June 25, 2017: Professor Kimihiro Tsumura: “Education Challenges Confronting Ethnic Minority Children in Hamamatsu and a Solution”

Professor Kimihiro Tsumura
Hamamatsu Gakuin University

June 25, 2017 13:00 (doors open), 13:30-15:30
Hamamatsu Create Bldg. Room 51

This presentation will address the particular challenges that confront certain ethnic minority children in Hamamatsu and describe one solution (see below – edited for brevity).

The educational situation confronting ethnic minority children in Hamamatsu public schools is unique. There are many students from low income families whose native language is not Japanese. Although supplemental Japanese language classes are provided for such students in Japanese public schools, in order for them to participate in these classes, they are forced to miss essential classes in subjects such as mathematics, social studies, science and so on.

Hamamatsu International School bridges this gap by providing affordable English education in these subjects for students at risk. It seeks to create an environment in which multicultural education will be the focus of all learning. The overall goal is to cultivate these three core competencies based on the principles of universal design for learning (UDL): key competencies as identified by the OECD, competencies for which multicultural education aims, and the educational principles of the International Baccalaureate Program)

  • The ability to live in multicultural societies
  • The ability to build interpersonal relationships in multicultural societies
  • The ability to disseminate opinions and thoughts and take actions positively in multicultural societies

Teachers and local university students of various nationalities and cultural backgrounds work together in an all English environment through team teaching and a mentoring system to ensure that these children obtain a quality multicultural education.

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