home

= Thematic Unit: 日本の教育制度１:小学校教育 =

** Manako Fujiwara, Tomomi Kakegawa, Saeko Yatsuka **
= Unit Overview: =

Many students who study Japanese in the United States go to Japan to teach English in schools. This thematic unit will introduce them to Japanese education system and familiarize them with the system with which they have to work when they go to Japan. At the same time, students will reflect upon the education system of their own country and will be prepared to talk about it in comparison to the Japanese system. Although this unit will mainly focus on elementary school, we intend to develop similar unit on middle school and high school in the future.

= Level: Third year in college Japanese  =


 * Targeted Standards: **


 * Interpersonal Communication ( Standard 1.1)

Students discuss pros and cons about entrance exams, differences between American and Japanese education systems and talk about their school life.

Students will examine a manual on interview exam.
 * Interpretive Communication ( Standard 1.2)

Students will have a presentation of brochures and a wiki about American education systems.
 * Presentation Communication ( Standard 1.3)

Students will create a how-to video on interview exam, explaining ideas behind interview customs.
 * Practices of Culture ( Standard 2.1)

Students will use honorific language in a interview situation.
 * Connections (Standard 3.2)

Students will compare various cultural practices in Japanese and American schools.
 * Cultural Comparisons (Standard 4.2)

Students will create a brochures for Japanese families moving to the U.S.. Students will create a Wiki site to introduce American education system to children in Japan and Japanese families moving to the U.S..
 * Participate in Multilingual Communities (Standard 5.1)

** Goals: ** In this thematic unit students will: · learn about the elementary school life in the Japanese education system; · learn the formal style speech ( // keigo // ) for school setting; · learn to explain the education system of the students’ own country in Japanese; · and analyze the similarities and differences between Japanese system and that of their own country.

** Outcomes: **

Students will be able to compare and contrast the school system they grew up with to that of Japanese schools and be able to communicate their knowledge using modern technologies.

** Unit Topics: **

トピック 1. 教育制度の概要

トピック 2. 小学生の一日

トピック 3. 受験

** Final Assessment: **

Students will create a Wiki site that will help Japanese elementary school children understand similarities and differences between education system of their country and that of Japan, making use of modern technologies (e.g., pictures, video clips, websites, etc).