David Selby and Fumiyo Kagawa are members of the High Panel Team, an external advisory body, established for the Super Global High School Program at the Tamagawa Academy, Tokyo, Japan. The Program is a five-year initiative launched by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in April 2014. It aims at helping Japanese high school students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to become global leaders who can positively contribute to a global society faced with multiple challenges (click here for further information on the program).
Tamagawa Academy is one of 56 high schools selected by MEXT for the first round of SGH. Predicated on its longstanding commitment to whole-person education and education for international understanding as well as building on its extensive international networks, Tamagawa Academy’s initiative focuses on curriculum development and teacher capacity development so that students can develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to become future global leaders. Tamagawa’s program also seeks to motivate students to choose future careers with the UN, INGOs and other international organizations.
Sustainability Frontiers has been involved in external monitoring and evaluation of the program and in advising Tamagawa Academy on continuous curriculum improvement and teacher development. First-year and third-year evaluations were completed in February 2015 and in February 2017 respectively.
As an extension of its Super Global High School Program, Tamagawa Academy held a Global Enquiry-Based Learning Week offering a creative platform for reflection, sharing and action for Japanese secondary school teachers on the role of inquiry-based learning in a globalized world. The week included various open classes, a conference (31 October 2015) and a teacher workshop (1 November). David Selby and Fumiyo Kagawa of Sustainability Frontiers were invited to make a leading contribution to the week.
On 28 October 2015, they facilitated a workshop on active learning on climate change issues for pre-service teachers at Tamagawa University. At the conference on 31 October 2015 David gave a keynote speech titled Searching for the Lost Key: Integral Learning for a Just and Kinder World before some 250 educators from across Japan. Fumiyo contributed to a panel discussion focusing on the Tamagawa Academy’s Super Global High School Program later that day. On 1 November, David and Fumiyo facilitated a whole-day interactive teacher workshop, Learning for Resilience: New Dimensions of Global Education for some 44 teachers and teacher educators.
For further details of the Tamagawa Super Global High School Program, click here.