Teaching and learning methods and practices
The common pedagogical approaches and characteristics identified from
the case studies conducted in Niigata and Akita are as follows: 1) introducing
diverse verbal activities; 2) using group work effectively; 3) creating lessons
with students’ participation and using positive reinforcement; and 4)
strengthening the commitment of the local community.
Introducing diverse verbal activities
Students in the observed classes were engaged in various verbal activities.
For example, every student participated in creating a summary of individual
opinions in a notebook, sharing ideas with other students in small groups,
discussing the subject to reach consensus, presenting in front of the class,
and producing ‘reflection notebooks’. Other types of verbal activities that the
research team observed included group exercises, explaining the results of
an experiment, and discussing the findings.
Another example of verbal activities was observed in the primary school
in Akita, where a teacher introduced a set of expressions to formulate
statements in logical manner. To summarize the results of their science
experiments, the students practiced using the sentence, ‘my prediction was
XX, the result was YY, and therefore the findings were ZZ’. By repeating the
sentence and listening to others, the students developed a logical way of
making a statement. It was evident that the students were confident when
presenting in front of others, freely sharing their opinions. Observers noted
that students were accustomed to praising each others’ presentations, and
were open to different opinions.
During an observation at Otemachi Primary School in Niigata, the teacher
repeatedly asked the students to compare their results with others. This
method of ‘compare and discuss’ was used strategically, requiring interactive
communication by the students, critical thinking and a willingness to
understand others. This kind of activity was even seen in mathematics lessons.
Instead of reciting and calculating during the lessons, the students were
active in explaining how they reached the answers. The teacher incorporated
the results of the students’ discussions when concluding the lesson.
The research team found from the lesson observations that open-ended
questions were employed effectively by teachers, so that students naturally
responded using their own reasoning. Teachers often encouraged students
to use logic by asking ‘why?’, ‘how do you explain?’ and ‘what do you think?’