Philosophy and Practical Strategies of School Reform toward Learning Community:A Grassroots Network against Neo-Liberal Policies in Japan

Manabu Sato, Ph.D.Professor, University of Tokyo

President, Japanese Educational Research Association

Invited Lecture in Taiwan, May 2008

Introduction

This presentation displays the vision, strategies and philosophy of building learning community at school ｓ in Japan. The network I designed is currently constituted of 100 pilot schools nationwide and more than 3,000 public schools join the network, with which they struggle against neo-liberal educational policies in defense of public education.

A Brief of Neo-Liberal PoliciesThe 1st stage 1984-“The end of catch up modernization”Propaganda of educational reform with mass hysteria about “manufactured crisis (Berliner)” The 2nd stage 1995-Downsizing of public education for privatization 30% reduction of contentsDecentralization, Deregulation, School choice, The 3rd stage 2001-Discrepancy of educational opportunity, Revision of “Educational Fundamental Law” (Closing of democratic education since 1947), National standardized test (2007), Merit pay, Audit bureaucracy of school management

Rapid Change of Schooling

School choice system has been introduced by 287 local governments (8%) during the past 7 years.Ability grouping spread among 73% of elementary schools and 67% of junior secondary schools from 2001 to 2004.Teachers’ salary is declined nearly 20% during the past 10 years.More than 90% of prefecture boards of education introduced “Standardized Test” to plunge schools into “ranking game” since 2001.

Collapse of Lifeline and Safety-net of Public Education

30% children in Tokyo and Osaka live in poor families or borderline. (Nearly 4 times more than 10 years ago)40% senior high school students in Osaka can’t pay tuition because of poverty.90% of youth labor-market disappeared since 1992.In the case of poor families (annual income below $ 30,000), educational expenditure occupies 60% of their housekeeping money.

Escape from Learning among Students and Humiliation of Teaching Profession

30% of junior high school students and 40% of senior high school students spend no time for learning and reading outside school. Teacher burn-out: Average of working time counts 52 hours per week without additional pay.Trust between teachers and parents is seriously destructed under neo-liberal policies, with which teacher work is changed from “responsibility based on public mission” to “accountable service” to “tax payers” or “consumers”.Crisis in dignity of teaching profession

Another Landscape: Democratic Tradition and Its Renovation

The renovation movement of school as learning community based on traditions of progressive education and social democracy. 1998- 100 pilot schools, 2,000 elementary schools and 1,000 junior secondary schools (10% of public schools) weave their grassroots network.Question is why so many schools are renovating?

Origins of School as Learning Community

John Dewey: Chicago Laboratory School (1898-1904) –translated into Japan in 1900Progressive education movement in Japan (Taisho liberal education) in 1920sPost-war progressive education movement in the late1940s and the early 1950s The third tide of progressive education, 1995- (My proposal of struggling against neo-liberalism and of searching for school for the 21st century)The following is my proposal to renovate schools as learning community. 1995-

Foundations of My Idea about School as Learning Community

Personal experience: During the past 28 years, I have learned from children and teachers through visiting 2,000 schools and observing 10,000 lessons at classrooms.Progressive ideas and practice in Japan, US and other countries. In particular, I have learned so much from Debby Meier in US and Reggio Emilia Approach in Italy. Theory and philosophy of education, humanities and social science. Especially John Dewey.

Design and Proposal: Vision of School as Learning Community

School as learning community is a place, where children learn together, teachers also learn together as educational professional, and even parents and citizens learn together through participating in school renovation.

Collaborative learning at classrooms, collegiality at staffrooms and cooperation of parents and citizens with teachers are fundamental components.

Vision: What is the School?

Public mission and responsibility of school (or teachers) are to realize human right of learning of every child and facilitate him/her to pursue possible excellence in his/her learning.School should be a place where every teacher learn to be autonomous professional through opening his/her classroom and building collegiality.School should provide every parent with ample opportunities to cooperate with teachers and to join school renovation.

Three Cannons of School as Learning Community

“Public philosophy”, “democracy” and “excellence” are three philosophical cannons of school as learning community.

The “publicness” is a spatial concept. School should be opened inside and outside to exchange different voices through dialogic communication.

Opening Classrooms is the First Step

I do not admit a public teacher who does not open his/her classroom at least once a year, even if he/she performs excellent practice. Because, he/she privatizes students, classroom, school and his/her profession.

Opening classrooms should be the first step of school renovation.

Philosophy of Democracy

Main mission of public education is to prepare a democratic society, so that school itself must be a democratic society.Democracy in education is not a political procedure, but “a way of associated living” as Dewey defined.At a democratic school, student, teacher, principal and parent are all “protagonists”, who participate in school management with different roles and responsibilities.

Pursuit of Excellence

Teaching and learning essentially demand excellence. In this case, the excellence does not mean advantage in comparison with others, but doing best of his/herself in a given situation.Excellence doing best procreates modesty, that is the most significant trait for learner. I propose “leaning as jumping” in pursuit of this excellence.

Listening Pedagogy

“Listening other’s voice” is the first priority in my approach to construct learning community

Learning starts from listening other’s voice.

As Debby Meier described, “teaching is mostly listening”.

An old proverb of ethnic minority (Ainu) in Japan also says that, “God created two ears and one mouth”.

Listening Relationship Prepares Dialogic Communication

John Dewey described in 1927

“The connection of the ear with vital and out-going thought and emotion are immensely closer and more varied than those of the eye. Vision is a spectator; hearing is a participant”.

Listening relation generates dialogue, and dialogic communication constructs learning community.

Redefinition of Learning

Learning as dialogic communicationThree aspects of learning practice

Dialogue with objective world (content, ①subject matter) 　 = Cognitive practice

Dialogue with others = Social practice ② ③ Dialogue with oneself = Existential or

ethical practiceLearning = Retexturing of meaning and relationsActive, collaborative and reflective learning should be organized at classroom.

Redefinition of Teaching

Teaching is prone to be regarded as an “easy work” even by teachers. Teaching should be transformed from “technical practice” to “reflective practice”. (Donald Schon 1983)Contemporary teacher should be redefined not only as teaching profession but rather as “leaning profession”.Case conference of lesson study is a strong vehicle with which teachers build collegiality and develop their professional competence and practical wisdom.

Strategies: Activity System of Learning Community

Active, collaborative and reflective learning at classroom: Collaborative learning by small mixed group (4 students)

Lesson study (one hour observation and two hour discussion by colleagues) should be organized at least 30 times per year, as a core of school management.

Ample opportunity for parents to cooperate with teachers (“Learning Participation”)

Case I: Hamanogo Elementary School (1): The First Pilot School

Hamanogo Elementary School was established by Chigasaki City Board of Education as the first pilot school as learning community in 1998.

During the past 10 years, more than 20,000 teachers nationwide visited the school, 100,000 teachers read the books which document renovation of the school, and currently 2,000 schools are renovating through adopting the “Hamanogo Style.

Hamanogo School (2): Impression

Hamanogo School is not a razzle-dazzle school but an ordinary one. You can’t find a “knock down” teacher or a “superb” student. The school does not offer any pompous curriculum or grandiose practice.

The visitors are firstly surprised at its calmness. Tender voices sound like as whisper of wind. Indeed, no one has said “be quiet” at the school for 9 years.

Hamanogo School (3): Landscape

The visitors are impressed with natural, flexible, comfortable and sensible voices and behaviors of children and teachers. Nonetheless, inside of each person an elastic spirit of learning and caring is fulfilled. Dialogic communication generates high quality of learning. Each people has each face. Individuality stands, but even commonality sounds with a harmony.

Hamanogo School (4) Policies

The followings are main policies.　① School reform starts and progresses

from within. But without support from outside, it can’t be continued.

　② School reform is a hard work of “long revolution”. We must think

revolutionarily, but change evolutionally. 　③ Energy for reform generates not from

conformity, but from diversity. Learning community should be a community not like as coral, but like as orchestra.

Vision as the First Priority

The main purpose of renovation at Hamanogo School is to guarantee and realize human right of learning of all the members. No child is alienated from learning. No child escapes from learning. At the starting point of renovation, the school contained more than 20 school refusals and nearly 100 at risk students who were not able to sit their chairs to learn. Just 6 months later, all the school refusals disappeared and all the at risk students became sincerely involved in learning.The school is a miracle place where every child and every teacher can find his/her best way of learning.

Less is More. Simple is Better.

School is a place for learning together. According to this simple doctrine, activities of children are simplified. There is no time for school assembly, principal’s talk, extra curriculum and other rituals.

Time allotment is also simplified. Two lessons of 95 minutes are allotted in the morning, which enable children to pursue high quality of learning, and for teachers to develop project-oriented curriculum.

Small is Sensible.

Hamanogo School is a large school, about 800 students and 40 teachers.The school is divided into 6 small “mini schools”. Teachers of a “mini school” share responsibility beyond walls of classrooms.Activities of teachers are also simplified, centering on collegiality. The simplified organization enable teachers to cooperate each other and concentrate on their professional work.

Case Conference

School in-house workshop is placed as a core of school management. It is regularly composed of 1 hour classroom observation and 2 hour case discussion. The school sets more than 100 times of such case conferences in a year.Central focus of the case conference is not teaching skills but lived experience of learning. The main purpose of it is not searching for “one best method” but becoming more sensible and responsible to learning of children.

“Learning Participation” by Parents

Parents are actively involved in school renovation. The school provides ample opportunity for parents to cooperate with teachers. The “Learning Participation” they call is a strong vehicle to construct learning community and solidarity among parents. Currently, about 80% of parents join in various enterprise collaborated with teachers.

Case II: Gakuyo Junior Secondary School

Gakuyo School in Fuji City is the first pilot school of learning community in secondary education. The renovation started in 2001, by introducing the “Hamanogo Style”.For the previous 10 years, the school had been a well known school pinched with low achievement, vandalism, school refusal, and serious troubles with parents. It ranked at the worst position in any criterion among 18 junior secondary schools in the city, so that most teachers did not stay at the school more than 2 years.

Starting Point

In April 2001, the principal and I presented a vision for renovation. But, most teachers were skeptical and even critical to our proposal. They despaired not only students but also parents and even colleagues. Students and parents too. Their reactions were reasonable, because they did their best and were defeated for many years.

The First Step for Renovation

I proposed the following strategies as the first step of renovation.

Every classroom lesson should include ①three aspects of learning, such as “activity”, “collaboration by small groups” and “reflection”.

② Reduce teacher’s tension and listen student’s voice

③ Case conferences by all the teachers should be arranged beyond “subject Balkanization” at least 40 times per year.

Miracle but True Story

One year later, when all the teachers changed desk arrangement for students to collaborate with, there was no student who escaped from learning. Every student was sincerely involved in learning. Amazing!No vandalism, no arrested student and no problem behavior at school and 80% of school refusals disappeared (from 36 to 6).Two years later, the school obtained top-position of achievement test among 18 schools in the city. It is a miracle.

Grassroots Movement

The success of Gakuyo School as “learning community” was rapidly well known to teachers nationwide. More than 5 thousands teachers visited the school for the past 3 years. Now, about one thousand schools are challenging to build “leaning community” adopting the “Gakuyo Style”.

Reflection and Implications

The pilot school is efficacious to demonstrate actual fact of vision and philosophy of school renovation.Action research is profitable to refine the process of school renovation.Under decentralization, new type of network among city boards of education should be wired.School renovation should not be regarded as a partial one but as a whole. It is not a short-term challenge but a long revolution.

Development of Discourse Community of Teachers

Renovation process is remarked as the following stages in practical discourse shared by teachers ① The first stage: “How to teach math?” 　　　 ② The second stage: “How to teach children to learn math?” ③ The third stage: “How to teach children to learn doing math?” ④ The fourth stage: “How to learn to teach children to learn doing math?”.

Grassroots beyond Sea

Grassroots movement of school as learning community has been enthusiastically advocated among social democrat educationists not only in Japan but also in Asian countries, such as Korea, China, Indonesia and Vietnam. Research Institute of Learning Community was established in Korea (2002), in China (2006). Asian meeting about school as learning community will be held at Seoul in this autum.

Conclusion: Silent RevolutionReflecting personal experience of school renovation, I remind that school reform is a silent revolution. Hindered behind noisy voices of mass hysteria about “educational crisis” and neo-liberal policies, grassroots movement of school as learning community penetrates as silent revolution. I believe that only this silent revolution can open an avenue for future education, because it is rooted in silent voices for happiness of teachers and children. This is the reason why so many teachers are hopefully involved in this movement.

The End

Thank you for your attention.