This case illustrates Professor Saitoh's struggles in a middle-management position leading an education committee called the Assurance of Learning (AOL) Committee at a business school in Japan. The committee assessed students' learning outcomes and provided suggestions for curriculum improvement. The school was accredited by the Association to…

In this paper, in the interests of international debate, we introduce a Japan version of the GeoCapabilities project. In Japan, the current revision of the National Curriculum indicates that Geography will again become a compulsory subject in senior high schools. However, some unfavourable situations for the new compulsory subject still remain:…

This article describes an innovative teaching approach that can offer the changes needed for school improvement. When entering an Education: Basic and Interactive (EBI) classroom, one will see students focused on accomplishing self-guided tasks and eager to move on to the next challenge in their self-paced learning. The EBI Project described here…

The interpretation and implementation of ideas about the internationalisation of curricula (IoC) are complicated and multi-faceted. The complex and diverse perspectives on IoC reflect two concepts: "internationalisation" and "curriculum". These concepts embody contrasting perspectives on issues, including the competition-type…

This article presents a theoretical model of lesson study's impact on instruction, through intervening impact on teachers' knowledge, beliefs and dispositions, teachers' learning community, and curriculum. It also describes four different types of lesson study in Japan, pointing out their synergies in producing a system where local teachers…

A complication of teacher education policy in Japan is rooted in a gap between an image of teachers, which is held by society as a whole, and includes various character traits and the reality of Japanese university education. On the other hand, the expansion of an "open system" and lack of nationwide standard are making individual…

This paper describes an innovative project-based learning framework theoretically based on the ideas of Transmedia Storytelling, Participatory Cultures and Multiple intelligences that can be integrated into the f?lipped classroom method, and practically addressed using Content- Based Instruction (CBI) and Project-Based Learning (PBL) approaches.…

The importance of a structured learning framework or interrelated frameworks is the cornerstone of a solid English as a foreign language (EFL) computer-assisted language learning (CALL) curriculum. While the benefits of CALL are widely promoted in the literature, there is often an endemic discord separating theory and practice. Oftentimes the…

In the era of globalisation, competition has also become global. In higher education, countries worldwide are attaching increasing importance to international ranking exercises and subscribing to the "world-class universities" paradigm, complemented by various strategies to benchmark with leading universities in order to enhance the…

What is the product of Lesson Study? Lesson Study is a scientific activity for teachers based on the methodology introduced in the 1880s. In Japan, research topics for Lesson Study are usually shared through the regular revisions of the curriculum and the research movement of several societies. As a result of teachers' efforts to overcome…

Background: Under the impact of globalization and the coming of the Information Age, there is a paradigm shift occurring in the engineering curriculum and academic structure. Apart from the creation of new programs for the emerging fields in engineering, the approach and orientation have also been shifted from objective-based/input-based education…

This is an English communication instruction system designed to teach children basic, easy to remember conversation strategies without the use of a textbook or to serve as a supplement learning system to a textbook. This English communication training method provides learners with concrete language patterns, a broad spectrum of vocabulary and…

These are exciting and challenging times for English language curriculum development for school-age learners. The global reach of English has spurred a rethinking of its role in education and, consequently, a rethinking of how to teach it. The accounts in this volume represent differences in educational systems, language teaching traditions,…

Focuses on ideas for teaching about Japan which elementary school classroom teachers can use to supplement a textbook unit on Japan. Suggestions are intended to allow for reflection by students on their own culture, as well as the culture of Japan. Topics are children's perceptions of Japan and the Japanese, developing a geographical perspective,…

One of the purposes of the Asian Programme of Educational Innovation for Development (APEID) is to promote the flow of information about innovative programs in education that the participating member states in Asia have undertaken in the context of their needs and priorities. In order to identify and document the innovative programs, APEID invited…