The Mongolian Association of Lesson Studies (MALS)Note organized a study tour to Japan from Friday, October 25 to Friday, November 1, 2024, with the participation of 14 Mongolian teachers. The purpose of the study tour was to deepen the Mongolian teachers’ understanding of learner-centered teaching methods through observation of Japanese schools and the educational practices implemented there.
MALS organized a study tour to Japan in November last year too. Following on from last year, EDU-Port Japan once again coordinated the group’s school visits and accompanied the participants on the visits as part of its School Visit program.
On Monday, October 28, the group visited Koganei Elementary School attached to Tokyo Gakugei University, where they observed the morning assembly for the whole school, a 6th grade math class and a 2nd grade Japanese language class, and exchanged opinions with the teachers, Kishio Kako and Shota Koike. Between lessons, the participants looked around the classrooms and observed the school lunch routine, gaining a deeper insight into initiatives at Japanese elementary schools. In the afternoon, they had the opportunity to deepen their understanding of teaching materials through a lecture by Masafumi Watanabe, Associate Professor in Science Education at Tokyo Gakugei University’s Graduate School of Education.
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A Visit to Koganei Elementary School（October 28, 2024） -
Lecture on teaching materials research（October 28, 2024）
On Tuesday, October 29, the group participated in a PE open workshop, Improving Physical Education Learning With Peers, held at Tsudanuma Elementary School in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, and observed a demonstration lesson as well as attending the plenary and breakout sessions. On Thursday, October 31, they visited Hoshinomori Junior and Senior High School in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture. Selected as a DX High School by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for the 2024 academic year, the school showcased its approach to creating a school environment centered on inquiry-based learning and its use of ICT in lessons.
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Participation in the plenary session of the PE open workshop（October 29, 2024） -
A Visit to Hoshinomori Junior and Senior High School （October 31, 2024）
In Mongolia, each school is allocated a training budget that can also be used for overseas study tours, so six of the 14 participants covered half of their travel costs and expenses in Japan with their school’s training budget, while the remaining eight were totally self-funded. A survey of the participants showed that they were able to achieve their individual goals through this visit and had gained a deeper understanding and interest in Japanese education. Their feedback included the following comments:
- I saw how, in Japanese schools, they set educational goals based on a vision of how the children will grow up and what the future might hold for them, and the school curriculum has been developed based on these goals. The approach is not just about enhancing knowledge and academic skills, but also about valuing their culture and providing step-by-step guidance to help students become self-reliant and able to live in society.
- Instead of the teacher just demonstrating the experiment, the children themselves thought up ways to conduct the experiment, enabling them to develop skills in independent learning.
- The children were developing problem-solving skills that will help them make their own choices in the future. It was wonderful to see how each child had a goal and thought about what they needed to do to achieve it.
MALS plans to conduct follow-up activities on how the participants apply what they learned in Japan to school management and teaching practices after returning home.
(Note) From 2006 to 2013, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) implemented a technical cooperation project in Mongolia called the Teaching Methods Improvement Project towards Children’s Development. The Mongolian Association for Lesson Studies (MALS) is an NGO established by Mongolian stakeholders with the aim of continuing to work towards improving teaching methods to achieve child-centered teaching after the project ended.
