Page 5 - SASTA Journal 2017

Number 02 / 2017 SASTA Journal 3
The students loved the experimental component of the lesson and took on the challenges I had set for them with great enthusiasm - even the school principal had a go. But time got away and I found myself condensing the most important part of the lesson - our time to re ect and draw together the lesson learnings. Lesson over, I drew breathe and soaked up the positive energy in the room.
In this instance, I was certainly placed as the learner within the classroom and unexpectedly received an education I had not foreseen. The experience of walking into a totally unknown situation required me to think of things that I had taken for granted all these years. Things that form part of my practice that I automatically do without consideration. This experience laid bare my own personal cultural practices and challenged me to see things from another angle and a new perspective. And so it was the teacher who grew...
Day 3: Wonders of Vegemite - by Andrew McGregor
Today was my teaching day! Nerves were high, as I anticipated what was going to happen. The nerves were settled when we walked through the front gate and about 20 Japanese students were calling out ‘hello’ from the rst oor windows.
We changed out of our shoes into slippers and met the faculty. We were shown through the Midorimachi Elementary School, and met most year levels of students. The students were just as excited to see us as we were to see them. We witnessed a Year 5 Science lesson, it was amazing to see the excitement and dedication both students and teachers had for their learning, and even better to see student voice used to guide the lesson!
Then it was my turn! I expected the Japanese schools to use more ICT, but my little Yahl School would have remarkably better equipment. We made circuits, and then tested if paper clips or clip-on koalas conducted electricity.
Then we bought out the big guns, and tested if vegemite or wasabi conduct! I think the students really enjoyed the lesson, even more so when I told them to keep the koalas. I think I skipped about 20% of my lesson plan, to t in with time and language issues. Even with this, though, the students told me they had fun and enjoyed it.
Highlights of my ASTA - Latitude Group Travel Japan trip today:
• All Year 5 & 6 students giving us a rock star welcome to their assembly;
• Eating lunch with a class, and spending way more time talking than eating;
• The guard of honour when we left when students gave us high 5’s then ran ahead
of us to do it again
• Watching a lesson taught by Sandra Davey that I will be stealing and doing with my class
This has been the best teaching moment of my career!
After the day at the school, we went to the Museum, and had a great time there as well! Great tea to nish; now I’m ready for bed!
Day 4: Are Japanese Students More Creative than Australian Students? - by Nathan Curnow
This afternoon, the ASTA delegation travelled to Ichikawa Super Science High School in Chiba. It was here that we were given an opportunity to observe students engage in a biology lesson and see students engage in some of their own research before I presented a lesson to 25 students and some of their teachers from Science-related clubs.
Super Science High Schools, such as the school we visited in Ichikawa, are special model schools appointed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in Japan. They aim to not only educate but encourage the top students in science and engineering whilst also developing an excellent system in Science. These schools have partnerships internationally and engage students in competitions and real, student-driven research with a number of students achieving high outcomes. Ichikawa Super Science High School has nearly 2,300 students across the Junior and Senior Schools.
Walking through the halls of the school, the students’ research and the strong academic ethos of the school are evident. Student work, in the form of poster presentations of authentic (and complex) research is on display. From ‘Mechanisms of the Oscillating Chemilumenescence Reaction Using Luminol’ to ‘Arti cial Photosynthesis: Novel Visible Light Response and Formic Acid Generation from Carbon Dioxide Using Tantalum Oxide/Tantalum Plate’ to research into candle oscillations, vibration of metal plates on ice and the dynamics of bouncing liquids, it is evident that students are engaged in highly speci c, authentic research. We are told later in the day that, as little as 10 years ago, presentations such as these would not have been done.