It's been a whirlwind the past few days and speedy wifi access has been spotty. However, we were able to tour a high school in Kyoto which is identified as a Super Science & Super Global High School, one of only eight in Japan that have earned both these designations. The school is beautiful, the classes are small and the curriculum is top notch.
We learned that at this high school classes are taught in both Japanese and English, so students can learn both the content and the science literacy in two different languages. Upper class students, one in grades 3 & 4 (Jr & Sr) are required to teach grade 1 & 2 students in science and math specifically in English. The teachers and administrators believe it is imperative for students to be given opportunities to teach younger students to build community, reinforce leadership skill and development of deep content knowledge in order to effectively teach others. We observed one young man teach a math lesson in both English and Japanese and he appeared to be a natural and burgeoning teacher. It was a pleasure to watch how excited he was to teach and use his English.
The school is currently partnering with Universities here in Japan, Universities and school in Singapore and with University of Quebec. One of their students is leaving for Canada in a few months to engage with professors in studying forests there to compare to forests here in Japan. All students are required to conduct independent and team inquiry investigations and publish their work with research posters.he poster are written in Japanese and others in English. We concluded our visit with beginning a conversation that would hopefully lead to partnering our schools in Minnesota with their school in Kyoto. They are currently working under a budget to partner with Singapore and Canada for this school year, but there may be an opportunity to expand their prgram buget to include us for school year 2018-2019. We will have to wait to see what happens next, but I know our team will work to build a network of STEM schools in Minnesota that can team with Kyoto Super Science & Global High School.
We learned that at this high school classes are taught in both Japanese and English, so students can learn both the content and the science literacy in two different languages. Upper class students, one in grades 3 & 4 (Jr & Sr) are required to teach grade 1 & 2 students in science and math specifically in English. The teachers and administrators believe it is imperative for students to be given opportunities to teach younger students to build community, reinforce leadership skill and development of deep content knowledge in order to effectively teach others. We observed one young man teach a math lesson in both English and Japanese and he appeared to be a natural and burgeoning teacher. It was a pleasure to watch how excited he was to teach and use his English.
The school is currently partnering with Universities here in Japan, Universities and school in Singapore and with University of Quebec. One of their students is leaving for Canada in a few months to engage with professors in studying forests there to compare to forests here in Japan. All students are required to conduct independent and team inquiry investigations and publish their work with research posters.he poster are written in Japanese and others in English. We concluded our visit with beginning a conversation that would hopefully lead to partnering our schools in Minnesota with their school in Kyoto. They are currently working under a budget to partner with Singapore and Canada for this school year, but there may be an opportunity to expand their prgram buget to include us for school year 2018-2019. We will have to wait to see what happens next, but I know our team will work to build a network of STEM schools in Minnesota that can team with Kyoto Super Science & Global High School.