October 1 to 31.2004
Sony Science Education Program for Children
Screening for Educational Project Plans for 2004
Preliminary screening has narrowed the field to a select group of candidates schools for Full Awardment status. From now until the middle of November, the field of candidate schools for the Encouragement Awardment will also be narrowed down and school visits will take place. All school awardment decisions will be finalized during the month of December.
Report Presentation Meetings Held by Last Year's Awardment Schools
- The Kariya Minami Junior High School (Aichi Prefecture) and the Konkohkibi Elementary School (Okayama Prefecture), which qualified for Full Awardment and Encouragement Awardment, respectively, held their report presentation meetings on October 15. The Konkohkibi Elementary School held a poster session, which was preceded one day earlier by the SSTA Board of Directors meeting.
- The Konkohkibi Elementary School held practical application classes based on the theme of the educational project (Advanced learning involving building things, such as toys), which were attended by 198 educators visiting from other schools. In response to the desire on the part of representatives of the Konkohkibi area to invite a speaker, such as an actual scientist, with the ability to make dreams of scientific achievement and reality, Takayuki Ohira, a man renowned for developing the Megastar Planetarium (capable of projecting 4.1 million stars, 100 times the number of the normal planetarium), was invited to speak. Mr. Ohira gave a wonderful presentation on how he eventually succeeded in achieving his childhood dream that provided very good food for thought for the many participating educators. In addition, the planetarium designer held a special class for all 160 students of Konkohkibi Elementary in which he explained in easily understandable language how he one day find a way to make his childhood dream of building his own planetarium come true.
- A total of 313 teachers from other schools attended the Kariya Minami Junior High School meeting, which featured open study sessions on all educational projects. Especially popular was the practical application class on natural science, conducted along the thematic lines of the awarded educational project (techniques for learning problem solving), that attracted over 200 observers. In accordance with the desire of school principal Mr. Ogasawara, the class on natural science was conducted using a format that gave all those attending a sense of active participation. This was done by first dividing those attending into small groups for close exchanges of views and then joining together in a general discussion of class research.
Another event of note was the report presentation meeting held independently by the Mikawadai Elementary School (Fukushima Prefecture), which received the Encouragement Awardment, also on October 15th. In response to a special request by Mikawadai Elementary School, the commemorative lecture was given by Toshiyuki Yamada, a member of the Sony Foundation for Education Board of Councilors and President of Shohoku College.
Sony Preschool Education Program for Children
Report Presentation Meeting for Advanced Awardment Schools
- Aizuwakaba Kindergarten
One of the Report Presentation Meetings for Advanced Awardment Schools was held at Aizuwakaba Kindergarten in Aizuwakamatsu City on October 16 (Sat.), 2004. The morning open-house nursery (childcare and early education) school session was held in the Wakaba no Mori woodlands, one of the key features of the kindergarten. The participants joined the children on a walk through the woodlands where the leaves were just beginning to turn color to watch as a father of one of the students was pruning the trees. The father explained "It is important to remove diseased trees in order to protect the forest" in words easily understandable to the children.
The meeting moved to the University of Aizu Auditorium for sessions including presentation of research reports, symposiums and commemorative lectures. The symposium discussed the examples provided by the Yashirogawa Kindergarten (government run) in Fukushima Prefecture and the Yamabato Nursery School (privately run) in Kyoto City. Professor Shinichi Egawa, lecturer on surgery at Tohoku University and a former student at Aizuwakaba Kindergarten, gave a talk on "Why I Became a Scientist." Speaking from the standpoint of a guardian, the professor provided insights on the influence his father had during his younger years and the relationships at home with his own children. The meeting was closed out with a dissertation by Professor Nakazawa on "How important watching, feeling and thinking are to fostering children with an appreciation for the sciences. And the importance of the role nursery teachers have in finding effective ways in communicating when answering the spontaneous question "why?" that children frequently ask." The teacher's comments provided good food for thought. President Tetsuhiro Ikegami of the University of Aizu gave a very interesting commemorative lecture covering topics to do with Masaru Ibuka, one of the founders of Sony Corporation and a strong advocate of science education for children. Topics included "Mr. Ibuka's special connection with Aizuwakamatsu." Based on the theme of "Children are a wellspring of intelligence," President Ikegami discussed in detail how "Mr. Ibuka had a very curious mind, that the desire to learn about science springs from a curious mind and how the children are naturally imbued with a curiosity for learning about science." Participation in the Aizuwakamatsu Report Presentation Meeting came to only 70 due to it having been held during school trackmeet season. - Shinagawa Ward Operated Futaba Kindergarten and Futaba Tsubomi Nursery School
A Report Presentation Meeting for Advanced Awardment Schools was held at three locations in Shinagawa, including the Shinagawa Ward operated Futaba Kindergarten and Futaba Tsubomi Nursery School premises, the Regional Center and the Shinagawa Ward Auditorium, on October 21 (Thur.), 2004.
The meeting began in the wake of Typhoon 23 but was blessed by fine weather, with the rain stopping and skies clearing around noon. Over 170 participants, including nursery and kindergarten teachers and educators at other levels, came from various prefectures throughout Japan, making the meeting a great success.
The meeting started out at the Regional Center located next to the Futaba Kindergarten and Nursery School complex, with a panel on examples of practical application and exhibits of works created by children. Participants were also allowed to freely observe various different nursery teaching environments carefully fashioned from materials and tools for building things and objects effective in expressing the changes of the seasons.
Blessed with clear skies, participants in the afternoon sessions were treated to open-house nursery classes that included indoor and outdoor play and creation sessions in which the younger students interacted with junior high school students. This was followed by sessions held at the Shinagawa Ward Auditorium, with research reports presented by nursery schools and kindergartens and presentations on the theme of "fostering children with an appreciation for the sciences" coordinated by Professor Mayumi Fukumoto of Tokyo Gakugei Daigaku University. Masaki Wakamori, Principal of Matsubushi Nursery School affiliated with the Wakamori School, Hiroshi Sosaka, Principal of the Shinagawa No. 3 Ebara Junior High School, Kaori Shiotani, Principal of the Futaba Tsubomi Nursery School and Hiromi Osawa, a teacher at the Futaba Kindergarten, were contributors to symposium discussions. Professor Kiyomi Akita of Tokyo University gave a commemorative lecture on the theme of "Learning while playing and fostering an interest in the sciences."
Deadline Closed for Acceptance of Applications for Dissertations on Preschool Education Programs
The deadline for submission of dissertations on preschool education programs was October 18, 2004. Applications were received from a total of 84 nursery schools and kindergartens, an increase of 19 over 2003. The applications are currently under review and the results are expected to be announced on December 20, 2004.
