ActiveLearning,Pro-ActiveTeaching

Michael Rost JALT 2016

PART1ExploringtheConcept What is….

…?

ActiveLearning:KeyConstructs

ü  Interact ü  Initiate ü  Connect ü  Show curiosity ü  Take the lead ü  ???

Rank: Most “culturally challenging”

Implementing“activelearning”means3things:

Do less ____________

Emphasize __________

How can you implement “active learning” in your classroom?

Do more ____________

Examplefromauniversityclass

Your own “do more/do less/emphasize” list

• in book exercises and individual activities • lecturing by teacher • corrections by teacher • sitting in desks facing front of room • homework assignments

• praise student presentations • reward progress • solicit student ideas for activities

• student presentations • out of class explorations • pair and small group tasks • strategy development • collaborative assessment

Pro-ActiveTeaching=Installinganactivelearning• 

• set a personal example with your own behavior • recognize students’ efforts and celebrate their • promote learners’ self-confidence • create a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere in the classroom • present tasks clearly • emphasize attention, intention and effort • make learning tasks stimulating and “fun • familiarize students with “21st Century Values” • promote group cohesiveness and group norms • advance learner autonomy

Rank:Whichcomeeasilytoyou?

PART2LookingattheJapanesecontext

l  What language education transformations have you witnessed in Japan?

l  What language education transformations would you like to see in Japan?

Someideasfromeducators,politicians,andbusinessleadersontransformingEnglisheducationinJapan

Emphasison“globally-communicative”education

”English education in Japan must produce more ‘globally-minded, globally-communicative and globally-competitive’ workforce to help revive the world’s third-largest economy. ”

ShinzoAbe,PrimeMinister

Emphasisoncreativethinking

“Most university graduates I interview lack English language skills, but more importantly, they seem to lack critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. …The presence or absence of these skills are core elements for me in deciding whether to offer them a position. ”

HiroshiMikitani,CEOofRakuten

“We have a major thinking gap in our country today. At a company like ours, a globally active one, people need English, no question about that. But what’s more important is the ability to be independent, self-determining, responsible, communicative, persuasive and multicultural in mind. A lot of the Japanese students I’ve interviewed were smart but many of them didn’t have what I was looking for. ”

TadashiYanai,CEOofUniqlo

Emphasison“multiculturalmind”

Emphasison“functionalbilingualism”“ Japanese graduates just cannot live or do business in today’s world speaking Japanese only, and living just by the Japanese values and culture. Without English language skills and the ability to be more communicative, persuasive, expressive and sometimes assertive, the future of Japan in the global economy is not guaranteed.

JunkoAshida,Educator

But how good is the government’s new educational initiative, if students here learn English without learning how to express themselves better and develop critical thinking and persuasive and empathetic communication skills in their own language? ”

What do you think?

PART3Illustratinganapproachtoactivelearning

The Contemporary Topics series (4th Edition)

LearningPath

1:Activation

goals: •  get engaged with the topic •  express & solicit

experiences with the topic

obstacles: •  self-efficacy; feeling you don’t

know about the topic enough to participate

•  communication apprehension; feeling uneasy with L2

2:Processing

goals: •  show curiosity/ learn

something new •  interact with classmates to

build understanding

obstacles: •  perfectionism, wanting to

understand everything perfectly before speaking

•  competitiveness; initial shyness in group interactions

3:Assessment

goals: •  instill progress orientation •  encourage collaboration in

review and preparation

obstacles: •  other-directedness; uncertainty

about role of collaboration •  lack of strategies for review,

clarification, interaction

4:Expression

goals: •  increase self-expression,

satisfaction, “ownership” •  introduce self-efficacy, instill

research mindset and techniques; show empathy

obstacles: •  perfectionism; feeling the need

to give a mistake-free presentation •  other-directedness; uncertainty

about how to behave in front of a group

SUMMMARYü  Language education is in transition…globally, and in Japan.

ü  Emphasis is shifting toward pragmatic “empowerment” through language, away from abstract “mastery” of language

ü  Active Learning is a metaphor for this shift

ü  Active Learning requires Pro-Active teaching: teaching with the intent to install “Active Learning Mindsets” in students

ü  Teachers — in their own context — can affect this shift — as appropriate —in specific, practical ways

ü  Content based teaching, using an Activation-Processing-Assessment-Expression approach is one approach to Active Learning

What is your “take away”?

REFERENCES•Amano,Ikuo(2014).GlobalizaOonandHigherEducaOonReformsinJapan:TheObstaclestoGreaterInternaOonalCompeOOveness.Nippon.comhTp://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a02801/•Ashida,Junko(2016).Japan’s‘globaleducaEon’:LearningEnglishisnotamagicwand.AsiaTimes.hJp://www.aEmes.com/arEcle/japans-global-educaEon-learning-english-is-not-a-magic-wand//•Kameda,Masaaki(2013).Englishtoget2020pushbutteachersnotonsamepage.JapanTimes.hTp://www.japanOmes.co.jp/news/2013/12/31/naOonal/english-to-get-2020-push-but-teachers-not-on-same-page/#.WCjnZXeZPOY•Kuwamura,Teresa(2014).AcceptanceandTransformaOonofEnglishEducaOonalTheoryinJapan:OnStudent-CenteredEducaOon.Interna2onalEduca2onStudies,7-12,47-52.•Matsuoka,Misato(2015).TransformingIREducaOoninJapan.E-Interna2onalRela2onsJournal.hTp://www.e-ir.info/2015/07/07/transforming-ir-educaOon-in-japan/•Matsuoka,Rieko(2015).WillingnesstoCommunicate:TheEffectofConferenceParEcipaEononStudents’L2Apprehension.InSachikoHoriguchi,YukiImotoandGregoryS.Poole(Eds.)ForeignLanguageEduca3oninJapan:ExploringQualita3veApproaches,pp.133-146.Boston:SensePublishers.•McVeigh,Brian(2002/2015).JapaneseHigherEduca2onAsMyth.NewYork:Routledge.•Shimomura,Hakubun(2015).JapantotransformitseducaOonsectorforamoreglobalizedworld.TheCultureOfJapaneseEduca2on.hTp://www.theworldfolio.com/interviews/japan-to-transform-its-educaOon-sector-for-more-globalized-world/3772/

THANKYOU!

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