Our surroundings, the electronic devices we use, and our living environments have changed significantly, and what is taught in schools has changed slightly in tandem. Sometimes it even feels as though content once taught at the university level is gradually trickling down to high schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools. Elementary schools, which are the last to be affected, are undergoing major changes, such as the introduction of elementary English, information subjects, and, in some schools, classes aimed at fostering communication skills.
Thinking about how future human resource development will be considered starting from elementary school, with new subjects added if necessary, and how curricula will be reviewed and classes conducted… that was when I remembered my visit to Singapore a long time ago. I went on a school inspection tour with Professor Akahori and people from Benesse Corporation (at the time, I was still a first-year doctoral student and never imagined I would be in my current position).
The enthusiasm for education in Singapore was like looking at Japan about 15 years ago. There is a strong focus on developing basic academic skills, and there are many parents who are very passionate about education. It is perhaps more extreme than in Japan; it is said that a national exam taken around the sixth grade of elementary school determines whether or not a student can go on to university. Singapore is a small island nation with no resources, and the government has a clear direction that “human resources are our only resource,” so human resource development is carried out thoroughly. To prevent the brain drain, passports are renewed every two years, and when going abroad for study, one must deposit one or two million yen with the government.
English education is also popular in Singapore, starting from kindergarten. In elementary school, Chinese and English are mainly used. Since there are also Tamil speakers, Tamil is used in some places, and it appears on the surface as if schools are separated into Chinese and Tamil (though, of course, there are Tamil students in Chinese schools). This bilingual education from early childhood is said to be a major cause of “dropouts” in Singapore. I was able to speak with a Japanese person living in Singapore, and they mentioned that this bilingual learning is quite heavy. Even for ethnic Chinese, there are cases where parents cannot speak English or teach written Chinese, making it a difficult environment even for ethnic Chinese children.
In Singapore, IT equipment is actively used in elementary school classes. It was interesting to see classes where, for example, multiple-choice math problems were presented during class using a PRS, students were asked to answer, and those who answered incorrectly were grouped together to study math, or students tried creating their own English learning materials using Flash. Some schools provided a single e-learning platform and created a system where students could study at home. To save those who were “falling behind,” some places used level-based grouping and blended learning with e-learning to ensure English proficiency. It is interesting that they are fostering social skills and problem-solving abilities required in society through subject education, rather than just following the path of deepening subject understanding as in Japan, and I felt that this would not be easy to replicate in Japan.
In Japanese elementary schools, computer software is not as well-developed as in Singapore, and the content that can be taught is quite limited, so I think active IT use on the scale of Singapore is difficult. However, there are things that can be done without using IT, and even within subject education, I believe there are various methods for instruction beyond simply having students learn study items (as this has been researched in Japan, I will not touch upon it here).
More than that, what I remember is that even teachers in the field, after having several years of teaching experience, would go to the NIE to study in a Master of Education course, or conduct research with people from companies. I felt that a cycle had been established where people who are active in the actual field are conscious of what kind of human resources are needed, study, and then return to the educational field. Of course, this does not mean that from elementary school, teachers say things like, “This is the kind of person who succeeds in a company, so you should be like that,” or “Since you will go to a company in the future…” It means thinking about the forms of education and abilities cultivated at universities and companies and adapting them to the level of elementary school instruction. For teachers in the field, it is not enough to simply be able to teach classes or manage a classroom. It is important to keep future human resource development in mind, and I thought this might be something required in Japan in the future as well.
