[Grandpa's Grumbling] Hang in there, teachers!

(Grandpa) Are you competing with everyone in typing games like Sushi-da at school?

(Grandchild) We're not allowed to do that on school tablets anymore, so now I can only use the typing software that's already installed on the tablet.

(Grandpa) That's a shame. It was such a fun program, wasn't it? Why did the teacher say no?

(Grandchild) This software isn't the type you download and use; it runs on the internet, and they said there might be dangerous sites with hidden viruses. So, they told us we can only use software designated by the school.

(Grandpa) Huh! I see. I suppose that makes some sense... but I didn't think it was dangerous. That's too bad. Are you still doing the 'Kokoro-bu' (Heart Club) stories?

(Grandchild) We only did that once.

(Grandpa) That was the story about whether or not to develop the forest and build a big road through it, right?

(Grandchild) Yeah, just that one story where a small island appears and you listen to everyone's opinions.

※ That story is this one👇

(Grandpa) I think it's a good lesson, so I wish they'd keep doing it. I guess teachers aren't really free to do whatever they think is best, are they? Is there anything else interesting you're doing in class?

(Grandchild) Not really.

(Grandpa) Oh, really? That's a shame! I was hoping to use it for my grumbling, but I guess there's no new material.

(Grandchild) I'm not going to school just to provide material for your grumbling, you know.

(Grandpa) My apologies.😥

It is quite a difficult thing to change 'education'. Can't the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) relax the curriculum guidelines, increase the freedom of teachers, leave things to their autonomy, and revise the educational system to allow more time for the teachers' own education and training?

As the Education Research Institute on noter wrote👇, I think there is room for improvement in the way classes are conducted when teachers lack 'time' and 'peace of mind'. I believe the past 40 years have proven that things don't go well when the authorities dictate every little detail in the guidelines and force them upon teachers.

I happened to find the above while looking at the Hokkaido Board of Education's 'School Education Guide,' but why did the Board of Education use terms like 'classroom management' and 'management'? I've always felt uncomfortable with that, but does anyone know the reason?

I'm imagining all by myself that it probably started when someone at MEXT or a high-ranking official at the Board of Education translated 'Management' as 'Keiei' (management/business administration).

And perhaps they didn't just translate Management as 'management,' but also turned it into a term that means 'precedent-following administration to protect vested interests'?

In the English-speaking world, management is fundamentally about operations and administration to produce 'results'.Is 'classroom management' not good enough?

I don't think there's any point in having teachers check off such a checklist based on their own subjective views.

Instead, for example, rather than a teacher checking 'Yes' to 'Are you fostering an atmosphere where students try to accept each other's strengths and differences?', I think it's more meaningful for Grandpa if teachers were asked 'How do you do that?' and shared their individual ingenuity, engaging in an exchange of differing views (not peer pressure disguised as an exchange of opinions).

This is because there is no single correct answer to management.

Even in management, where there is no single correct answer and no two classroom situations are the same, there is stilla distinction between 'skillful and unskillful' methods.

If there are skillful ways of doing things, isn't it important to learn those best practices from various teachers, exchange opinions, andthink for yourself about the methods that suit your own classroom?

Grandpa thinks that by increasing their experience and growing as teachers themselves, what they acquire becomes their skills as educators.

(Grandchild) Grandpa, what are you doing?

(Grandpa) I was just looking at the Board of Education's teaching guide; well, I'll use this as material for the 'Grandpa Saw It!' series later.

(Grandchild) Come here for a second, sit down here.

(Grandpa) Like this?

(Grandchild) Huh? Grandpa, I can see your scalp!

(Grandpa) That's not true, I have plenty of hair...

(Grandma) You shouldn't be so honest.

(Grandpa) That way of putting it hurts!

***
(Gratitude)

▼Yesterday, I received a 'Great news!' notification. Thank you for all the 'likes'. In this weekend's 'Grandpa Saw It!', I will take up the teaching guide that the Board of Education has presented to teachers. Please read it this week too!

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