Lady Manners School, Bakewell

Will Woodward reports on a school linking visit between Kanagawa Sohgoh Senior High School, Yokohama, and Lady Manners School, Bakewell which took place on 16 to 23 October 2006.

Tamie Akiba at BC Tokyo found Kanagawa Sohgoh Senior High School (Kanasoh), who were very interested in the idea of a joint curriculum project. Through e-mail correspondence between William Woodward (LMS) and Sakae Suzuki (Kanasoh) before the visit, it was established that the proposed project would fit into the existing curriculum at each school:

• Year 9 History at LMS: specifically as part of the National Currriculum Key Stage 3 Twentieth Century World course.
• At Kanasoh the project fits in with the Global Issues course, which is an elective course for Second and Third Year students (equivalent of Year 12 and 13 in the UK).

• meet the staff who would take part in the project
• meet the head teacher (kohcho sensei) to gain his support and cooperation
• observe a range of lessons across the English curriculum, as this is the area of the curriculum involved in the proposed Joint Curriculum Project (JCP)
• observe a Global Issues lesson and assess students' ability; this was seen as very important, as the Kanasoh part of the JCP will be in English. If their ability were too basic, it might need to be approached through a History lesson. This would have been a great problem, as History teaching in Japan tends to be very didactic, leaving little room for the kind of debate expected at KS3 in England.
• Meet members of staff and students from other curriculum areas to investigate broader opportunities for exchange

Correspondence between William Woodward and Sakae Suzuki established an appropriate time for the visit. This was necessary in order to allow for observation of appropriate lessons, meeting the relevant staff, and making links with other parts of the school.

• lesson observation: various English lessons, music, art, chemistry, sport, French, German, media studies
• meeting with students: international exchange students from outside Japan; meeting  with March exchange visit students
• attendance at whole school staff meeting
• meeting with senior staff including head teacher
• meeting with Global Issues students (will graduate in March)
• shared and explained to teachers the Y9 History scheme of work; discussed one student's work, and gave a completed year's work from student to the school
• shared details of current and previous approaches to Hiroshima question; shared samples of worksheets, and students' work which demonstrated two sides of question
• participation and teaching at 'English Day Camp'
• teaching in four other lessons, including Oral Communication, Reading
• presented school with hardback book on area around LMS; large scale paperback for use with classes; calendar of images of Peak District
• official welcome party at local restaurant

Impressions and learning points

• observation of Global Issues lesson determined that students' ability was more than adequate for the project. Assessment was seen as very important, as the Kanasoh part of the JCP will be in English. If their ability had been too basic, the JCP could arguably only be approached through a History lesson. This would have been a great problem, as History teaching in Japan tends to be very didactic, leaving little room for the kind of debate expected at KS3 in England.
• participation in Global Issues lesson demonstrated that Kanasoh students are also capable of and keen to debate and argue: lesson observed was on the question "What should be done about North Korea?" In contrast to the 1990s, debate is now a central part of the senior high school English curriculum in Japan, and so Hiroshima is a very appropriate issue. Indeed, when told about next year's proposed JCP, the class were keen to express their opinions, which were encouragingly varied: the JCP will offer real debate about this interesting historical issue.

• exchange visit confirmed March 2007: 20 Kanasoh students to visit LMS and have 5 day homestay, shadowing of LMS pupils (two mornings); joint educational visits (two afternoons). The focus of this will be reciprocal language exchange: English learning for Kanasoh students, Japanese for LMS students, many of whom are expected to come from the LMS Japanese Society.
• both schools to work towards JCP
• joint work on Hiroshima to be made part of the curricula for subsequent years
• one of the most significant outcomes of the visit was the emergence of joint determination the from head teachers Meikle (post visit meeting at LMS 6 November) and Suwabe (meetings at Kanasoh on 18 and 19 October) to make the JCP a beginning rather than an end in itself
• joint memorandum currently in draft stage: helpful exemplar received from Tamie Akiba at BC Tokyo

• feedback meeting between William Woodward and Duncan Meikle (head teacher LMS)
• continued communication between the two schools
• completion of the exchange visit in March and the JCP will allow for genuine evaluation – of these specific events
• evaluation will be ongoing: there is strong interest in the two schools' music department for some form of JCP, perhaps involving the performance of original music; in addition, the linking visit and proposed JCP constitute an integral part of the LMS head teacher's commitment to the international dimension, and application for the International School Award

• Summer term (term 3 at LMS, term 1 at Kanasoh): both schools work on Hiroshima JCP
• part of JCP for which we will apply for BC funding: 5 to 10 LMS students continue studies at Kanasoh: two schools work together as a single group; this may involve whole Global Issues class – estimated to be fewer than 20 from April (new school year)
• Possible final event: students and staff from both schools visit Hiroshima to see museum, meet Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor) and take part in the August 6 official commemoration ceremony
• 2008 – possible JCP involving music departments; one suggestion is for students in both schools to work together towards a performance of an original piece of music, perhaps written by LMS teacher / composer Robert Steadman.

I already had a great deal of experience of the Japanese educational system, having worked in both state and private secondary schools, primary schools, a junior college and university of art and design, as well as a Board of Education (LEA) office which involved curriculum planning in a series of prefecture-wide state school 'Cross Culture Schools'.