being fostered and it

is always used in decision-making
processes unconsciously.
Basedthemes,onItheseresearchdevelopedawebapplication, named “Let's Create TVNews!”, for elementary kids, which

was then provided to many school

teachers for use in their classroomMy

research

focusesonmulticultural education, especiallyon“equitypedagogy,”whichmotivates students to think about

ways to “treat different people

differently to make them all similar.”Since its establishment in 1947,
equity pedagogy is one of the major

topics of social studies education.

The most important problem withequity pedagogy is that "equity" ishighly qualitative and it cannot bedefined precisely. This fact causes
confusion and raises a serious

question: “Can we teach somethingthat cannot be defined?” There ispossibly only one way to makestudents use their experiences. We

teaching. Students may chooseCOVID-19.

indicated

My

that

observations

someteachers

confuse “studying” and “learning.”

Some teachers try to have theirstudents use ICT peripherals tosearch for answers or to memorize

manyfacts.

However,

ICT

peripherals should not be used insuch a manner.

“Studying”

meansknowing

something that our predecessors

have experienced or done andthree video clips from nine on theirmemorizing it. Although gaining

equitablemostmany teachers focus excessively on

This

information. While knowing about

ICT peripherals, and they usually

struggle to make their TV newsandfair.

The

important feature of this applicationis that students are forced tocontinuously“think”.

application can be used for thegraduate school level or for inservice teacher training programs.
Leveraging

myexperience

working in the field of ICT education,

I am currently involved in the GIGA
(Global and Innovation Gateway forAll) School Project and often visit

many schools to observe classroom
teaching and to offer advice. This

project is the front-loading of public

works from 2023 to 2021 because ofknowledge

isaninevitablemakestudents

requirement for everyone, in Japan,methods

memorize

toalarge

amountof

many things is important in ourlives, thinking deeply is even more

important, although this, in turn,needs

onetoacquirevast

thinking

andnotknowledge. “Learning” should be

about

intentional,areexpectedcreative

critical,andmemorizing facts. When students
toregurgitate

memorized facts, their learning
becomes a product outside ofthemselves and they stop thinking

49and become bored and apathetic
toward the process.

What I believe is important is tohelp everyone "think" constantly

and especially reflect on whatever
they do or say.

If you are interested in ICT foreducation or the GIGA School

Project, please attend our panelpresentation at the spring seminarof the Japanese Association for theSocial Studies (JASS) on May 16(Sun)orourroundtable

presentation at the annual national

conference of JASS on November 28(Sun). Details of both are provided

onthewebsiteofJASS:

http://socialstudies.jp/ja/index.ht

ml*ISSA AGORA is looking forward
to your thoughts about social
studies education in your country
and in Asia. We also welcome
opinions about ISSA. To share
yourideaswithus,

pleaseprepare a commentary (of no lessthan 500 words) and send it tojongsung@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
along with your picture.

50

2020 EAST ASIA SOCIALSTUDIESSYMPOSIUM
CO-HOSTED BY ISSAOn February 27, 2021, ISSA co-

hosted the East Asia Social Studies
Symposium

with

KAKENHI(“Educating social studies preservice teachers who are open toothers’ discourses: A design-basedresearch”(19K14238),

educate citizens who are open toothers’ discourses.
In

historical reconciliation:✓✓

Educational Research Association
Association

forSocialworld

participatedintheStudies Education (KASSE). Morethan 100 scholars from all over thesymposium and discussed ways toEpstein

College, USA)The case of Korea:(HunterJongsung Kim (HiroshimaUniversity, Japan)

The case of Japan:
Kawaguchi

for Social Studies (JERASS), and theKorean

Facilitator:
TerriHiroshima University, the Japanese

atfollowing

how history education can promoteJongsung Kim), the Educational
Institute

theteaching about WWII in Asia and✓ResearchI,

researchers discussed the topic ofPI:

VisionPart(Hiroshima✓Japan)

HiromiUniversity,

The case of Taiwan:

Yu-Han Hung (UniversityofHoustonUSA)

Downtown,

In Part II, Korean and Japanese✓scholars discussed how to educateTakaaki

pre-service teachers who are open
to others’ discourses.
✓Facilitator:

Kawaguchi

Hiromi(Hiroshima✓University,Japan)

Presentation:

Korean and Japanese socialstudies

pre-service

teachers make “a better
Hiroshima textbook”

Jongsung Kim (Hiroshima✓University, Japan)

Discussants (1):Jeonghee Lee (GwangjuNationalUniversity

Education, Korea)

ofDiscussants (2):(DoshishaFujiwara

Women’s

College of Liberal Arts,✓Japan)Translation:
BoeunUniversity,InstituteKorea)

Chafor(YonseiResearch

Education,

ISSA will keep supportinginternational

conferencesandsymposiums. If you have any ideas

for creating a international pubic

sphere of social studies education,
do not hesitate to contact to ISSA
(kusahara@hiroshima-u.ac.jp).

ANNOUNCEMENTOUR MEMBERS
1.

THE

SOCIAL

DEPARTMENTFROMSTUDIESRESEARCHASSOCIATION (ESSDRA)
The 32nd annual meeting of theESSDRA was held on February 12,
2021,

online,

and

over

150

participants

forresearchers, teachers, and students

participated in it. We want tothank allattendingthethemeeting.

Unfortunately, owing to the COVID19 pandemic, the next annual

meeting will also be held online onFebruary 19, 2022.

2.
THEJAPANESEASSOCIATION FOR SOCIALSTUDIES (JASS)
Owing to COVID-19, the 70th

annual meeting of the JASS was held
online on November 28 and 29,
2020, with almost 400 participants.

There were three contents in theannualconference:

symposium,

presentation of research projects,
and presentation of independent

research. Of these, the presentationof independent research utilized an51

on-demand method in which theparticipants

accessed

thepresentation materials placed in thecloud and expressed their opinions.

On the other hand, the symposium
and the presentation of research
projects

wereconductedsimultaneously and in an interactive
manner using Zoom.

There were five subcommittees

for research presentations. Thecontents

havealreadybeen

mentioned in the 4th issue, soplease refer to that.

The 71st annual meeting will beheld online on November 27 and 28,
2021, via Zoom.

was “How will social studies classeschange using a perspective of social

3.
THEJAPANESEEDUCATIONALRESEARCHASSOCIATION FOR SOCIALSTUDIES (JERASS)

shared their presentations on theideal social studies class from theThe 60th JERASS & 37th Naruto

Association

history

October 24 (Sat) to December 25

The theme of the symposiumparticipation?” Fourpresenters

perspectives of elementary schoolsocial studies, geography education,education,andciviceducation. Social studies classes
differ greatly depending on thedefinition of social participation andthe method of introduction of aperspective of social participation inofSocialStudies

Education (NASSE) joint annualThe

theme

wasannual conference. Owing to COVID19, the 188th regular academic

conference was held online on June

19, 2020, with the theme “Online

education and civic education in theCOVID-19 pandemic era”.
Themaintopics

conference were as follows:oftheLogic(2) Changes in Education after

Technology by Elementary School

This conference had more thanthatvaluesocialthe52

The KSSA hosted the 188th(3) Research on Social Agenda: Casedemand for education.”classesable to learn various things.

ASSOCIATION (KASE)

education: How to meet the broader
80 presentations, and more thanlimited time of three hours, we were

4. KOREAN SOCIAL STUDIESCOVID-192020.

Whilecontent, and methods. Within anext ISSA Activity Brief.

“Responsibility for social studies(Fri),classes.

participation at the levels of goals,

details will be announced in the(1) Social Studies’ Future Academic

studiesstudies teachers must try to create

The conference theme and its

conference was held online fromsocialclarifying these differences, social

be held on October 23 and 24, 2021.

600

socialstudies

educators

participated in it virtually. Although
onlineconference

wasa

reluctant choice for us in the face of

COVID-19, there were unexpectedbenefits.

The 2021 annual conference willof Online Education(4) The Actual State of the Use ofTeachers and TPACK Competency
Analysis for Supervised Learning(5)

Challenging

theCreative

Convergence Design-based Class
Using Art at Boys’ High SchoolIn addition, elections for the30th president and board members

of the KSSA were held. At the regular

new logic and direction of history(Gwangju National University ofconference will be held on August

general meeting held on August 8,2020,

Professor

Hong

Ki-daeEducation) was elected as the newpresident of KSSA. His term of office
is from September 2020 to August
2022.

On August 8, 2020, the KSSA

hostedanannualacademiceducation.”
The2021

KSSA

annual21, 2021 (Sat), in Gwangju. The
conference

themewillbeannounced in the next ISSA Activity
Brief.

*We are looking forward toconference online with the theme

hearing from the Indonesianof the conference were as follows:

association for social studies“Teachers of the AI era and the roleof civic education.” The main topics
Panel 1: AI and School

Panel 2: AI and Citizens

Panel 3: Artificial Intelligence andCivic Education

Panel 4: History Education

Panel 5: Case Study on the Civic

Education for Students Receiving
Special Education

Panel 6: Convergence Research on
the Social Studies Education ofSocial Studies

Panel 7: Social Studies Teaching andLearning

Finally, the KSSA hosted the189th online regular academic

conference on December 19, 2020,
under the theme of “Exploring theSocial(APRIPSI)

StudiesandAssociation
theKorean

education (KASSE) next time!

CALL FOR JSSEA VOL. 11

OUR members’ new
PUBLICATION(WRITTEN IN ENGLISH)
1. JONGSUNG KIM& KAZUHIRO KUSAHARA(JANUARY 2021)
Jongsung

Kim,

Associate

Professor of Hiroshima University,and Kazuhiro Kusahara, Professorof Hiroshima University, publishedthe following article:

Kim, J., & Kusahara, K. (2021).
Democratic

characteristics

ofsocial studies lesson study: A casestudy in Japan. 현장수업연구(Journal of Field-based Lesson

Don’t forget to submit yourpaper to JSSEA Vol. 11! Any article
on social studies education and its

related fields, which include historyStudies), 2(1), 23-46.

For download this article,

please access to the following URL:

and geography education, politicalhttps://www.researchgate.net/pub

education, are also welcome!

son_Study_A_Case_Study_in_Japan

education, global and international
education,andcitizenship

The submission deadline isNovember 30, 2021. We lookforward to reading your work!

lication/349427009_Democratic_C

haracteristics_of_Social_Studies_Les(Abstract)

This multiple-case study showed

the democratic characteristics oflesson study in social studies and53

how its culture is reproduced inJapan. With Deweyan democracy asa theoretical framework, two lesson
studies in social studies wereanalyzed based on (a) the structureof the lesson study, (b) teachers’engagement, and (c) the guest
teacher’s role. This paper shows

how teachers realized “a mode ofcommunicating and sharing theformandexperience

ofa

how

furthercommunity life” in the two lesson-

meditateddiscusses

publicspheres
toanddemocratic characteristics of socialstudies lesson study, especially

focusing on the guest teachers’ role.

Keywords: lesson study, social

studies, democracy, professional

development, Japan* Do you want to share yourresearch written in English withISSA colleagues? Send necessary
information (abstract, reference,URL, etc.) to your association’sISSA

board

memberjongsung@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
directly.

54

or