"The Period for Integrated Studies" was introduced as education that looks toward the 21st century, and it is currently a required class in all elementary schools, junior high schools, and high ...schools across Japan. However, at the high school level, some teachers have expressed their opinion that there is a big difference in how the class is implemented between schools. The purpose of this study was to try to further understand how the class is being implemented at different schools by conducting a questionnaire and then examining the results. Results showed that schools in Western Japan are doing better at upholding the aims of the class as outlined in Educational Ministry guidelines than their counterparts in Eastern Japan are. Furthermore, results revealed that students mostdesired "the Period for Integrated Studies" to be a time when they could "develop the skills to find issues to tackle on their own, learn by themselves, and then come up with solutions to those issues".
In the science section of the Japanese course of study, there are four “fields”, i.e. “matter (particle)”, “energy”, “life” and “the earth”, and these fields consist of by many “units” containing ...scientific knowledge or concepts which should be understood by pupils. To classify scientific papers written by pupils, we identified the scientific knowledge or concepts used by pupils in their scientific papers. When the scientific knowledge or concept in the scientific paper were found in the unit of the Japanese course of study, we determined the papers to be related to that unit. Using 102 papers from the Japanese science contest (Shizekon) from 2006 to 2011, we found that some pupils used scientific knowledge or concepts which were scheduled to be learned later in elementary or junior high schools. Many papers (72%) were classified as the “life” field. On the other hand, only 35% of the units in “the earth” field were found in the papers examined. Most of the papers (82%) were related to two or more units or fields. Because teachers are expected to show pupils the relationships between units to improve their understanding of science, these scientific papers may be useful for teachers to develop their teaching materials.
This study seeks to clarify the structure and characteristics of learners' successful experiences in elementary school physical education classes in Japan according to grade and sex. A questionnaire ...survey was administered to 1450 public elementary school students across Japan. An exploratory factor analysis revealed that successful experiences were composed of five factors: improvement in motor skills, victory, the success of others, the success of oneself, and strengthening of bonds. The scale for successful experiences was confirmed to possess internal consistency and some degree of validity. Furthermore, girls scored significantly higher in "the success of others" than boys did. Thus, for learners to have various successful experiences, it is necessary to master motor skills while interacting with others. Additionally, using the developed scale before and after the implementation of the study unit is expected to reveal multifaceted learning outcomes. These efforts will motivate learners to participate in physical education classes.
With respect to the information education in elementary and secondary education in Japan, this study has shown its definition, educational contents, institutional positioning in educational ...curriculum, and the results of relevant research and studies. It also reviewed the studies on information education focusing on elementary and secondary education conducted by the JSET. Requirements for educational technology, which emerged from these reviews, were summarized into the following five points: (1) Continuous involvement in policy planning; (2) Elaborated investigations, which cannot be implemented by the government; (3) Development of indicators to evaluate the practice of information education; (4) Development of system, which support prolonged practices; (5) Mechanisms of knowledge sharing for the purpose of converting practical research into peer-reviewed articles.
Rate of Japanese high school students taking a course in earth science has been much smaller than those taking physics, chemistry and biology since World War II. The ratio of the contents on the ...Quaternary sciences in the science textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education has been 5-15％ ; the content dealing with the history of the earth has been less than 3％. To raise the status of Quaternary science, future perspectives on earth science education in high school are focusing on four points : (1) increasing taking rate of earth science subjects, (2) increasing Quaternary content in the approved textbooks, (3) increasing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the subjects, and (4) emphasizing historical description in the approved textbooks.
It has been reported through abundant research that many primary school students do not have an adequate understanding of insect morphology (especially positioning of the six legs) even after ...learning about insects in third grade. However, insect morphology can be learnt effectively through comparison with the morphology of other arthropods. Spiders are one of the best examples for use in comparative anatomy; insect mimicry by spiders, moreover, offers students an opportunity to discuss morphology in an evolutionary context. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop materials for teaching students about insect morphology and adaptive significance by comparing ants and ant-mimic spiders. Science classes in two primary schools were given these teaching materials to use. A comparison of pre- and post-test scores revealed that the teaching materials enhanced students’ understanding of where the six legs are positioned on an insect body. Also, our video to explain the adaptive significance of ant-mimicry in spiders offered a valuable opportunity for the students to think from an evolutionary perspective.
Contrary to the assumption of worldwide diffusion processes of internationally circulating reform ideas in education there are examples of regions that resist. In the present study, the phenomenon of ...incorporating international reform ideas into local education systems is examined using new institutionalism as a theory for its explanatory power of worldwide diffusion processes in education together with a set of cases that offer semi-lab-like conditions: Not all German federated states have adopted Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees for teacher training; some have maintained the state examination. Based on this empirical finding, the question of the dissertation is: Whether and how were the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in German teacher training implemented on the federated statelevel in the period between 1999 and 2013? It can be shown that the federal ministers of higher education specified three core characteristics of the Bologna Process, namely the introduction of Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, a credit point system, and modularisation. A decision of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of Germany made in 2005 further ensured that the reformed degrees were recognised nationwide for teachers as well. The educational organisations’ demands were characterised by a large number of positive and only a few negative votes concerning the implementation of the Bologna Process in German teacher education. To provide specific insights into the reform process, this study focuses on teacher training for secondary school teachers, comparing the teacher training regulations as of 1999 with all subsequent changes until 2013 to obtain the degree of change for each federated state. As a result, it can be stated that eight states introduced reformed degrees into secondary school teacher education and eight states kept the state examination. Both groups are then compared as to whether a change of the degree towards Bachelor’s and Master’s is more likely to be accompanied by further reforms. The results suggest that while changes have occurred in all states, the percentage increase of courses in education and didactics, as well as the increased study duration, correlates positively with a change of the degree structure. Therefore one can interpret that the Bologna reforms, especially those concerning the degree structure, were used to implement other curricular and structural reforms that were not related to the Bologna Process itself. In the last step, plenary debates on the federated state level regarding the introduction of these Bologna reforms are analysed to examine the justifications for the introduction of a change in the degree structure, as well as for maintaining the state examination. Justifications or strategies for preserving the state examination are particularly relevant because they act against the political and public expectations analysed earlier. In a nutshell, it can be stated that the innovative strength of the partial reforms adopted in the hybrid model and the exclusion of a fundamental criticism of Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees are used as a strategy to reject the implementation of a new degree structure without being interpreted as non-innovative. Federated states that implemented the degree reform referenced decisions made in other states or regions, as well as possible negative consequences of not implementing the degrees, to support their decision while also presenting it within the discourse as a window of opportunity for more fundamental reforms in teacher training.
Entgegen der Annahme weltweiter Diffusionsprozesse international kursierender Reformideen in der Bildungspolitik gibt es Beispiele für Regionen, die sich widersetzen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird dieses Phänomen mithilfe eines Sets an Fällen untersucht, die in ihrer Gesamtheit quasi-laborartige Bedingungen bieten: Im Zuge des Bologna-Prozesses haben einige Bundesländer die Abschlüsse ‚Bachelor‘ und ‚Master‘ für die Lehrer*innenbildung übernommen, während andere die Staatsprüfung beibehalten haben. Ausgehend von diesem Befund wird in der Arbeit die Frage untersucht, mit welchen Strategien die Bologna-Reformen in der Lehrer*innenbildung der einzelnen Bundesländer in den Jahren von 1999 bis 2013 politisch umgesetzt bzw. wie deren Implementation verhindert wurde. Die Analyse der Erwartungen bildungspolitischer Akteure zeigt, dass die Hochschulminister*innen im Bologna-Prozess drei Kernmerkmale für die Organisation von Studiengängen festlegten, nämlich Bachelor- und Masterabschlüsse, ein Leistungspunktesystem und die Modularisierung. Darüber hinaus wurde die Bologna-Reform durch die Kultusministerkonferenz im Jahr 2005 auch für die Lehrer*innenbildung deutschlandweit anerkannt. Der Diskurs weiterer wichtiger bildungspolitischer Akteure zeichnet sich darüber hinaus durch eine Vielzahl an positiven gegenüber nur wenigen negativen Stimmen zur Implementation des Bologna-Prozesses in der Lehrer*innenbildung aus. Um die tatsächlichen Reformen differenziert betrachten zu können, wird der Fokus der zweiten Untersuchung allein auf das gymnasiale Lehramt gelegt. Dabei wird für jedes Bundesland die Gestaltung der Studienphase im Jahr 1999 mit dem Stand im Jahr 2013 verglichen. Dabei kann festgestellt werden, dass in allen Bundesländern sowohl das Leistungspunktesystem als auch die Modularisierung eingeführt wurden. Eine Reform der Staatsprüfung hin zu einem Masterabschluss wurde im Untersuchungszeitraum jedoch nur in acht der 16 Bundesländer umgesetzt. Die Einführung der Bachelor- und Masterabschlüsse ging zudem mit einer prozentualen Erhöhung des Anteils der Berufswissenschaften, definiert als Fachdidaktiken, Bildungswissenschaften und Schulpraktika, sowie einer Verlängerung der Studienzeit einher. Dies kann dahingehend interpretiert werden, dass die Bologna- Reformen insgesamt und die Einführung der Bachelor- und Masterabschlüsse im Besonderen als window of opportunity genutzt wurden, um auch andere Reformen umzusetzen. In der dritten Untersuchung werden Plenardebatten in den Bundesländern im Rahmen der Einführung der Bologna-Reformen analysiert, um die Begründungen für eine Reform bzw. für die Beibehaltung der Staatsprüfung zu untersuchen. Insbesondere Begründungen bzw. Strategien der Nicht-Einführung sind dabei besonders relevant, weil sie gängigen theoretischen Annahmen der Diffusion von international kursierenden Reformideen widersprechen. Zusammenfassend kann festgehalten werden, dass die Innovationskraft bzw. Passfähigkeit des eigenen Gesetzentwurfs unter Ausschluss einer Fundamentalkritik an den Bachelor- und Masterabschlüssen als Strategie verwendet wurden, um die Einführung dieser Abschlüsse zu umgehen, ohne gleichzeitig als rückständig im Vergleich zu den Ländern mit einer vollständigen Implementation zu gelten. Bei einer Implementation der Abschlüsse dient neben dem diskursiv hergestellten window of opportunity auch der Verweis auf an anderen Orten getroffene Entscheidungen und den daraus resultierenden negativen Konsequenzen für das eigene Bundesland bei einer etwaigen Nicht-Implementation als legitimitätsstiftend.
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