• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2000.07a
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• pp.235-240
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• 2000

In the age of global communication, more human exchange is extended at the grass-roots level. In the old days, language policy and language planning was based on one nation-state with one language. But high waves of globalizaiton have allowed extended human flow of exchange beyond one's national border on a daily basis. Under such circumstances, homogeneity in Japan may not allow Japanese to speak and communicate only in Japanese and only with Japanese people. In Japan, an advisory report was made to the Ministry of Education in June 1996 about what education should be like in the 21st century. In this report, an introduction of English at public elementary schools was for the first time made. A basic policy of English instruction at the elementary school level was revealed. With this concept, English instruction is not required at the elementary school level but each school has their own choice of introducing English as their curriculum starting April 2002. As Baker, Colin (1996) indicates the age of three as being the threshold diving a child becoming bilingual naturally or by formal instruction. Threre is a movement towards making second language acquisition more naturalistic in an educational setting, developing communicative competence in a more or less formal way. From the lesson of the Canadian immersion success, Genesee (1987) stresses the importance of early language instruction. It is clear that from a psycho-linguistic perspective, most children acquire basic communication skills in their first language apparently effortlessly and without systematic and formal instruction during the first six or seven years of life. This innate capacity diminishes with age, thereby making language learning increasingly difficult. The author, being a returnee, experienced considerable difficulty acquiring L2, and especially achieving native-like competence. There will be many hurdles to conquer until Japanese students are able to reach at least a communicative level in English. It has been mentioned that English is not taught to clear the college entrance examination, but to communicate. However, Japanese college entrance examination still makes students focus more on the grammar-translation method. This is expected to shift to a more communication stressed approach. Japan does not have to aim at becoming an official bilingual country, but at least communicative English should be taught at every level in school Mito College is a small two-year co-ed college in Japan. Students at Mito College are basically notgood at English. It has only one department for business and economics, and English is required for all freshmen. It is necessary for me to make my classes enjoyable and attractive so that students can at least get motivated to learn English. My major target is communicative English so that students may be prepared to use English in various business settings. As an experiment to introduce more communicative English, the author has made the following syllabus design. This program aims at training students speak and enjoy English. 90-minute class (only 190-minute session per week is most common in Japanese colleges) is divided into two: The first half is to train students orally using Graded Direct Method. The latter half uses different materials each time so that students can learn and enjoy English culture and language simultaneously. There are no quizes or examinations in my one-academic year program. However, all students are required to make an original English poem by the end of the spring semester. 2-6 students work together in a group on one poem. Students coming to Mito College, Japan have one of the lowest English levels in all of Japan. However, an attached example of one poem made by a group shows that students can improve their creativity as long as they are kept encouraged. At the end of the fall semester, all students are then required individually to make a 3-minute original English speech. An example of that speech contest will be presented at the Convention in Seoul.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.763-777
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• 2013

This is a case study on two schools practising integrated science education (hereafter ISE). The purposes of this study are to investigate the types and features of ISE in the schools actively practising ISE, to identify the contextual factors of the schools, and to give implications for implementing ISE in schools. This study investigated the contextual factors in practicing ISE with a focus on the two schools, a middle school in Gyeonggi-do and a high school in Busan. They were breaking down the boundaries among teaching subjects and providing student-oriented instruction with problems in the real world. The data were collected by observing classes, by interviewing teachers, and by reviewing school documents and students' reports. The research findings are as follows: first, the two schools took part in ISE actively. They teach science to students providing integrated experiences mainly by using interdisciplinary knowledge and/or by solving the problems pertaining to the real world. While the former integrated subjects centering on topics, the latter focused on a project-based learning driven by students. They have differences in regard to the role of teachers and students, the level of integration and the type of integration. Second, the contextual factors that enabled ISE to be implemented there were found. The previous studies revealed six contextual factors in practising ISE: small and stable learning environment, leadership, team activities, in-school planning time, flexible timetable and community links. This study also found similar factors. However, the cases of this study provided ISE on a large scale and in a short period of time, instead of a small and stable learning environment. Teachers viewed the process of ISE not only as a tool to overcome the conservative culture of teachers but also as a pursuit of innovation.

• Hwankyungkyoyuk
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.51-62
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• 2000

This study examined the current status of school environmental education (EE) in Germany, and attempted to propose strategies to develop school EE in Korea. The study intended to accomplish the following goals: First, this study attempted to examine the developmental process of school EE in Germany. Second, exemplary cases of site-based experiential education in Germany are selected and analysed to develop pedagogical strategies in school EE in Korea. The strategies for development proposed in this study can be summarized as follows: First, the focus of EE should go beyond that of "solving or curing"environmental problems and pollutions, and need to be re-directed to pursue an "education for sustainable development", a new paradigm for future EE. Second, EE should increasingly integrate outdoor site-based, experiential programs into the currently classroom-based and knowledge-driven forms of education, not only to maximize its educational effect but also and knowledge-driven forms of education, not only to maximize its educational effect but also to coordinate the instruction of EE in the context of the educational reform agenda, currently undergoing since the late 1990s, in Korea. Third, teaching-learning materials for EE should be variously developed, and programs should be encouraged to serve local needs and circumstances for effective classroom practices, and criteria for standardization and professionalization should be sought in developing these programs. Fourth, it is recommended that the Ministry of Environment secure funds to facilitate the local school authorities at the municipal and provincial levels to operate a mobile environmental support system, equivalent to the function of the "Lumbricus"in Germany. Fifth, an external support network should be established among the support agencies for EE. Especially, a professional agency or institute to academically support school EE and a special planning committee for enhancing EE need to be established for resource and personal development. Parents′voluntary participation should also be encouraged to establish a tripartite network of "school-community-government" to support and facilitate school EE.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.95-119
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• 2015

This study discussed the major notion of backward design placing emphasis on performance and evaluation, and clarified the concepts of 'understanding' and 'enduring understanding' based on the literature of Wiggins and McTighe and previous studies. This study also developed a sample curriculum module for a consumer unit for 7 class hours based on the 'Understanding by Design' template. This study concluded that backward design can contribute to achieving student's high performance from evaluation planning prior to actual instruction, to utilizing learning with higher order thinking and skills by analyzing key concepts, and to reconstructing curriculum contents considering a teacher's perspective, students' needs, and each school's situation and context.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.787-794
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to examine the science writing and perception of students who experienced the argument-based claim and evidence writing approach. One hundred and eight grade 11 students were assigned to an experimental group, while 99 grade 12 students were assigned to a comparative group in their earth science classes. Students' science writings on two science topics were scored using an analytic rubric developed in this study. The comparison of experimental and comparative groups in science writing was carried out using an independent two samples t-test. Students' perception on the instruction was examined using an open-ended survey. Science writing by the experimental group scored significantly higher than that by the comparative group, except for the big idea of 'green energy'. For six concepts in 'green energy' and four concepts in 'plate tectonics, there were more students in the experimental group than the comparative group who indicated them in their science writing. Students' perception on the instruction was positive in that they mentioned planning and conducting inquiry, citing of claims and evidence, and developing inquiry questions were helpful in science learning. The results of this study imply that the argument-based claim and evidence writing approach should be implemented in science classrooms for students to develop a conceptual framework for science.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.519-531
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• 2021

This study investigates the science teacher identity of pre-service science teachers (PSTs) in the context of a teaching practice course. Twenty-two PSTs who took the 'Biological Science Lab. for Inquiry Learning' course at the College of Education participated in this study. Artifacts created during the course were collected, and the teaching practices and reflections were recorded and transcribed. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine PSTs, recorded, and transcribed. We found the science teacher identity was not well revealed at the beginning of the course. Authoritative discourse appeared in the early oral reflections of PSTs, indicating that the PSTs perceived oral reflection activities as 'evaluation activities for teaching practice'. This perception shows that pre-service teachers participate in teaching practice courses as students attending a university, performing tasks and receiving evaluations from instructors. After the middle of the course, discourses showing the science teacher identity of the PSTs were observed. In the oral reflection after the middle part, dialogic discourses often arose, showing that the PSTs perceive the oral reflection activities as a 'learning activity for professional development'. In addition, in the second half, discourse appeared to connect and interpret one's experience with the teacher's activity, indicating that the PSTs perceive themselves as teachers at this stage. In addition, the perception of experimental classes was expanded through the course. During the course, the practice of equalizing the authority of the participants, providing a role model for reflection, and experiencing various positions from multiple viewpoints in the class had a positive effect on the formation and continuation of the teacher identity. This study provides implications on the teacher education process for teacher identity formation in PSTs.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.61-75
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• 2007

The method used in this descriptive study is the survey. The purpose of the study is to investigate performances of middle school home economics(HE) teachers regarding the HE subject. Respondents in this study were 177 HE teachers. Questionnaires from HE teachers were collected through e-mails. With the operation of the SPSS/Win (ver10.1) program, the analyses such as mean, standard deviation, frequencies, percents, t-test and ANOVA are done to see the relations between the related variables. The results of this study were as follows. First, the middle school HE teachers performed well above the standards in terms of planning, execution, and evaluation about self supervision related to HE. Second, the HE teachers collected materials for instruction by using literary (books) survey, Internet and mass media. They mainly focused on improving ways of "teaching and learning" and deepening the studies related to contents of textbooks. Third, the HE teachers used various ways to improve self supervision in the following order: mass media, literary (books) survey, participation in societies for researches, meetings, various training and field trip More than half of the middle school HE teachers proceeded to graduate schools, joined meetings for researches and had experiences of taking classes in private institutes. They also made a field trip once or twice a year and depended much on TV programs and education broadcasting programs as ways of improving their performances related to self supervision. While they were actively sharing information with their peer group, they made little effort at analyzing and evaluating their classes and utilizing expert group for their classes. The main problems as to self supervision were that only the half of the HE teachers responded that they were performing self supervision related to their classes well above the standards and the area where they heavily focused on has been "teaching and learning" and "the studies related to contents of textbooks". Therefore, to motivate incentives of the HE teachers for self supervision, meetings for researches should be activated and various training programs should be developed. In addition, government should give administrative and institutional support through a publication of books introducing detailed ways of self supervision and an establishment of centers and institutions for supporting self supervision.