The University of Fukui, a national Japanese university, is conducting a project entitled “Cultivation of a New International Collaborative Model for Teacher Education in Partnership with African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries and Research on the Reflective Impact of the EDU-Port Japan Project on Education in Japan.” As part of this project, on Tuesday, January 21st, and Thursday, January 23rd, 2025, a lesson study was conducted in Class 7A at the Compulsory Education School Attached to the University of Fukui with six university, junior, and senior high school teachers from Uganda and Malawi. In addition to faculty members from the University of Fukui and high school teachers from other schools in Fukui Prefecture, the lesson was observed by JICA officials, journalists, and four university professors from Pakistan, who were also invited by the University of Fukui Graduate School of Professional Development of Teachers.
The lesson was taught by Mr. Yoshihiko Morikawa, Senior Research Officer at the Compulsory Education School Attached to the Faculty of Education, the University of Fukui, and Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Fukui United Professional Graduate School of Professional Development of Teachers (United Professional Graduate School). Prior to this, Mr. Morikawa and two colleagues visited Malawi in October 2024, where they toured four local middle schools, participated in school-based practice activities at a teacher training institute, and conducted lesson studies with teachers at two of the schools, deepening mutual understanding of Japan’s and Malawi’s educational practices. The lesson study was held with the aim of resolving two issues that he felt arose when teaching social studies to Japanese students: (1) Students see Africa as a distant place and what happens there is not related to their lives, so it is difficult for them to learn deeply about the region, and (2) Africa is covered less extensively than other regions and is typically portrayed only as a “region of developing countries in need of aid.”
Tuesday, January 21st, 5th Period
One week before the lesson, Mr. Morikawa gave the students homework to think about the challenges Uganda and Malawi face in improving the lives of their people and potential solutions to those challenges. After doing their own research, the students were divided into six groups of five or six in the social studies class the day before the lesson study, and each group used a whiteboard to list their research and ideas.
In the lesson, a teacher from either Uganda or Malawi joined each group and took part in the students’ group research, along with an interpreter. In response to the challenges and solutions raised by the students, the African teachers described the actual conditions in their countries and shared their opinions and impressions of the students’ proposals. By hearing directly from people living in those countries, the students discovered that the information they found online did not always match the realities on the ground. For example, one group suggested that Uganda, a country that relies on agriculture, faced water shortages because the government lacked funds and proposed organized fundraising efforts. However, the Ugandan teacher explained that the problem was not so much a lack of money, as it was due to inappropriate spending of the government budget, mentioning that water and roads are available even in rural villages and agriculture is not the cause of underdevelopment. After hearing this information firsthand, the students also learned about the flow of money in Africa, something they had not known about before. As a result, they learned that rather than just reducing dependence on agriculture, improving and expanding distribution networks for the crops that are produced and adding value to agricultural produce through processing could help increase farmers’ incomes. One of the African teachers commented that the students’ image of Africa was so influenced by the internet that it would be a good thing if they could have the opportunity to visit Africa and see the reality for themselves.
The following day, Wednesday 22nd, the students reviewed their proposals based on what they had learned in the first lesson. Then, on Thursday 23rd, together with the African teachers, they once again considered what Uganda and Malawi could do to improve the lives of their people.
Thursday, 23rd January, 2nd Period
At the beginning of the class, Mr. Morikawa reflected on how the students’ presentations in the previous lesson had been heavily influenced by stereotypes about Africa prevalent in Japan. This time, he encouraged the students to be more proactive in asking the African teachers about the realities in their countries.
As with the previous lesson, the students were divided into six groups, each with an African teacher, and they exchanged opinions on the challenges facing Uganda and Malawi along with ideas for solutions. One group focused on money in Uganda, discussing it from the perspectives of the government, education, and industry. Realizing that Uganda is a rich agricultural country, they explored ways to leverage this strength to increase income and address various issues. Another group focused on investment in Malawi. They heard from the Malawian teacher about the country’s rich natural beauty, mineral resources, and warm-hearted people, and came up with the idea of using social media to promote these attractions and encourage investment in the country.
At the end of the class, the students wrote the following comments on the whiteboards: “Just as we learned about Uganda, I think it is important for as many people as possible to know about Uganda,” and “I thought the information we had looked up was correct, but I now realize the importance of discussion and interaction. There needs to be more information available about Malawi and I would like to help get that information out there. I learned a lot of good things about Malawi.”
One of the Ugandan teachers commented, “Through these two lessons, I was able to discuss a lot of things with the students. Lessons like this empower students and help them develop critical thinking skills, giving them the potential to solve global issues. I aim to apply this experience in the teacher training programs that I am involved in.”
Through international exchange, this project, which began with Mr. Morikawa’s visit to Malawi, provided Japanese junior high school students with an opportunity to think about global issues as something that concerns them, while also encouraging teachers from Uganda and Malawi to view the situation in their own countries from a new perspective and reflect on their own teaching methods.
