November 1 to 30.2005
Sony Science Education Program for Children
National Report Presentation Meetings
The SSTA's fourth annual National Report Presentation Meeting was held November 4 at Ueji Elementary School (Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture), the school that qualified for Full Awardment under the Sony Science Education Program for Children. The Meeting offered participants the opportunity to see projects qualifying for full awardment in action through the staging of practical application classes. On display for all to see were educational projects that featured substance and originality in how children's study activities were structured and ingenuity in the design and application of both teaching materials and instruction methods. The content accurately represented the qualities of the educational project that had earned the top level of awardment. The report presented by the host school was followed by an experimental open-forum discussion being attempted for the first time. The ability of the moderator to encourage participants representative of key points of view to present questions that touched on the gist of important issues made the discussion a success.
Associate Professor Midori Miyazaki gave the commemorative lecture, which was entitled "Paradigm Shifts in the 21st Century." The Professor's use of excellent communicative skills for the discussion centering on the true significance of the IT revolution was very well received for providing perspectives and food for thought on an important topic not frequently touched on in education circles.
With participation by 554 individuals active in the field of education, the fourth SSTA National Report Presentation Meeting turned out a great success. An interesting feature of the meeting was the staging of two natural science classes attended by nearly 100 participants.
Sony Science Teachers Association (SSTA) Assistance Activities
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees Meeting, attended by leaders (trustees) of various SSTA chapters, was held November 3 (Thursday), a national holiday falling on the day preceding the fourth SSTA National Report Presentation Meeting, at the same location in Okazaki City. The Board of Trustees Meeting focused on (1) ways to revitalize SSTA Chapter activities and (2) whether to divide the Theme-Development Workshop research and training sessions (for intra-chapter exchanges and training activities) into four separate nationwide blocks. The Board of Trustees Meeting also announced that the Young Teacher Training Program has been producing excellent results during its two years in implementation and issued a call to expand participation in the program.
Sony Preschool Education Program for Children
1. Report Presentation Meeting Held at Ibaraki University College of Education Kindergarten
The kindergarten qualified as one of the Advanced Project Schools of 2004. The Report Presentation Meeting held there November 18 (Friday), 2005 focused on the theme of "Fostering Children With an Appreciation for the Sciences and Teachers' Roles in Nurturing The Interests Inherent in Children." Following on the morning open-house nursery school and research report presentation sessions, the afternoon program provided discussions on research, a critique by Professor Mayumi Fukumoto of the Department of Comprehensive Educational Science, Tokyo Gakugei University and a commemorative lecture on the theme of "The Importance of Maintaining Vitality of the Mental Faculties" by Makoto Kikuchi, Visiting Professor Emeritus at Tokai University. All in all, the Ibaraki University College of Education Kindergarten meeting provided a program rich in stimulating content. A more detailed review of the meeting will be provided on the Sony Foundation for Education website in the latter half of January.
2.Applied Preschool Education Research Workshops
Applied Preschool Education Research Workshops were recently held at the following institutions chosen as Advanced Project Schools in 2004.
- Hokuryo Kindergarten (Shimane Prefecture)
- Izumigaoka Nursery School Affiliated with Tokiwakai College (Osaka)
- Aizuwakaba Kindergarten(Fukushima Prefecture)
The workshops focused on ways to utilize the key characteristics of individual schools. Attendance ranged from a comparatively small 50 or so to over 150 educators invited from kindergartens and nursery schools in the local prefecture. In some cases, participation extended to parents and guardians.
A more detailed review of the workshops will be provided on the Sony Foundation for Education website in the latter half of December.
