第18回 WORKSHOP報告(7月23日) / 参加者74名

みなさんこんにちは。
7月23日に開催された第18回workshop
の開催報告をさせていただきますね。
 ********************************   参加人数 : 74名 うち新人の方 : 11名 ******************************** 
今回のworkshopですが
夏休みが始まったせいもあるのでしょうか。
学生の新人の方々も複数お越しいただきました。

小中高の終業式も、台風の影響で
21日に延期されたところが多いよう
ですね。

今回のマテリアルは
○	前半:verbal and non-verbal communication
○	後半:ゆとり教育の今後
についてでした。

前半の「言語・非言語コミュニケーション」に
関するマテリアルは幹事のKさんが作成してくれました。

Q1.日本と外国とで、同じものごとを示すのに
異なる身振りを用いる例を挙げてください。

という問題で個人的に思いつくのはやはり
インド人の方の「Yes」でしょうか。

彼らのYesは首を縦に振らず、ななめに振ります。
最初見たときには「No」なのか、少なくとも
Yesには見えずかなり戸惑いました。

Q2の日本の伝統行事や習慣を英語で伝えるのも
とても難しいですが、外国の方に説明することも
英語学習者の方々には時折あるでしょうから
非常に役立つプラクティスでした。

ちなみに平成22年度の通訳案内士試験には
「雅楽」を英語で答えなさい、
という問題が出ていたようです。
私も全然わかりませんでしたが
解答は、、、、
「traditional court music」とのことでした、、、。

後半は電機メーカーにお勤めのUさんに
「ゆとり教育」についてのマテリアルを作成
していただきました。

今回彼女がこのマテリアルを作成した理由を
お伺いしたところ、理由のひとつに
東京にある、在日インド人のためのインターナショナル
スクールのテレビ番組を見られたことを挙げられました。

生徒の多くは在京インド人の子供たちですが、近年
日本人の入学もかなり増えているそうです。

その理由は複数ありますが
○	授業はすべて英語
○	9×9の掛け算で終わらず、19×19の桁まで覚える
○	毎朝のスピーチ訓練など、public speaking力の養成
○	加えて授業料が欧米系のスクールの半額ほど
などなど魅力的なポイントが目白押しです。

その他北欧など諸外国が教育改革を進めていますが
日本ではOECDの学力調査の成績が落ちていることなど、
このままでは日本の国際競争力はどうなってしまうのか、
ということもディスカッションの話題に上りました。

Uさんお仕事お忙しい中ありがとうございました。
また懇親会は英語テーブル・日本語テーブルともに
盛況です。今回は57名の方が参加されました。
こちらは日本語テーブルの様子です↓
それではメンバーにお送りしている
案内メールをご覧ください。
******************************
<英語サークル E's club 第18回workshopのご案内>
 
みなさまこんにちは、E's club幹事のKです。第18回workshopの詳細をお送りいたします。
今回のマテリアルは前半をKが作成、後半はUさんに作成していただきました。
前半は非言語コミュニケーションに関するチャット、後半はゆとり教育とそれ以降の日本の教育に関するディスカッションです。
 
 
[今週のマテリアル]
 
<First half>
 
Q1.日本と外国とで、同じものごとを示すのに異なる身振りを用いる(あるいは異なるものごとを示すのに同じ身振りを用いる)例を挙げてください。
  Give some examples of representing same thing by different gestures (or different things by same gesture) in Japan and foreign countries.
 
Q2.外国人に対して身振り手振りで言いたいことを伝えた経験があれば、それを教えてください。
  If you have expressed what you want to say by some gestures, share your experiences. 
 
Q3.外国人相手だと想定して、以下について、言葉と身振りを交えて説明してください。(日本語厳禁!)
  他の人はそれらについて知らない外国人になったつもりで質問をしてください。
  (1)盆踊り (2)神輿 (3)金魚すくい (4)浴衣 (5)線香花火 (6)たこ焼き
  Imagine you have to explain these things to foreigners by words and gestures. (Not by Japanease!)
  Others ask some questions like foreigners who don't know them.
 
Q4.言葉でのコミュニケーションと言葉以外のコミュニケーション、それぞれの利点と欠点は何だと思いますか?
  What do you think are the good points and bad points of verbal communication and non-verbal communication?
 
 
<Latter half>
 
[agenda]
Where should the Japanese education system be heading for after prolonged drifts of "yutori kyouiku" ?
 
[Question]
1.Why do you think Japan tried to introduce yutori kyouiku for the first time, and why was it failed?
 
2.Do you think Japan’s decision of getting out of yutori kyoiku is really the right way to contribute to academic development of school students?
 
3.Do you think the current Japanese education is building a strong base to increase global competitiveness for Japan’s future compared to the education in other countries?
(For Example, see Education in Finland as set forth in Wikipedia explanation of “yutori kyouiku” (URL is written below), and see the information of Indian International School in Tokyo as set forth in here http://blog.livedoor.jp/gakkou_news/archives/52581121.html. These educational concepts are totally different but both seem to be successful in academic improvement)
 
4.Have you had any experience of getting an education in the foreign countries? If any, what’re the differences between education there and that in Japan?  What’s the good/bad point of education in the foreign countries that you have experienced?
 
5.If you are/were a student, what kind of education do you want to take?  What’s your suggestion for reforming the current Japanese education?
 
(時間があったら)
6.What do you know about “yutori kyoiku” implemented in 2002 and transition of reforming the educational curriculum? Exchange your knowledge about it.
 
7.Do you think you got/are getting a good education during your school days? Why?
 
Recent Trends In Education Reform
by Dr. Robert Fish
 
Two trends have dominated domestic debate regarding Japanese education since the 1990s. The trends can be symbolized as a perceived conflict between the catch phrase “yutori kyoiku,” roughly (and somewhat misleadingly) translated as a more relaxed education or education some freedom, and the “Action Plan for Improving Academic Ability,” a specific response to the perceived decline of the academic (meaning ability in math, science, and literacy) in comparison to their peers in other industrialized nations. Japan will implement a new comprehensive guide to elementary education in April 2011, representing an attempt to maintain some of the benefits of the educational reforms of the 1990s and early 2000s while increasing the academic rigor of Japanese compulsory education.
 
As in many democratic nations, the simplified debate between “yutori kyoiku” and “improving academic ability” masks a much more complex reality. To make sense of the debates over educational reform in the past two decades requires understanding of the basic structure of primary education in Japan and the relationship between policy and practice in Japanese schools.
 
The basic outline of Japanese public school education is outlined in a series of documents created by the Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture and Technology (MEXT). Most importantly is the Gakushu Shido Yoryo, essentially a Handbook for Education that provides specific guidance to Japanese schools. The document determines such important topics as the subjects to be taught and the minimum number of hours to be spent on each subject at each grade level. In the late 1980s and 1990s, a number of leaders in different sectors of Japan expressed concern that Japanese schools produced graduates that had strong basic academic skills but lacked creativity, independence, and the desire to be lifelong learners. There was also widely held concern, especially amongst educators, that schooling was too intense, creating excessive stress on students. The Gakushu Shido Yoryo that was implemented in 2002, responding to these trends, implemented the strongest version of “yutori kyoiku.” The ultimate desire was to instill in students “a zest for learning.”
 
MEXT implemented a number of reforms for compulsory education (through the completion of the third year of Junior High School, roughly 9th grade in the U.S. system). The three that have garnered the most attention are the reduction in the number of school hours, reduction of the number of hours devoted to academic subjects, and the creation of a course of “integrated studies.” The reduction in school hours was accomplished primarily through eliminating Saturday classes, a reform that had been gradually being implemented since the 1990s. The course in integrated studies was intended to allow schools the freedom to create a learning space outside the traditional bounds of the curriculum that would not be closely associated with entrance tests or tightly defined learning outcomes. With this freedom, the courses were to allow for greater choice, individualizing the courses to meet the individual goals of students in the upper grades, and allow for easier teaching about topics that worked across the curriculum, such as studying the natural environment, education for a global world, or studying “information technology.”
 
Shortly after the implementation of the new curriculum, Japanese students declined in their achievement on international comparative tests, especially the TIMMS and PISA studies. In response, a number of gradual changes were implemented designed to help improve the academic performance of Japanese students while maintaining some of the benefits of the earlier reforms. Key changes included a gradual increase in the required topics to be taught in the standard academic subjects, a gradual increase in the number of hours devoted to these subjects, and the implementation of national standardized testing at the end of the 6th and 9th grades (National Survey on Educational Performance) in mathematics and Japanese for the first time starting in 2007. The tests were implemented with a desire to assess the skills of the students as a whole and target areas where there were needs for improvement in the system. The tests were met with significant concern that they would be used as a means of creating greater comparison and competition between schools as well as increase pressure on students. The tests, which included extensive student and teacher surveys, provide a rich source of data regarding not just the strengths and weaknesses of Japanese students, but also rich data regarding other factors that can effect learning as diverse as the amount of time spent reading independently each day, student breakfast habits, and student use of cell phones to send e-mails each day. (Both test questions and summaries of results for each year can be accessed online (in Japanese) at:http://www.nier.go.jp/kaihatsu/zenkokugakuryoku.html).
 
Based on the previous decade of experience with “yutori kyoiku” and significant data has been collected, especially since the implementation of standardized testing in 2007, the Gakushu Shido Yoryo to be implemented in April 2011 represents a significant modification of the 2002 reforms. The decrease in school hours will be maintained, as will the integrated studies courses, but less emphasis than in the past decade. The topics to be covered in math and Japanese, which have been gradually increasing since 2004, will increase significantly as will the number of hours devoted to these subjects. As can be seen in the charts below, the number of overall teaching periods has increased, as well as the number of hours devoted to math and Japanese. (Each teaching period is 45 minutes. The number represents the required number of teaching periods per academic year, which runs from April - March.)
 
The changes outlined in this summary represent substantive changes in the structure of a Japanese students’ school day - with obvious effects on learning. Teaching methods in Japan have also changed in recent years, but the changes have tended to be more gradual. While it goes beyond the scope of this summary to describe them in detail, three dominant trends have been to increasingly emphasize literacy across the curriculum, place greater emphasis on quantitative reasoning skills and the ability to understand the concepts behind the numbers in mathematics, and integrating more “experiential learning” across the curriculum. That being said, changes in teaching methods have tended to be gradual, and, as a general idea, emphasize gradually attempting and integrating new teaching techniques into more traditional teaching methods. Particularly in the math curriculum, a balance has been maintained between teaching concepts while maintaining strengths in teaching basic numeracy skills. The combination has resulted, for example, in Japanese students by the second grade solving far more complex mathematical problems in terms of both basic numerical skills and in terms of quantitative reasoning than the majority of their peers in the United States. Many of the changes and debates outlined in this summary and changes being implemented in 2012 are the direct outgrowth of the results of previous TIMMS and PISA reports, so the results of the current most recent PISA report are likely to impact future education reform in Japan.
 
ゆとり教育:
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%86%E3%81%A8%E3%82%8A%E6%95%99%E8%82%B2