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The School HouseVolume 26, Issue 2

In this Issue （内容)

P3: From the Editor

P4: Active Autumn Activities for Young Learners By Kathleen Kampa

P10: Imagining an ideal school in Japan By Johan Saputra Muljadi,

The Publication of the JALT Teaching Younger Learners SIG 全国語学教育学会若い⼈たちに教える研究部会研究部会定款

The School House Volume 26, Issue 2

Editor Paul Nanton

Hongo Gakuen

ISSN: 1881-0713

JALT Junior Site Chair Paul Nanton

Publicity Chair Mary Virgil-Uchida

Officers at Large Aleda Krause

Kim Horne Eric Kane

Buzz Green

Coordinator Kenn Gale

Programs Chair Marybeth Kamibeppu

Publication Chair Paul Nanton

Treasurer Emi Sugita

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From the Editor To all Younger Learners Teachers,

I hope all your classes are going well. By the time you read this, JALT’s annual conference in Shizuoka (November 23 -26) will be upon us. I recommend all teachers, if possible, to take part in this conference. It’s at this conference that JALT Junior (JJ) takes place. Please stop by the JJ booth to say hello but also get involved. See you there!

In this issue, we have a couple of articles that examine a variety of issues from a seasonal lesson to potential educational reform in Japan. The first article by Kathleen Kampa discusses how autumn based themes create opportunities for young learners to increase speaking and moving in class. The second article by Johan Saputra Muljadi looks at knowledge-based learning and how it could reform the Japanese education system.

If you want to know more about the SIG or have a question you can get onto our lively Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/groups/jshsig/). We now have about 130 members and regular posts offering advice, links, information, jobs and a sense of community! See you there!!

(pnanton@gmail.com).

Paul Nanton, Editor, The School House

Winter– Volume 26, Issue 2

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Active Autumn Activities for Young Learners

By Kathleen Kampa

My kindergarten students love the magic of autumn! They delight in gathering the various fallen leaves and looking for acorns in the park. If you rake up a pile of leaves, they’ll jump in it over and over again.

�My students collected a variety of leaves, and then we studied them closely. We inquired, Which ones are the same? Which ones are different? Actually, no two leaves are exactly alike in autumn.

We looked at the leaves. My students could talk about the colors. It’s red and yellow. It’s brown. This leaf is pink, brown, and yellow. This leaf is purple. I always thought that autumn leaves were red, yellow, orange, and brown, so I was surprised to hear that the students saw pink and purple. If you look closely at the leaves of the cherry trees, you might see these colors too! They could put the leaves that were similar into groups.

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We talked about size. These leaves are tiny. This leaf is bigger. This leaf is big. (Note: I change my voice to give the idea of size. Use a higher voice for tiny and a deeper voice for big.)

Then, we talked about things that were unusual about the leaves. I see little brown spots. We noticed that some were old and crumpled easily. Oh no! We could talk about some of the trees they came from. This is a cherry tree leaf. This comes from a gingko tree.

Then we played! We took turns dropping each of the leaves to the ground. We watched how they fell. Some fell quickly. The two small leaves spun in a circle falling to the ground.

After exploring leaves and building some background knowledge, the students learned this song about autumn leaves. If you have a xylophone or glockenspiel, you can play it by starting at the shortest bar (C) (do), and going step by step to the longest bar (C). Generally hold each note for three counts. You can see where some of the words share one pitch. It’s in 3/4 time.

Autumn Leaves Song One (traditional melody)Down, down, down, down, the leaves are falling to the ground. 

    do       ti        la       sol             fa               mi        re        do

Whoosh!

You can make this song a little more complicated by adding the colors of autumn leaves. I added a second verse to help children practice the colors of the leaves. We may have to add purple and pink!

Red, yellow, orange, and brown, the leaves are falling to the ground. 

do       ti         la        sol             fa               mi        re        do

Whoosh!

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My students LOVE this song and will sing this song over and over again until you finally bring the song to a close by saying “Last time” and eliminating the “Whoosh!” (You can find the recording on iTunes if you’re interested.)

I believe that young learners should have time to move in my lessons. Movement helps students learn concepts through a kinesthetic approach. We use lightweight, dance scarves (available on Amazon.jp) to create movement like the leaves. Ask students, Which color do you want? The scarves come in many colors, so they can choose the color they want to dance with. As they sing, they can swing the scarves back and forth across their bodies and move their bodies lower and lower, just like the music. When students sing “Whoosh!” they toss their scarves into the air. Students love to spin around like the leaves they observed. I remind them to spin in both directions.

Many teachers of young learners believe that it’s important for students to cross the midline, which is the imaginary line running from our brains to our feet separating our right and left body sides. Many tasks that young learners do require the skill of crossing the center of their bodies. When they spin, they’re stimulating their vestibular systems, too. The children love to toss and catch the scarves. It’s an easy way to build eye-hand coordination. Students are using their imaginations and discovering many different ways to move with the scarves.

When we finish with scarves, I sing a transitional song to put the scarves away.

Fold, fold, fold our scarves. Fold them very neatly. (2X)

Do do sol fa mi, do do re do sol (below C) sol

Then we put them away, singing (Skip to My Lou melody) (on Jump Jump Everyone)

Scarves please. Here you are (3X)

Thank you very much!

As an extension to this activity, you can create an art project. My friend Kim Horne created autumn leaves out of construction paper. They’re beautiful with dabs of paint. My students enjoyed making leaf rubbings by placing the leaves under paper and coloring over them with crayons or colored pencils.

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Here are two articles you may find helpful about the use of movement in the young learner classroom.

Crossing Midline: Why It Is Important to Your Child’s Development

By: Lauren Civiello, M.S., CCC-SLPhttp://spectrumpediatrics.com/blog/2013/12/crossingmidline/

Why Young Kids Learn Through MovementBy Lara N. Dotson-Renta MAY 19, 2016 https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/05/why-young-kids-learn-through-movement/483408/

You can find my autumn music “Falling Leaves” on iTunes or through Englishbooks.jp. It’s on my CD Jump Jump Everyone.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/falling-leaves/1064026369?i=1064026396

Throughout Japan, Asia, and indeed much of the world, many teachers and parents are familiar with Kathy Kampa and her exuberant approach to educating and inspiring young learners. Since 2001, Kathy and Charles have co-authored three ELT courses for young learners published by OUP (Magic Time, Everybody Up, and the ELTon award-winning Oxford Discover), and have conducted hundreds of teacher-training workshops in over twelve countries across three continents.As a PYP (Primary Years Program) teacher, Kathy

uses an inquiry-based approach to teaching through which students develop the 21st century skills of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. Kathy supports the development of English language skills by creating songs, chants, and movement activities targeted to young learners’ physical and cognitive development.

Most recently, Kathy has created two CDs of creative songs and chants for young learners, Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays and Jump Jump Everyone. Every song that Kathy creates has been developed along with her students in her classroom, and offer wonderful opportunities to build confidence in English as children move and sing together.

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Courses published by Oxford University Press:Magic Time 2e, Levels 1 and 2Everybody Up 2e, Levels 5 and 6Oxford Discover, Levels 3 and 4

Blog Posts:5 Ways Your Young Learners Will Change The Worldhttps://oupeltglobalblog.com/2015/11/18/5-ways-your-young-learners-of-english-will-change-the-world/

Creativity In the Young Learner Classroomhttps://oupeltglobalblog.com/2014/03/03/creativity-in-the-young-learner-classroom/Managing the Perfect Classroomhttps://oupeltglobalblog.com/2013/12/03/managing-the-perfect-classroom/

Magic Time Kids Blog posts and videos for teachers of young learnershttps://magictimekids.com/

Videos:Teaching 21st Century Skills: Oxford Discover Sample Lesson 1 (Part 1) (also Part 2-4 available)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqLGBmr_oX0&list=PLxE1zzJKa1eF6Bj5xIGpXco3bTKeyqg3T

Everybody Up:Using Songs in the Classroom -Example from Everybody Up 2nd Edition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whvsz7e_oN8&t=6s

21st Century Skills in Everybody Up 2nd Editionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijk5aEgAFRI&index=97&list=PL3A0B3BF2E75E11EB

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Imagining an ideal school in Japan: why teachers should never stop dreaming

By Johan Saputra Muljadi

British Council

Education in Japan needs reform. At the very least, that is what I believe. In Japan, success in education is based solely on graduating from an elite university that leads to a well-paid job. Fukuzawa (1994) describes this change as a shift from developing students’ social abilities to a knowledge based curriculum. This is where my ideal school plays an important role in Japanese society. It is a learning community which escapes “examination hell” (McConnell, 2000, p. 269.) This is crucial because exam-related stress in East Asia has been blamed for high rates of depression in youths (Lee and Larson, 1999) and for some, the reason for refusal to attend school, study or become hikikomori, ‘social withdrawal’ (Lewis, 1995; Yoneyama; 1999). If the whole community is responsible for nurturing education for the young minds, how can they help if all there is to education is cramming? This is the inspiration for this article. I will explain how my ideal school will address the issues of discrimination, knowledge-based learning and teachers’ workload. As President Obama puts it, “so we got to work, making real changes to improve the chances for all of our young people, from the time they’re born all the way through until they got a career.” (Strauss, 2016). Discrimination is a serious issue in Japan. It is said that, according to Devos (2010, p. 183), “one cannot become Japanese through socialization. Japaneseness must be inherited.” Befu (2010, p. 192) describes this aspect of Japanese culture as “habitus of homogeneity”, which means the “exclusion of foreigners, an ethnocentric disposition to exclude anyone other than ethnic Japanese.” Japanese people tend to assume that if one lives in Japan, one should be able to behave, speak and think Japanese. In schools, this could lead to bullying in which one important question for a school to answer is whether non-traditional students (half-Japanese, foreign-born Japanese, students who need extra support with Japanese language) can blend-in without being bullied. My school accepts all students regardless of their background such as “children who are accompanied by their parents on overseas work assignments (kaigaishijo) and who returned to Japan (kikokushijo)” (Hayden and Thompson, 2008, p. 45). Parents can feel assured because my school will prepare students for both worlds: Japanese and International. In the classroom, the goal is to respect different cultures and customs. All students need to understand the foundation of

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“kindness, collaboration and persistence” (Lewis, 1995, p. 1) which are important aspects of Japanese culture. All students are also expected to master the Japanese language upon graduation, having a rich knowledge of keigo (language formality), hikaeme (modesty) and sonkei (respect) which are difficult to master without formal classroom instructions (DeCoker and Bjork, 2013; Tsujimoto and Yamasaki, 2018). My school will hire a sufficient number of teachers to respond to students’ needs as often, students lack the opportunities for individual language support. The balance between preserving old values and shaping students for the future will be a priority for my school. Therefore, students are expected to follow typical Japanese school traditions such as school lunches, cleaning the school and compulsory committee activities (Cave, 2007). The routine will foster understanding of team-work and consideration of others; students learn how to deal with situations constructively. Furthermore, the focus on knowledge-based learning in Japan is an educational issue that needs to be addressed. Confucian-heritage cultures such as in Japan are often perceived as passive, dependent and lacking critical thinking skills (Mason, 2008) where many scholars believe that it is due to teacher-centered classrooms where “much heed is paid to the ‘correct’ answer” (Smith and Swan, 2001, p. 309). Similar to the education system in Finland (Sahlberg, 2011; Stewart, 2012), my ideal school is committed to equality by utilizing individualized curriculum to cater to the various learning styles of children. The focus would be “encouraging students to follow their curiosity and work on real problems” (Stewart, 2012, p. 61). In the classroom, teachers will follow a social reconstruction view. Teachers would “help pupils in the process of understanding, appreciating, criticizing and, when older, changing society’s norms and institutions” (Bottery, 1990, p. 8). The teaching focusses on progressive learning and the idea of mastery learning (Brophy, 2010) will be enforced; there would be ample opportunities for students to fail not because of not meeting the standards to master specified learning objectives. For example: if a student has spent most of his or her formal education in a non-English setting, there would be challenges that he or she would face when transferring into an international setting. Without a doubt, gaps in language abilities would be present. This is where mastery learning plays an important role in teaching and learning. As Hallam (2002) has suggested, students can spend time learning and working on relevant materials at their own pace. “Those students who do not achieve mastery are given feedback and corrective activities by the teacher or pupils who were successful” (Hallam, 2002, p. 527).  There will be an online education platform similar to Khan Academy (Khan

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Academy, 2018). In my school, every student can access this platform from their given iPads or using their home computers so students can revisit the topic again until they achieve mastery. Lastly but not least of all, teachers’ workload must be re-organized. In Japan, school teachers’ responsibilities include duties beyond teachers in other countries: visits’ to students homes, management of daily meetings of school clubs, and sometimes mediation with police when students are in trouble with the law (Sunderland, 2011). Professional development is time-consuming. Therefore, to teach the active learners in my school, the teachers at my school will be well-trained. Similar to what is currently happening in Finland, teachers will receive many hours a week for professional development (Walker, 2016). Through professional development, the teachers at my school will be able to use up-to-date information technology appropriately. These include assigning collaboration tasks, assessing students online and uploading classroom materials for students to have unlimited access (Trilling and Hood, 2001). This approach hopes to decrease teachers’ workload. My ideal school will always care about the teachers. I understand that teachers are also human beings and the school is always welcoming to listen to their opinions. For teachers to be able to balance between life and work, as much as possible, meetings will be delivered online so that teachers can spend more time at home. My school is always committed to the well-being of teachers. As an English teacher at a private Japanese elementary school, discrimination, knowledge-based learning and teachers’ workload are three important issues in education that I wish the school could solve immediately. However, like many other problems, some perhaps can be solved over time and some are perhaps unsolvable. As the title of this article suggests, this is my imagination of an ideal school in Japan and I encourage teachers to “never stop dreaming.” I find that teachers’ work is endless: we record students’ marks, we play outside with the students during recess, we plan lessons outside of school hours, we continuously thrive for students’ success. The perfect school does not exist but we know that we love our job, therefore never stop dreaming because one day, the school that we are working at will one day be an ideal one.

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ReferencesBepu, H. (2010) Societal and Cultural Context of Educational Issues. In: Gordon, J., Fujita, H., Kariya, T. and LeTendre, G. (2010). Challenges to Japanese education, pp.181-188. New York: Teachers College Press.Bottery, M. (1990) The Morality of the School. London: Cassell.Brophy, J. (2010). Motivating students to learn. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge.Cave, P. (2007) Primary school in Japan: Self, individuality and learning in elementary education. London: Routledge.DeCoker, G. and Bjork, C. (2013) Japanese education in an era of globalization. New York: Teachers College Press.DeVos, G. A. (2010) Challenges to Japanese Education: Concluding Thoughts. In: Gordon, J., Fujita, H., Kariya, T. and LeTendre, G. (2010). Challenges to Japanese education, pp.181-188. New York: Teachers College Press.Fukuzawa, R. E. (1994) The path to adulthood according to Japanese middle schools. Journal of Japanese Studies, 20(1), 61 - 86.Hallam, S. (2002) Ability grouping in schools: A literature review. In: Pollard, A. (Ed.) Readings for Reflective Teaching, pp. 523-529. 2nd ed. London: Bloomsbury. Hayden, M. and Thompson, J. (2008) International Schools: growth and influence. [online] Unesdoc.unesco.org. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001803/180396e.pdf [Accessed 6 Oct. 2018].Khan Academy. (2018). Khan Academy. [online] Available at: https://www.khanacademy.org [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].Lewis, C. (1995) Educating hearts and minds: Reflections on Japanese preschool and elementary education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Mason, M. (2008) Critical thinking and learning. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.McConnell, D. L. (2000) Importing diversity: Inside Japan’s JET program. Berkeley: University of California Press.Sahlberg, P. (2014) What the world can learn from educational change in Finland. In: Pollard, A. (Ed.) Readings for Reflective Teaching, pp. 144-152. 2nd ed. London: Bloomsbury. Stewart, V. (2012) A world-class education: Learning from International Models of Excellence and Innovation. Alexandria: ASCD.Strauss, V. (2016) President Obama’s education speech at D.C.’s Benjamin Banneker High School. [online] Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/10/21/president-obamas-education-speech-at-d-c-s-benjamin-banneker-high-school-2/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.620bdee44ea1 [Accessed 6 Oct. 2018].Sunderland, S. (2011) Team teaching English in Japan. Saarbrèucken: LAP Lambert.Swan, M. and Smith, B. (2001) Learner English. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Trilling, B. and Hood, P. (1999) Learning, Technology, and Education Reform in the Knowledge Age or “We’re Wired, Webbed, and Windowed, Now What?”. [online] May/June edition of Educational Technology. Available at: https://www.wested.org/online_pubs/learning_technology.pdf [Accessed 10 November 2018]. Tsujimoto, M. and Yamasaki, Y. (2018) The History of Education in Japan (1600 - 2000). New York: Routledge.Walker, T. (2016) Teacher Time in Finnish Schools and Beyond. [online] Taught by Finland. Available at: http://taughtbyfinland.com/teacher-time-finland-vs-united-states-beyond/ [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].Yoneyama, S. (1999) The Japanese high school: Silence and resistance. London: Routledge.

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