E-Journal of Philosophy of Education:
International Yearbook of the Philosophy of Education Society of Japan, Vol. 8, 2023

The applicability of the ‘ethnometric method’ as a support tool forteachers’ self-evaluation:
Focusing on children’s physical expressions related to‘personalization and empathizing’ in moral education1
Nobuo FUJIKAWA
Osaka University
Abstract
The ethnometric method is a method of generating evidence to support educational practitioners’
subjective – or rather, intersubjective – impressions regarding the success or failure of their teachingpractice by quantifying their evaluation of students’ physical expressions. A main consideration whendeveloping this method was utilizing Evidence-Based Education (EBE) as a starting point without
succumbing to technocratic tendencies, and while respecting practitioner’s agency.
The ethnometric method uses interviews to ask the practitioner what changes in physicalexpression he or she tends to focus on when evaluating the degree to which teaching goals wereachieved. The practitioner is also asked to set up a video camera close to his or her own outlook on
the classroom to film the teaching practice. The researcher then converts the filmed video into still
images at intervals of a few seconds and counts the physical expressions that the practitioner focuseson as indicators for evaluation. The chronological change of the numerical data acquired through thismethod allows practitioners to substantiate or amend their subjective – intersubjective – impressions
regarding the success or failure of their teaching practice.
This paper presents an ethnometric analysis of a series of Moral Education lessons in one fourth-1This paper is part of the research results of Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Basic Research (C) (General),Issue No. 21K02170, “Dotoku Jugyo Bunseki e no Tekiyo o tsujita ‘Ethnometry-ho’ no Yuyosei to Datosei noKensho” [Verification of the usefulness and validity of the ‘ethnometric method’ through application to moral classanalysis] (FY2021 - FY2023; Principal investigator: Nobuo Fujikawa). This research has also been approved (21007
and 22006) by the Research Ethics Committee of Osaka University, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Education.
Correspondence:
Nobuo FUJIKAWA, Osaka University. Email: fujikawa@hus.osaka-u.ac.jp

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grade primary school class on the topic ‘personalization and empathizing’. Comparing the results of
the analysis with practitioners’ impressions regarding the success or failure of achieving‘personalization and empathizing’, the study finds that the ethnometric analysis largely supports
practitioners’ self-evaluation of their own classes.
Of course, this approach still faces several challenges. One criticism concerns the danger of thismethod’s procedures leading to increased control and regulation of the body. Another criticism
concerns limitations as to the range of circulation and validity of the evidence produced because theevidence is limited to social settings where practical knowledge or ‘habitus’ can be sharedintersubjectively. However, such limited validity can also be an advantage because it has the potentialof avoiding the danger of increased control of practice.
Key words: moral education, physical expression, personalization and empathizing, self-evaluation,evidence-based education

Introduction
The ‘ethnometric method’ is a method of generating evidence to support educational (andwelfare) practitioners’ self-evaluation of practices and outcomes2. This method, currently underdevelopment by the author, uses video (analysed as a series of still images) to quantify andvisualize changes in participants’(e.g., students) physical expressions (e.g., facial expressions andgestures) and in this way allows educational practitioners to substantiate or amend their subjective– or rather, intersubjective – impressions regarding the success or failure of their teaching practice.
A main consideration when developing this method was utilizing Evidence-Based Practice(EBP; of which Evidence-Based Education [EBE] is a part) as a starting point without
succumbing to technocratic tendencies, and while respecting practitioners’ agency andintersubjectivity. The importance of a balance between ‘research evidence’, ’clinical expertise’and ‘patient values’ has been illustrated in Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM), which provided amajor impetus for the development of EBP (Figure 13). Applying this to EBE would stress theimportance of a balance between ‘research evidence’, ‘teachers’ expertise’ and ‘students’ values’.
However, with Exam-orientation (in Japanese also termed Hensachi, that is, deviation-orientation)

2

The author has previously used this method for the evaluation of welfare practice, in this paper the same method

is applied to the evaluation of educational practice.
3

Prepared based on Sackett, D. L. et al. 2000, p. 1.

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Focusing on children’s physical expressions related to ‘personalization and empathizing’ in moral
education

permeating not only education but
daily life, one might surmise that thelatter two – ‘teachers’ expertise’ and‘students’ values’ – which havealready been worn thin by theorientation towards scientific evidence,
will eventually lose their balancing
function altogether. If this is the case,some measures are needed to more
actively support the development ofthese latter two factors.
Teachers’ judgment of theoutcomes of their own teaching
Figure 1: Components of EBM
practices is based not only on the resultsof paper tests, but also on ‘teachers’ practical knowledge’ (that is, cognitive and behaviouralschemes or ‘habitus’working at a semi-conscious level) [Gebauer, G. 2017]. This is an importantcomponent of teachers’ expertise. ‘Teachers’ practical knowledge’ is formed within dailyinteractions with fellow teachers and students over a long period of time. Thus, it is relatively stable,
but continually and gradually changes, as it is also influenced by the expression of ‘students’values’. Is it possible, then, for a person who is not a teacher to share in such ‘practical knowledge’and to participate in examining its validity? If public trust in teachers were high enough, such
would likely not be necessary. However, when considering the growing preference for evidencebased approaches, teachers’self-evaluations may be disregarded as mere ‘subjective impressions’,
thus making an additional external perspective necessary. Interviews and questionnaires ofteachers and students provide such perspective, however, as these research methods are highly
dependent on language, they do not always fully able to encompass the impressions and intuitions
that are an inherent part of ‘teachers’ practical knowledge’. For example, evaluation methods thatare overly dependent on language will never be highly reliable, particularly when it comes toteachers’self-evaluation of subjects such as the Arts and Physical Education, but also in relation toself-evaluation of teaching in the lower primary grades in general4.

4

The large number of previous studies on physical expression in pre-school education, particularly in the areas ofchildcare and physical education, where it is considered difficult to evaluate lessons relying on language media, may
be related to this. For reference, a CiNii search using the keywords ‘Shintai Hyogen (physical expression)’ and‘Kyoiku (education)’ identified 550 papers, 33 books and 7 doctoral dissertations; for ‘Shintai Hyogen’ and ‘Hoiku

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Taking this into consideration, the ‘ethnometric method’focuses on physical expression suchas gestures and facial expressions. Bodily movements acquire meaning and function as physicalexpression through long-term participation in daily interactions within a particular social setting. It
seems safe to assume that teachers, in evaluating their own teaching, base these evaluations not
only on information derived from the linguistic activities of students, but also on information
derived from their body language and expressions. The ethnometric method introduced heremeasures the frequency of the appearance/observation 5 of such physical expression andvisualizes its transition in numerical and graphical form.
In the ethnometric method, the practitioner first sets up a (fixed) video camera close to his or
her own outlook on the classroom and films the teaching practice (lessons, workshops, etc.). Next,
in a short interview taking place after several lessons, the practitioner is asked to present
participants’ (in this case, students’) physical expression (indicators) that he or she tends to focus
on when evaluating the degree to which teaching goals were achieved. This would sum up
practitioners’ role in the implementation of the ethnometric method. Indeed, practitioners’
relatively lighter burden at the data collection stage is also an important characteristic of thisresearch method.
The researcher then converts the filmed video into still images at intervals of a few seconds.
Focusing on a few minutes before and after interactions indicated in the practitioner’s presentation,
the researcher counts the frequency of appearance/observation of indicators of participants’physical expression. The figures derived from this analysis, and changes exhibited over time,
provide practitioners with a means to visualize the intersubjective impressions they haveconcerning the outcome of particular teaching experiences, as well as lengthier series of practices.
This is the main procedure entailed by the ethnometric method.

(childcare)’, 406 papers, 18 books and 3 doctoral dissertations; for ‘Shintai Hyogen’ and ‘Taiiku (physical education)’,284 papers and 10 books; for ‘Shintai Hyogen’ and ‘Ongaku Kyoiku (music education)’, 74 papers and 6 books;‘Taiiku’ and ‘Yoji Kyoiku (early childhood education)’ yielded 64 papers and 15 books; for ‘Shintai Hyogen’ and‘Bijutsu Kyoiku (art education)’, 4 papers (search date: 5 October 2022).
5
It is important to note that the while this method allows a researcher, by partially sharing the perspective of theclassroom practitioner, access to students’ physical expression, only the physical indicators that are recognizable
through the medium of the still image can be recorded. Thus, the output derived from these measurements by nomeans fully reflects students’ realities (in fact, such cannot be grasped by anyone, not even by a highly developedAI). Rather, this method records only some of the ‘intersubjective’ meanings accessible within the interactive
environment of the classroom. To indicate these limitations, this paper utilizes the term ‘frequency of
appearance/observation’.
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The applicability of the ‘ethnometric method’ as a support tool for teachers’ self-evaluation:
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Focusing on children’s physical expressions related to ‘personalization and empathizing’ in moral
education

Of course, this approach still faces several challenges. Firstly, a fundamental criticism
concerns the danger of this method’s procedures leading to increased control and regulation of the
body. In this sense, the ethnometric approach is also not free from what Campbell termed‘corruption pressure’6 in regards to evidence7. Secondly, there is also the issue of costs in terms ofthe time, people and money required to implement this method in educational settings. Due to therequired resources, the method can likely only be used in settings such as a funded field-research
project, therefore at present, a rubric evaluation8 remains a more feasible research method. The
solution is to be expected from the future development and dissemination of AI9. There is,however, a danger that such expectations will invite further ‘corruption pressure’.
Nevertheless, according to the ethnometric method, the indicators to be measured(participants’ physical expressions) are set based on practitioners’ intersubjective impressions.
Therefore, the range of circulation and validity of the evidence produced is limited to a social
setting where practical knowledge or ‘habitus’ can be shared intersubjectively (in the case of
education, the scale of in-school training for instance). If this is the case, then the perceived
disadvantages in terms of a limited scope and the intersubjectivity of the evidence may in fact
become an advantage in terms of avoiding ‘corruption pressure’ and the danger of increased
control of practice. The word ‘ethno’ in ethnometric implies exactly such intentions, or rather
aspirations.
The author has previously implemented the ethnometric method to evaluate a theatre
workshop at an elderly care facility and a contemporary dance workshop for young children at a
community centre [Fujikawa, N. 2020]. This paper reports on the first time the method has beenused to evaluate teaching in schools. The following section will present (1) an overview of theresearch subjects and the concrete measurements and analysis procedures conducted, followed by6

According to D. T. Campbell, “The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, themore subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes
it is intended to monitor” [Campbell, D. T. 1975, p. 35].
7

Similar to this paper, Lind’s paper also takes the position that EBE is useful, with some limitations, for self-

evaluation by practitioners. In particular, it considers ‘corruption pressure’ in cases in which ‘research evidence’ isutilized in relation to educational administration [Lind, G. 2011].
8

While it is possible for a rubric evaluation to emphasize and score the intersubjective impressions of outside

observers, practitioners, and also participants, the ethnometric method is unique in that it specializes in physicalexpression and allows to count the frequency of its appearance/observation more precisely based on still images.
9

As research in the field of educational technology suggests, AI is likely to take on the task of data analysis in the

future [Shibata, Y. 2021].

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N. FUJIKAWA(2 and 3) partial results, and (4) a discussion of the efficacy of the ethnometric method. Lastly, (5)the author will deploy a Science Fiction of Education (SFE) to imagine the future of ‘measurement’and discuss the meanings encompassed by the term ‘ethno’.

1. Aims, subjects and procedures(1) Research goals (Research questions)This research aims to answer the following three questions.
(i) Did the frequency of appearance/observation of students’ physical expressions (indicators)
increase significantly after a teacher puts forth questions designed to encourage‘personalization and empathizing’ (in Japanese: ‘Jibungotoka’) 10 in Moral Education
lessons?
(ii) Has veteran teachers’teaching practice functioned as a model for younger teachers?
(iii) Can the results produced by applying the ethnometric method’s analysis support teachers’
self-evaluation?
(2) Research subjects
The subject of this research was a series of Moral Education lessons held from 22 April to
15 July 2021 in one fourth-grade class at a public primary school in Shimane Prefecture, Japan(45 minutes per lesson)11. In this series of lessons, teacher A, a younger female teacher, wasresponsible for the first to fourth and seventh to eighth lessons, while teacher B, a veteran maleteacher, was responsible for the fifth and sixth lessons (In lessons taught by teacher A, teacher B
was observing; and vice versa, in lessons taught by teacher B, teacher A was observing). The
fourth session was excluded from the research due to a malfunction of the filming equipment.
Therefore, the data for measurement and analysis was comprised of a total of eight lessons. This
paper presents interim results from this study, based on the data from the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th
lessons, which have been analysed at this stage. The specific subject of measurement was

10

In the context of moral lessons, ‘Jibungotoka’ refers to the ability to empathize with characters in stories that serveas teaching materials, understanding the events that happened to them as happening to oneself, and thinking about
and making judgements about those events through one’s own experiences and with a sense of ownership. In thispaper, the terms ‘personalization and empathising’ will be used as a translation of ‘Jibungotoka’.
Although their interests and methods differ from those of this paper, for a summary of the results of these series of

11lessons refer to Otsuka, T. & Shiotsu, H. 2022.
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The applicability of the ‘ethnometric method’ as a support tool for teachers’ self-evaluation:
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Focusing on children’s physical expressions related to ‘personalization and empathizing’ in moral
education

students’ physical expression during the five minutes before and after the teacher put forth a
discussion question12 designed to encourage ‘personalization and empathizing’ in each lesson.
Table 1 presents the following details: date and starting time of each lesson, teacher responsible,
textbook teaching unit, and question to encourage ‘personalization and empathizing’ for eachlesson. In these lessons, ‘personalization and empathizing’ is defined by veteran teacher B as
‘imagining the living environment surrounding oneself and reconstructing one’s values in orderto reflect on one’s way of life and behaviour, while studying the contents of each learning unit’[Otsuka, T. & Shiotsu, H. 2022, p. 28].

12

The questions meant to encourage further ‘personalization and empathizing’ in these lessons are positioned as

supplementary questions posed after the central question of each teaching unit [Otsuka, T. & Shiotsu, H. 2022, p.
28].

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Table 1: Each lesson’s responsible teacher, teaching unit, and ‘personalization andempathizing’ questions
Lessons

Date

Responsible

Teaching unit from

‘Personalization and(startingteacher“Dotoku 4: Kimi ga

empathizing’ questions (time)ichiban hikaru toki”

time)(Moral 4: When you
shine the brightest)(Mitsumura Book
Co., Ltd.)
1April 22.

A

“Saturday School”(10:55-)
2

May 6.

(11:25)A

May 10.

A(10:51-)5

June 3.

“What isWhat is ‘consideration’? (11:26)‘consideration’?”(10:55-)
3

Why is it important to be polite?

B“Picture postcards andWhat does it mean to “cherish

stamps”

your friends”? (11:22)“Alarm Clock”

How should I continue to do‘what I can by myself’? What

(10:57-)feelings are important? (11:25)
6

June 10.

B“A Sign of Life”(10:55-)

When you were born, how did
the people around you (yourfamily members) feel? (11:31)

7

June 17.

A(10:57-)
8

July 1.

A(10:56-)“The Lonely Student

Why is it important to treat

Y-chan”

everyone the same? (11:23)“If we had just left it

Do you ever feel like this? ...Do

like this”

you ever feel like ‘I’ do,thinking “Oh, what a hassle!”?
(11:31)

9

July 15.
(10:57-)A“We’ll be waiting for

Have you ever been encouragedyou”

by your close friends and felt
“I'm feeling better now!” or“I'm going to do my best!”?
(11:22)

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Focusing on children’s physical expressions related to ‘personalization and empathizing’ in moral
education(3) Procedures
The procedures for data collection, measurement and analysis were as follows:(i) The teacher set up two video cameras close to her/his own position (at the front of theclassroom, on either side of the teacher’s desk; each camera’s perspective was different but they
partially overlapped) and started filming at the start of the lesson.
(ii) The researcher (Fujikawa) conducted a short interview by email after the lesson series had been
completed [August 6, 2021]. The two teachers discussed indicators of students’ physicalexpression that they both focused on when evaluating the achievement of ‘personalization andempathizing’13. As a result, they defined seven indicators as listed below (see Table 4 appended
at the end of this paper for indicators’selection rationale).
Table 2: Indicators of physical expressions for measurement and analysis
Concrete expressions
Indicator 1

Nodding (to teacher’s statements)

Indicator 2

Leaning forward (excluding cases involving raising hands)

Indicator 3

Widening eyes (lively gaze)

Indicator 4

Upward gaze (a short pause in response to a question and staring into space)

Indicator 5

Fixed gaze (gaze stops moving in response to the question posed by the teacher)

Indicator 6
Indicator 7

Conversation starts ‘right after’ encouraging discussion with neighbouring
students in the course of the lesson
Various neck movements such as nodding, shaking one’s head from side to sideand tilting the head sideways appear in succession(iii) The researcher converted each of the five-minute video clips before and after the question that13

In this study, the two teachers who were responsible for the classes happened to discuss and decide together whichindicators will be measured and analysed. However, as an after-the-fact reflection, I believe that this point is very
important and should therefore have been incorporated into the research design from the outset. The importance ofdiscussion would become clear if one considers what would happen if a teacher were to cite ‘children sleeping
soundly’ as an indicator for a great lesson. That is, we should not assume that all teachers believe that human nature
is fundamentally good. Thus, it may be desirable to involve one or more people (ones who are invested in students’care and success) alongside the practitioner in setting the indicators. This point is also related to the discussion on“deliberation” at the end of this paper.

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prompted ‘personalization and empathizing’ into still images at six-second intervals(approximately 50 images of each 5 minutes before and after the question was asked). The still
images were used to count the frequency of appearance/observation of the students’ physicalexpressions (indicators). In order to account for measurement errors, the images taken by one
camera were counted by a total of four persons acting as measurers (a pair of university students,
their resulting count was termed ‘normal accuracy’ data, and another pair who were people
considered to be particularly sensitive to physical expression such as theatre actors, their output
was termed ‘high accuracy’data)14. In order to get as close as possible to the teachers’subjective
impression of the lesson, two counts were conducted. In the ‘unweighted’ count, theappearance/observation of an indicator in any of the students was counted as 1 point. In the‘weighted’ count, indicators of specific students’ physical expression counted as 2 points15.
These were students that were of particular concern to the teachers. The reasons for being ‘ofconcern’ were: “They fill in the ‘reflection sheets’ in short sentences, and do not usually say or
respond much” (2 students); “They have some difficulties with writing, and therefore filling inthe ‘reflection sheets’ is also challenging, however based on their responses in class we often
see moral growth” (2 students); “The student’s desire to learn is irregular and he/she rarely
attempts to participate in classes they are not interested in” (1 student) [discussed and answeredby both teachers in response to questions by email on 24 January]. To enable the measurers to
identify these specific students, the teachers’ attached arrows to some of the still images
captured by the two cameras at each lesson.
(iv) The researcher carried out the following analytical work based on the data obtained in (iii)
above.
(a) The ‘amount of physical expression per person’ was calculated by dividing the points
indicating the appearance of each physical expression (indicator) by the number ofphotographic subjects in each still image (approximately 50 photographs of each 5
minutes before and after the ‘personalization and empathizing’ question in each lesson
were eligible for the count).
(b) Based on the data in (a), a line chart was created with the ‘amount of expression perperson’ on the vertical axis and the ‘still image serial number (= time)’ on the horizontal

14

Presumably the ‘high accuracy’ data is closer to the impressions and perception of skilled teachers.

15

The ‘weighted’ count was distinguished from the ‘unweighted’ count in order to see if a significant difference isnoticeable in graph form or as a numerical value. The value of the ‘weighted’ count was provisionally set as 2 forconvenience, not for any specific reason.
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The applicability of the ‘ethnometric method’ as a support tool for teachers’ self-evaluation:
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Focusing on children’s physical expressions related to ‘personalization and empathizing’ in moral
educationaxis.
(c) Based on the data in (a), a box-and-whisker diagram showing the highest value, 25%
above the median, the median, 25% below the median and the minimum value wasprepared.
(d) Based on the data in (a), a Brunner-Munzel test was conducted for the five minutes before
and after the ‘personalization and empathizing’ question, with the null hypothesis of ‘nodifference between the two groups before and after’.
This concludes the basic steps of the ethnometric method. The results produced by the above
procedures provide an answer to research question (i). Comparing the figures and graphs obtained
from the lessons given by the younger teacher A before and after those given by theveteran teacher B will provide an answer to research question (ii). In addition, researchquestion (iii) further aimed to explore whether the results of the analysis by the ethnometricmethod can support teachers’own impressions of lesson outcomes. To provide an answer the twoteachers were also asked to give a self-evaluation on a 10-point scale in regards to the following
question: “In each lesson, how well do you think the subject of ‘personalization and empathizing’went? [conducted January 24, 2022] Table 3 details the results.
Table 3: Teachers’ 10-point self-evaluation of each lesson
Teachers’ self-evaluation

Lesson no.

Teacher responsible

1

A

2

2

A

2

3

A

2

5

B

8

6

B

6

7

A

3

8

A

3

9

A

2

(10-point scale)

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2. Measurement results
Figure 3: 3rd lesson, camera 1,
normal accuracy, unweighted, 5min. after the Q (photos 26-50
omitted due to writing activities)

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
Still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4

Amount of expression per person

Amount of expression per person

Figure 2: 3rd lesson, camera 1,
normal accuracy, unweighted, 5min. before the Q

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
Still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4First, based on the data obtained in the third lesson, let us show the change in physicalexpression during the 5 minutes before and after posing the question to encourage ‘personalizationand empathizing’. Figures 2 and 3 detail the changes in the seven indicators in the case of ‘camera
1, normal accuracy, unweighted’.
These figures show that the value of indicator 5 (‘fixed gaze’) is particularly high comparedto other indicators. This shows that the frequency of appearance/observation of this indicator ishigh. Furthermore, the amount of physical expression for indicator 5 slightly decreases from fiveminutes before to five minutes after the question.
As Figures 4 and 5 show, when focusing on students that teachers were concerned with(camera 1, normal accuracy, weighted), the top of the line (vertical axis value) is slightly higher,
but the shape of the line itself does not change significantly.

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Figure 4: 3rd lesson, camera 1,
normal accuracy, weighted, 5 min.
before the Q

Figure 5: 3rd lesson, camera 1,
normal accuracy, weighted, 5 min.
after the Q (photos 26-50 omitted
due to writing activities)

1

1

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
Still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7

Amount of expression per person

Amount of expression per person

The applicability of the ‘ethnometric method’ as a support tool for teachers’ self-evaluation:
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Focusing on children’s physical expressions related to ‘personalization and empathizing’ in moral
education

0.8
0.6
0.4

0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
Still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 4ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4

Figures 6 and 7 reveal that the data obtained from camera 2 (camera 2, normal accuracy,
unweighted) present a similar trend as the data from ‘camera 1, normal accuracy, unweighted’(Figures 2 and 3), even though the photographic subjects are different.
Table 7: 3rd lesson, camera 2,
normal accuracy, unweighted, 5min. after the Q (photos 26-50
omitted due to writing activities)

1
0.8

0.6
0.4
0.2

0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4

Amount of expression per person

Amount of expression per person

Table 6: 3rd lesson, camera 2,
normal accuracy, unweighted, 5min. before the Q

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
Still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4Furthermore, Figures 8 and 9 demonstrate the data of “camera 1, high accuracy,
unweighted”, where indicators were counted by a person considered to be sensitive to physicalexpression. Compared to the data of “camera 1, normal accuracy, unweighted” (Figures 2 and 3),

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the frequency of indicator 5, as well as all other indicators, is slightly higher, and the difference inthe height (vertical axis value) of the lines is also more apparent. This would suggest that more
precise measurements (more sharply defined) were conducted. However, there was no differencein the trends (underlined) described above.
Figure 9: 3rd lesson, camera 1,

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
Still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7hight accuracy, weighted, 5 min.
after the Q (photos 26-50 omitted
due to writing activities)
Amount of expression per person

Amount of expression per person

Figure 8: 3rd lesson, camera 1, highaccuracy, weighted, 5 min. before
the Q

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
Still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 4ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4Furthermore, let us look at the changes in the amount of physical expressions for the fifth,
sixth and seventh lessons, based on the data from ‘camera 1, normal accuracy, unweighted’.
The line graphs for the fifth lesson taught by veteran teacher B (Figures 10 and 11) show thatcompared to the third and seventh lessons (Figures 2, 3, 14, and 15), the values of indicators 2amount of expression per person

1

0.8
0.6
0.4

0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4amount of expression per person

Figure 11: 5th lesson, camera 1,
normal accuracy, unweighted, 5.
min. after the Q

Figure 10: 5th lesson, camera1,
normal accuracy, unweighted, 5min. before the Q

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4

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education(‘leaning forward’), 5 (‘fixed gaze’) and 6 (‘conversation starts’) are particularly high, both before
and after the question. In addition, it can be seen that the values of indicators 2 and 6 clearly
increased after posing the question to encourage the students’ ‘personalizing and empathizing’,
while the value of indicator 5 cannot be said to increase or decrease either way.
On the other hand, the line charts of the sixth lesson (Figures 12 and 13), which was again
taught by teacher B, reveal that regardless of the timing before or after the question, the values ofindicators 2 and 5 are higher than in the other lessons. Oddly enough, however, the values of bothindicators decrease after posing the question. This point will be explained later.
Figure 13: 6th lesson, Camera 1,
normal accuracy, unweighted, 5min. after the Q (photos 32-50
omitted due to writing activities)

1
0.8

0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
Still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4

Amount of expression per person

Amount of expression per person

Figure 12: 6th lesson, camera 1,
normal accuracy, unweighted, 5min. before the Q

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49

Still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4

The graphs for the seventh lesson, which was taught by teacher A (Figures 14 and 15), show
an overall decrease in the values of indicators compared to teacher B’s lessons. Indicator 5
however does demonstrate an increase, especially after the question, when compared to the third
lesson, which was taught by teacher A as well (Figures 2 and 3).
Changing the presentation method, let us now present a box-and-whisker diagram (Figure16). This figure fucuses on the changes in values of indicator 5, which showed relatively highvalues in all the lessons, before and after the question (‘camera 1, normal accuracy, unweighted’).
The figure shows the numerical value of each indicator (amount of physical expression perperson) on the vertical axis, and the differences between lessons, before and after the question, on
the horizontal axis. The numerical rank order column was then divided into four parts; the top
whisker represents the top 25%; the top of the box represents the 25% above the median; thehorizontal line in the middle of the box represents the median; the bottom of the box represents the
25% below the median; and the bottom whisker represents the 25% below that.

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1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
Still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4

Figure 15: 7th lesson, camera 1,
normal accuracy, unweighted , 5min. after the Q (photos 28-50
omitted due to writing activities)
Amount of expression per person

Amount of expression per person

Figure 14: 7th lesson, camera 1,
normal accuracy, unweighted, 5 min.
before the Q

1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
Still image no. (time)ind. 1ind. 5ind. 2ind. 6ind. 3ind. 7ind. 4This figure allows us to
identify the finer points that could
not be ascertained based on the line
charts. First, a comparison of thethird and seventh lessons shows a
1.2
slight increase in the overall value
1of indicator 5 in the seventh lesson,0.8
both before and after the question.
0.6
Moreover, whereas in the third
0.4
lesson the values decrease after the
0.2question, they increase in the0seventh lesson. In the fifth lesson by
3rd, 3rd, 5th, 5th, 6th, 6th, 7th, 7th,teacher B, the upper limit of 25%
before after before after before after before after
above the median value increases,
Lessons, before and after the Q
whereas the median value
decreases. Nevertheless, the valuesof indicator 5 in the fifth lesson were higher overall (both before and after the question) than thosecounted during the third and seventh lessons, which were taught by teacher A. In the sixth lesson,taught by teacher B, indicator 5 values were also higher overall (both before and after the question)
than in the third and seventh lessons taught by teacher A, however there was a significant decreasein the highest and median values after the question.
Amount of expression per person

Figure 16: Data distribution of median and
25% above and below the median forindicator 5 for the 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th
lessons, before and after the Q (camera 1,
normal accuracy, unweighted)

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3. Analysis results
Although this is only a small part of the data, the above figures allow an intuitive
understanding of the approximate changes (especially in indicator 5) over the four lessons16. In thefollowing, we will present the results of the Brunner-Munzel test. As previously described, the null
hypothesis assumed there is no difference between the values measured during the 5 minutes
before the question, and those measured after it. The test includes the measurement results of all
indicators during the third, fifth, sixth and seventh lessons. The test results will be briefly discussed
below based on the tables at the end of this document (Tables 5 and 6), which summarise therelevant data. In the tables, significant results from the tests are indicated by yellow and orange
highlights. Based on the change in mean rank between 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after thequestion, results highlighted in orange indicate that frequency of physical expression indicators
increased significantly after posing the question. Conversely, results highlighted in yellow indicate
a significant decrease. In these tables, [**] marks instances of p < .010 and [*] marks instances ofp < .050.
Let us first look at the results of the analysis in the case of ‘normal accuracy’ data (Table 5).
In the third lesson taught by teacher A, indicator 4 of camera 2 shows significant increases (p= .035* and p = .014*) before and after the question in both unweighted and weighted cases.
However, other indicators in both camera 1 and 2 show no significant change, and some evenshow a significant decrease.
In the fifth lesson taught by teacher B, the results of the unweighted and weighted analyses
are consistent for each camera, with significant increases in indicators 2 and 6 for camera 1 andonly indicator 6 for camera 2 (both p < .010**).
In the sixth lesson by teacher B, the unweighted and weighted results are also almost identicalfor each camera. There is no significant overall increase in either camera, but rather a significant
decrease in indicators 2, 3 and 5 for camera 1, and indicators 2 and 5 for camera 2 (both p < .010**).
In the seventh lesson taught by teacher A, data from camera 1 shows a significant increase inindicator 5 for both weighted and unweighted counting (both p < .01**). The data from camera 2
shows a significant increase in indicator 7 for the unweighted counting (p < .010**) and indicators
3 (p < .010**), 5 (p = .046*) and 7 (p = .041) for the weighted counting. It is worth noting that
only in the weighted count of the data from camera 2 indicators 3 and 5 also showed significant
increases.

16

For teachers to use this data as a reference point for improving their teaching, it is probably not necessary to go as

far as the statistical testing process, charting alone would likely suffice.

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Let us now look at the results of the analysis for the ‘high accuracy’ data (Table 6).
In the third lesson, indicator 4 shows a significant increase (p < .010**) in both weighted andunweighted counting for camera 2, while indicators 3 and 5 show significant decreases (p = .039*
and p < .010** respectively) for camera 1.
In the fifth lesson, indicator 6 shows a significant increase, consistent across both cameras(both p < .010**).
There is no significant increase in the sixth lesson. Rather, indicators 2, 3, 4 and 5 show
significant decreases for camera 1 and indicators 2 and 5 for camera 2 (both p < .010**).
In the seventh lesson, the values for both cameras do not differ in relation to on whether they
were weighted or not. For camera 1, indicator 4 shows a significant increase (p < .010**), while
indicator 3 shows a significant decrease (p = .025*). On the other hand, for camera 2, indicator 5
shows a significant increase (p < .010**) and indicator 4 a significant decrease (p = .043*).

4. Discussion
Before considering the three research questions presented at the beginning of this paper, it isfirst necessary to examine why the frequency of appearance/observation of some indicators
significantly decreased in the sixth lesson conducted by teacher B in the five minutes after posing
the question to encourage ‘personalization and empathizing’, although the teacher’s selfevaluation was quite high (6 out of 10, see Table 3).
When the researcher asked teacher B about this question later [September 7, 2022], he said
that in this lesson (teaching material ‘A Sign of Life’), before posing the question to encourage‘personalization and empathizing’, another prompt was given by the teacher. This activity requiredthat “students who remember the birth of their younger brother or sister tell the class about their
feelings at that time”. Teacher B explained that, “This prompt probably enabled students to easily
create a realistic image of the scene in their minds. Indeed, many students responded, ‘I remember
that!’or ‘I don’t have a younger brother or sister, so I don't know how I would feel. I’d like to hear
how those who have a brother or sister feel!’ Probably that’s why many physical expressions
appeared (before the question to encourage ‘personalization and empathizing’)”.
Even when considering this irregular case, it can be said that the results of the ethnometricanalysis can support teachers’ self-evaluation of their own lessons (Table 3) by using data
regarding the appearance/observation of students’physical expression.
Let us now consider the research questions posed at the beginning of this paper.
First, research question (i) “Did the frequency of appearance/observation of students’physical expressions (indicators) increase significantly after a teacher puts forth questions
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designed to encourage ‘personalization and empathizing’in Moral Education lessons?”
This question can be answered as follows. Analysis results demonstrated that the third lesson
taught by teacher A was not necessarily successful in encouraging ‘personalization andempathizing’; the fifth lesson taught by teacher B was quite successful in promoting‘personalization and empathizing’; during the sixth lesson taught by teacher B, ‘personalizationand empathizing’was in fact encouraged by another prompt before posing the question, therefore
it cannot be accurately evaluated; in the case of the seventh lesson taught by teacher A, although it
did not reach the level of the fifth lesson by teacher B, it can be said that ‘personalization andempathizing’ was promoted more than in the third lesson, which was also taught by teacher A; inaddition, when comparing the unweighted and weighted data for the normal accuracy and camera
2, the weighted data shows a significant increase in indicators 3 and 5 after the question was put
forth. This would suggest that the seventh lesson taught by teacher A may have contributed to theincrease in students’ physical expression without exception, that is, including the students thatteachers were particularly concerned with.
Next, let us consider research question (ii): “Has veteran teachers’ teaching practicefunctioned as a model for younger teachers?” Comparing the data collected during the third andseventh lessons taught by the younger teacher A, and the fifth and sixth lessons by the veteranteacher B, it is possible that the lessons taught by teacher B served as a model for the lessons byteacher A, which in turn reinforced teacher A’s efforts to encourage ‘personalization andempathizing’. The sixth lesson by teacher B may have also been a model for teacher A’s lessons,
including the supplementary prompt mentioned in teacher B’s account of the class (that was posed
before the question to encourage ‘personalization and empathizing’). As the data showed, before
the question several indicators were relatively high compared to the third lesson taught by teacher
A.
Finally, research question (iii): “Can the results produced by applying the ethnometricmethod’s analysis support teachers’ self-evaluation?” Considering the results’ correspondencewith Table 3 (Teachers’ 10-point self-evaluation of each lesson) this question can be answered in
the affirmative17.

17

In this paper, the Brunner-Munzel test was conducted, but there is still room for improvement in the testing process,as there are disadvantages to transforming the data (number of physical expressions per person) into ranks andadding tests. To more accurately quantify data trends, it is probably preferable to apply Bayesian statistics. Bayesianstatistics could, for example, divide the students into two groups, one group less likely to respond to the teacher’s
encouragement to ‘personalization and empathizing’ from the other group more likely to respond to it, and reveal
how each group responded.

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5. Where does a measurement-orientation lead and why do we want more
precise measurements in the first place?
From the start, the design of the ethnometric method entails several constraints. First, it is thepractitioners themselves who define the physical expressions (indicators) to be measured. Thismeans that the indicators used in this study cannot be used for the measurement and analysis ofother classes. The physical expressions defined as indicators by teachers can be understood assymbols that had accumulated their meaning through everyday interactions between students andteachers, and between colleagues. Naturally different indicators must be set for different teachersand classes. Second, the ethnometric method does not seek to measure the reality of physicalmovements and internal states of participants. The present research measured the movements thatteachers, as a result of long-term everyday interactions with their fellow teachers and students,
came to perceive as physical expressions signifying mental processes of ‘personalization andempathizing’ in their students. Moreover, from the sum of physical movements that teachers
defined as meaningful physical expressions, the resulting numerical values indicate only thosephysical movements that were observable by the measurers. In short, the figures indicate changes
in the students’ physical expression that would probably have been perceived by any personpresent in the classroom18. Indeed, these two constraints embody the meaning of the word ‘ethno’.
What, then, would the future hold if these two constraints were removed? At the end of thispaper, I would like to develop a Science Fiction of Education (SFE) around this question.
First of all, what happens if indicators are set by someone other than those involved in thelesson (teachers and students)? This means that the authority for class evaluation shifts from theteachers themselves, as the class practitioners, to someone outside the classroom. As a result, inorder to elevate the evaluation outcomes of their own lessons, teachers would aim for as many
students as possible to simultaneously display physical movements that are purported to be
expressions of a targeted mental state (e.g., ‘activeness’, ‘spontaneity’ or ‘personalization andempathizing’). Likely achieved by practitioners performing signalling behaviours that would
prompt the desired reaction from students. The result would be a strange classroom landscape,akin to that of a mass game.
Secondly, let us go beyond measuring physical expressions as intersubjectively

18

Just by someone being there, certain physical movements will already begin to take on symbolic meaning as

physical expressions.
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expressed/interpreted symbols (which are in essence the impressions that the participants in theinteraction have of each other’s physical movements). What happens if we seek a more objective
and precise measurement of the reality of students’ specific physical movements and theircorresponding mental states? First of all, the number of cameras will be increased so that thephysical movements of individual students can be observed from a closer position, and then AI
may take on the measurement so that measurer biases can be avoided. As we ultimately want tounderstand students’ mental state, we may eventually stop being concerned with physicalmovements that are shaped by cultural biases and individual performance ability, and try to
directly capture various physiological changes using sensors embedded in wearable devices.
Furthermore, if physiological information is recorded and stored over a long period of time, it will
be possible to trace changes in students’mental states and to predict changes to some extent. Moreprecise measures to capture students’ state of mind may lead to ways such as the implantation ofa chip under the skin. Although students and parents will be able to refuse to do so, they are likely
to concede on the grounds that without the chip implantation they would not be able to receive
effective teaching. They would be led to make up ‘their own mind’ (?) and accept this new
method19. If more people are implanted with these chips, and if they also incorporate GPSfunctionality, it will be possible to trace students’ learning histories quite precisely. If such devices
could capture when, for how long, and with whom a student was in contact with, and if suchinformation were available in the form of big data (because the information stored in such devices
is not forgotten, it will be instantly recalled at any time and can easily be compared with othersimilar cases), it would be possible to understand the precise origin of students’ state of mind andto predict future changes with a much higher probability. When such an era arrives, such questions
as “Who am I?” or “What should I choose at this crossroads?” will be answered far more reliably
by Siri or Google than by ‘Me’ – but then ‘I’, as a being, will already be regarded as a collectionof coincidences. However, by then, there may be no one to even question the meaning of ‘My’
existence or the meaning of ‘My’ life anymore.
But why then do we want such precise measurements? Perhaps it is because we want tomake as accurate a prediction as possible about the future, which is essentially unknowable. And
what is the purpose of such predictions? In a word, it is to avoid death. ‘Death’ here is symbolicand refers to crisis situations such as unemployment, failure in examinations, ‘drop-out’, truancy
or withdrawal from school. Situations in which the social relationships and flow of life up to that19

In terms of health services, it is easy to imagine a situation in which obtaining favourable health and life insurance

would depend on undergoing a chip implantation operation. The concept of ‘one’s own mind’ in this case will nolonger be distinguishable from others, as is the case with brainwashing.

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point are severed. In the medical world – if quality of life is not questioned – the death of the patient
may be avoided in both a literal and symbolic sense. In education, however, the situation is quite
different. The discontinuity of such a life is ambivalent, and, despite the risk of failure, it can also
be an opportunity for transcendence, leaps, adventures, and challenges through a posteriori
assignment of meaning [Lenzen, D. 1993]. In other words, in the case of education, avoiding‘death’ through precise measurement also means extinguishing these opportunities.
When considering the above science fictions, the two constrains in the ethnometric method
do not mean that the method is incomplete, or that it remains on the way towards the scientificationof educational research. As G. Biesta states, education is “moral practice” more than a“technological activity” and, therefore, if the question for teachers is not just “what works” but also
“what is appropriate for these children in this situation” [Biesta, G. J. 2020, pp. 57-58], then at least
the above two constraints may be inevitable for educational practice and theory.
Furthermore, Biesta points to the problem of the “separation of means and ends ofprofessional conduct” in evidence-based education. According to Biesta, means and ends are“internally or constitutively” linked in education [Ibid, p. 54 and 57] and therefore, in the searchfor “good education”, a “deliberative democracy” [Ibid, p. 143] around the appropriate means andends of education is needed. I would like to conclude this paper by relating this point by Biesta tothis research and suggesting the possibility of deliberative democracy. I would like to refer again
to indicator 1 ‘nodding’and indicator 7 ‘various neck movements such as nodding, shaking one’s
head from side to side, and tilting the head sideways appear in succession’. Indeed, in this research,
the frequency of appearance/observation of these two indicators was never high. It israther important however, that by settling on both indicators despite their similarity (bothessentially referring to neck and head movements), the two class practitioners left someroom for further discussion. In fact, these two indicators suggest contradictions or fluctuations inteachers’ ideas about what is ‘personalization and empathizing’. That is, whereas indicator 1 canbe associated with the acceptance of existing modes of perception and values, indicator 7 can also
be related to their questioning or rejection. With this in mind, it may be possible to internally andconstructively link the step of indicator-setting to the deliberations around the lessons’ goal –specifically, the meaning of the state of ‘personalization and empathizing’ as a teaching goal. In
any case, even if it is not possible to stop the bus of evidence-based approaches with our bare hands,
it is possible to get on the bus and operate the brakes and steering wheel.

Reference
Biester, G. J. (2020). Yoi Kyouiku towa Nani ka, Rinri, Seiji, Minshushugi (Good Education in an
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educationAge of Measurement, Ethics, Politics, Democracy), translated by H. Fujii & H. Tamaki.
Hakutakusha.
Campbell, D. T. (1975). Assessing the impact of planned social change. In G. M. Lyons (Ed.).
Social Research and Public Policies: The Dartmouth/OECD Conference. Hanover, New
Hampshire: Dartmouth College, The Public Affairs Center, pp. 3-45.
Fujikawa, N. (2020). Taikenkatsudo no Chosa to Bunseki (Survey and analysis of experiential
activities). In Japan Contemporary Dance Network (JDDN), NPO (Ed.): Heisei 30 Nendo,
Monbukagakusho Seishonen no Taikenkatsudo no Suishin ‘Jikokoteikan Kojyo Project’:Sozoteki na Dance o mochiita Jido-Seishonen no Jikokoteikan Kojyo Project (FY 2008,
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Promotion of Experiential
Activities for Youth ‘Self-affirmation Improvement Project’: Project to improve children
and youth’s sense of self-affirmation, using creative dance)”, pp. 22-29.
Gebauer, G. (2017). Goffman no Engekiteki Koui no Riron kara Bourdieu no Habitus Gainen e(From Goffman’s Theory of Theatrical Action to Bourdieu’s Concept of Habitus,translated by N. Fujikawa. In N. Fujikawa (Ed.). Jinsei no Choritsushitachi: Doteki
Dramaturgy no Tenkai (The Tuners of Life: The Development of Dynamic Dramaturgy).
Shunposha, pp. 73-88.
Lenzen, D. (1993). Krankheit als Erfindung: Eingriffe in die Kultur. FISCHER Taschenbuch.
Lind, G. (2011). Verbesserung des Unterrichts durch Selbstevaluation: Ein Plädoyer fürunverzerrte Evidenz. In J. Bellmann & Th. Müller (Hrsg.). Wissen, was wirkt: Kritik
evidenzbasierter Pädagogik. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 173-195.
Otsuka, T. & Shiotsu, H. (2022). ‘Tokubetsu no Kyoka Dotoku’ niokeru Gakushushido Katei ni
kansuru Kenkyu: Shogakko niokeru Jugyojissen no Kensho o tsujite (A Study on the
Learning Guidance Process in ‘Special Subject Moral Education’: Through Verification ofTeaching Practice in Elementary School). In Shimane University Graduate School of
Teaching (Ed.). Research on School Education Practice, Vol. 5, pp. 23-42.
Sackett, D. L. et al. (2000). Evidence-Based Medicine, Second Edition. Churchill Livingstone(Japanese translation published as Sackett, D. L. et al. (2003). Evidence-Based Medicine,
Elsevier Science).
Shibata, Y. (2021). Hyojyobunseki no Katsuyo niyoru Jugyo Bunseki no Kokoromi: Kyoshi no
Hatsuwanaiyo niyoru Kodomo no Kanjyo no Henka ni chakumokushite (A Trial of
Lesson Analysis Using Facial Expression Analysis: Focusing on the changes in children’s
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Table 4: Indicators’ selection rationale
IndicatConcreteor no.

physicalReason for selecting the indicator

expression
1

Nodding (to After watching the video, it was noticed that the number of scenes
teacher’sof students’ ‘nodding’ was less than the class practitioners had

statements)

expected. Overall, there were not many frequent nodding scenes
when listening to statements made by the teacher or friends. Whenlooking at the actual situations in which students nodded, it was
found that nodding was seen in situations of intense agreementwith what others said (“yes, yes!”)’ or ‘when students could
imagine a concrete situation (“yes!”)’.

2

Leaning

After watching the video, it was also noticed that children do not

forwardlean forward to listen to what is being said unless there is(excluding

something wrong. At the stage before they lean forward, students

cases

think about the question in their own way, either they have own

involvingideas or they have tried to think about it in their own way, but theyraising

are not able to determine what to think (they feel confused). In suchhands)

situations, they may become very curious about what others say orwant to compare it with their own ideas, which may make themlean forward.

3

Widening

When students’ eyes widen or there is an obvious change in theireyes (lively

facial expression, we believe that some kind of internal value

gaze)

fluctuation has occurred. Such a change is likely to occur when
listening to a friend’s statement. After listening to a statement,
empathic feelings like “Yes, that’s true!” and “I have had similar
experiences and feelings!”, as well as feelings of surprise at
obvious differences between their own ideas and those of the otherperson like “I didn't know there was such a way of thinking!” and“Really?” may appear around their eyes and in their facial
expression.

4

UpwardWe think that when students look up after hearing the teacher’s

gaze (aquestion it is a sign that they are seriously considering the question

shortin their own way. It is difficult for children to immediately

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pause indetermine how and what to think about questions that do not have

response toa correct answer, that is, questions that require they think about

a question

their own experiences. We think that the way their eyes are looking

and staring

upwards shows that they are remembering what they themselves

into space)have experienced in the past and thinking more concretely about
the question “What if it were me?”5

Fixed gaze

“When someone speaks, look at them carefully and listen(gaze stops

thoughtfully” is something that is taught in various situations atmoving inschool, but in practice it is difficult to ensure this way of listening

response to

every time. It is practically unavoidable that students may be

the question writing notes, looking away or misbehaving due to a break in
posed byconcentration. In these situations, there are sometimes moments

teacher)when students’ eyes are drawn towards the teacher in response to
the teacher’s question, and they stare firmly at the person who is
speaking, without their eyes darting about. We believe that this isa sign that the students are trying to stop and think about thequestion in their own way.

6

Conversatio

Dialogue may be held in pairs or groups with a neighbouring or

n starts

nearby friend. If the students do not know what to discuss in‘right after’

response to the prompt “Talk to someone nearby”, if they do not

encouraginfind a personal connection to the question, the pair/groupg discussion conversation will not be active. Sometimes they gather near eachwithother for the time being, but they are silent. Sometimes, however,neighbourin

as soon as the teacher encourages dialogue in pairs/groups, theg students

students immediately turn their bodies towards their friends andin thestart talking to each other. This may be an expression of students’course ofdesire to solve the problem as they already have some ideas of their

the lesson

own in response to the teacher’s prompting, or because it is adifficult subject to think about as related to themselves and theywant to talk it through with their friends.

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7

VariousSometimes you would see students in class shaking their heads

neckquickly and in small increments. The act of ‘shaking one’s head’ ismovements

thought to be an expression of a negative opinion or an opposite

such as(different) opinion in response to what the teacher has said or what

nodding,a friend has said. However, even if a student had such thoughts, if

shakingthey do not relate personally to the teacher’s question, there will

one’s head

be no noticeable change in students’ neck movements. This kind of

from side to change can be seen when students are thinking about an issue inside and

their own way, taking the matter seriously and have their own ideas

tilting thefirmly in mind. When various movements are observed, such as

headtilting the head to the side as well as shaking the head, we believe

sidewaysthat the students are in a state of intense conflict about values. The

appear instate of conflict and hesitation (moyamoya) after thinking throughsuccession

the teacher’s question based on their own understandings such as‘understanding of value’, ‘understanding of human beings’ and‘understanding of others’ may be expressed as such movements.

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Focusing on children’s physical expressions related to ‘personalization and empathizing’ in moral
education

E-Journal of Philosophy of Education: International Yearbook of the Philosophy of Education Society of Japan, Vol. 8, 2023

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N. FUJIKAWA

Symposium: Orality, Image, Memory and Bildung: Toward the Possibility of Educational Study Based on
Kulturwissenschaft