A growing number of teachers and researchers believe that it is necessary to make more use of the knowledge that already exists in schools. They feel it is important to stimulate further dialogue and spread local experiences of inclusion internationally. In this article, Yoko Isobe shares some of her experience from Japanese schools. She highlights an approach that is helping teachers to work together and learn from each other, in their efforts to become more inclusive.
The Japanese Context
Japan is one of 92 governments which endorsed the 1994 Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education. It is also a major international donor. Some inclusive education projects in the Asia and Pacific region are funded by the Japanese Funds-in-Trust (JFIT), initiated in 2002 by the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau of Education. However, although the special education system in Japan is well developed, the issue of inclusive education in Japanese schools has not been discussed much internationally.
My fieldwork in Japanese primary schools revealed that most teachers were not aware of, or had only recently become aware of the term inclusion. In the context of Japan this is quite likely to be a matter of language. This is because few international documents are available in Japanese, and international education concepts such as inclusion are not always easy for people to understand.
The latest UNESCO report, Guidelines for Inclusion: Ensuring access to education for all (UNESCO, 2005) defines inclusion as “a dynamic approach of responding positively to pupil diversity” (p.12). The translation of diversity in Japanese is tayousei, which literally means ‘many kinds’. But this word is not commonly used in daily life or in education debates. Also, Japan is often described as a less diverse society in relation to language and ethnicity. The official language is Japanese, 89.5% of Japanese citizens describe their standard of life as middle class, and there is only a small proportion of foreign residents (non-Japanese citizens). Issues relating to foreign residents and ethnic minority groups (such as Koreans) in Japan are still largely hidden and not discussed.
Currently, about 80% of Korean pupils in Japan attend Japanese schools, like Suzuki primary school. The rest attend Korean schools. However, some who attend Japanese schools hide their ethnicity as they worry about the reaction from Japanese pupils and teachers. Ten years ago, when I was a student at a Japanese secondary school, a friend’s parents told her she was North Korean. She had not known about her ethnicity before; they had chosen not to tell her. But when she reached her 16th birthday, her parents had to register as ‘foreigners’, so they told her the truth. This illustrates the hidden nature and sensitivity of historical issues relating to ethnicity, which some believe should be addressed openly. Let me share the story of Suzuki primary school, which is working to be more open and inclusive of pupils from minority ethnic groups.
Suzuki Primary School
In this primary school, ethnicity is a sensitive issue. The school has North Korean students who come from a sizeable North Korean population living in the area. To help all children from all ethnic backgrounds to feel comfortable and enjoy the school, teachers have conducted practice-based research known as ‘lesson study’ for more than 20 years.
Lesson Study
‘Lesson study’ involves the concept of teacher self-improvement, stimulated by colleagues. It has its origins in Japanese elementary education. Teams of teachers systematically and collaboratively conduct research towards certain goals. The goals and the nature of ‘lesson study’ vary according to individual schools or classrooms. In Suzuki primary school, the focus is on recognising the needs and rights of the North Korean pupils, and so ‘rights of [all] the children’ is the common objective.
In Fuji ‘lesson study’ involves a small group of colleagues who teach the same grades. They meet once a week for several hours to improve their teaching and knowledge regarding children’s rights. The process is: 1) teachers jointly plan; 2) they conduct lessons called ‘research lessons’, which are observed by other teachers and external observers; 3) all teachers gather and discuss the ‘research lesson’ to help them achieve their chosen long-term goal.
Here is an example. The ‘mini-soft-volleyball’ physical education lesson in Year 4 involves 6 systematic lessons across the year. Ms. Sato decided to use the third lesson as a ‘research lesson’, while the other teachers observed.
- Planning Phase
Miss Sato’s teacher group consisted of senior teachers of Year 4. To achieve the long-term goal of the year (‘education for individual children’s rights’) she tried to understand the situation in her class. She felt that while some children were active and had clear opinions, others had feelings which they could not express or act upon.
To make physical education enjoyable for all of them, in the first and second of the six lessons she asked children to create their own rules to help themselves and others to enjoy playing mini-soft-volleyball. After the game she took time to reflect with her pupils about how they had played. They also discussed how they could improve the game to include somebody who is often excluded, so they could enjoy it with the others. To enhance this experience in physical education effectively, she also decided to introduce ‘speech time and duty’ in morning assembly to encourage pupils to listen to others and to write instead of speak
- ‘Research Lesson’ Phase
The carefully prepared lesson plan was studied by all members of the group. Miss Sato then conducted her lesson in the gym while the group members and other teachers watched. The person in charge of physical education from the municipality was also invited as a consultant.
- Discussion Phase
When the ‘research lesson’ was over, a discussion was held to exchange opinions about the lesson. This began with an explanation of the lesson objectives given by the teacher. Then, the observing teachers gave their opinions or asked questions in turn, commenting on the basis of their own experience.
Influence of the ‘Lesson Study’ concept
In this example, Year 4 pupils learned about the importance of peer power (they had created and followed their own rules for their class). They also learned about co-operative activities for responding to differences (they had reflected on how to include previously excluded pupils). The teachers in the group, including Miss Sato, gained more positive views about the benefits of group learning, as a way of helping children to raise their own issues to be resolved by themselves.
More importantly, all teachers discussed and evaluated lessons, which enabled them to share important topics throughout the whole school. Currently, most Suzuki teachers understand each child’s situation and share roles regardless of which class or grade they are assigned. The music teacher, for example, often took a Korean boy in Year 5 home after school, because she knew he experienced emotional problems and that his parents worked late.
There are still some children who hide their real names, as these would reveal their ethnicity. However, the head teacher comments that whether children have changed their names or not, all feel comfortable and enjoy Suzuki primary school. With regard to inclusive education, Suzuki primary school is moving towards providing better environments for individual children. The effectiveness of collaboration between teachers during ‘lesson study’ is widely recognised as being a strong element in developing an inclusive and welcoming school culture.
Inclusion often requires radical changes of policies and practices, but existing local and low-cost resources such as ‘lesson study’ can also facilitate inclusive education. We still have many things to learn from existing practices already applied in our schools! (idp-europe.org)
Ms. Yoko Isobe is working for JICA. She can be contacted via email: isobeyk@hotmail.com or post: 21-1-704, Nanpeidai, Miyamae, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.
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