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Assessment for learning practices in Japan: Three steps forward, two steps back

Yasuko Shimojima and Masahiro Arimoto
Abstract: 

The dichotomy between content knowledge and 21st-century skills (“zest for life” in the Japanese context) has been an issue since the early 2000s in Japan. Recently it has been evident in the demand for a high school–university connection. In spite of such a division, involving apparently incompatible or opposite principles, Japan can integrate such a duality. This can be achieved both top down (tatemae), through official policy documents, and through daily cultural practices (honne) using the common language of the school-based professional learning community (SBPLC) behind the scenes of lesson study. Capable teachers subconsciously already combine curriculum, pedagogy and subject-matter knowledge to recognise and respond to students’ learning needs. The authors describe this using the metaphor of “three steps forward, two steps back” to illuminate assessment for learning classroom practices in Japan.

Assessment for learning practices in Japan: Three steps forward, two steps back

Yasuko Shimojima and Masahiro Arimoto

Abstract

The dichotomy between content knowledge and 21st-century skills (“zest for life” in the Japanese context) has been an issue since the early 2000s in Japan. Recently it has been evident in the demand for a high school–university connection. In spite of such a division, involving apparently incompatible or opposite principles, Japan can integrate such a duality. This can be achieved both top down (tatemae ), through official policy documents, and through daily cultural practices (honne ) using the common language of the school-based professional learning community (SBPLC) behind the scenes of lesson study. Capable teachers subconsciously already combine curriculum, pedagogy and subject-matter knowledge to recognise and respond to students’ learning needs. The authors describe this using the metaphor of “three steps forward, two steps back” to illuminate assessment for learning classroom practices in Japan.

Introduction

I read your paper “Cultural Perspectives on Classroom Assessment: A Path Toward the Japanese Assessment for Learning Network” and found it very interesting. Your skillful examination of assessment culture in Japan through AfL [assessment for learning] lenses was very enlightening. It clarified to me how culture sensitive we need to be when performing international comparisons of AfL practices or when ‘importing’ practices from another culture. Specifically, I understand better now why it takes quite a lot of effort to implement (a light version of) Lesson Study in the school-based PD project I lead here in Israel. It seems to me that developing [a] School Based Professional Learning Community in Japan is a lot easier than in Western cultures. What I am still eager to understand is how Japanese teachers facilitate student agency. This is still another hurdle that we have to pass in our PD project. We think we should develop individuality in connection with social responsibility. (Private correspondence from Menuha Birenbaum, 10 April 2016)

This email inspired us to reflect on the cultural aspects of classroom practices in Japan in terms of promoting student agency in connection with social responsibility and global awareness through assessment for learning practices.

We had an opportunity to participate in the 6th International Invitational Assessment for Learning Symposium held in Brisbane, Australia, in September 2016. Arimoto presented his research focus area as follows:

Japanese cultural aspects could be conducive to the successful implementation of AfL. Indeed, many aspects are already incorporated into Japanese lesson study, although they are often not well developed. In general, Japanese students tend to conceal agency in a collective consciousness culture. However, from a case study of interpreting the community of practices (eg, sharing rhythm by common seasonal song beyond schools) as “systems awareness school” by clarifying the contexts of using Japanese indigenous words such as kizuki , students showed evidence of group metacognition and a sense of responsibility in the 1st grade classroom. The nexus of “heart or mind” was nurtured based on collective consciousness about the seasons by using a calendar—a kind enabling tool—which has lots of space to write in and sharing a rule (or fulfill a duty) that each child fill in a column each day.

Shimojima presented her research focus area as follows:

Fostering global competencies in Japanese high school classrooms has been emphasized, especially after 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, in terms of sustainable development toward the future. Curriculum reform for ‘global human resources’, including the ‘Super Global High School’ project, is a center of focus in Japanese education, and formative assessment and interactive pedagogy for inquiry-based learning are expected to foster and assess global competencies. The Japanese classroom has a long tradition of teacher-centered instruction. However, collaborative and student-centered learning as well as AfL would be adaptable to the group-oriented Japanese cultural aspects.

Taking these events as inspiration, this article argues that culturally relevant forms of assessment for learning and improvement are emerging in Japan. The following issues are addressed:

a historical overview of Japanese educational shifts since the 1990s

the place of global competencies in Japan

the introduction of inquiry-based and project-based learning in Japan

the implications of the introduction of inquiry-based and project-based learning

the place of assessment for learning in Japanese education.

A historical overview of Japanese educational shifts since the 1990s

At the beginning of the 1990s a “new concept of academic ability” was introduced, and a paradigm shift from teaching to supporting has been emphasised since then. The emphasis on this new concept of academic ability has influenced curriculum development (Yamada, 2004). According to Kimura and Tatsuno (2017), the new concept, called “zest for life”, first appeared in 1998 and aimed for the holistic development of students—academically, morally, and physically (chi , toku , tai ).

In the late 1990s a decline in achievement performance emerged in some universities because of the diversification of university entrance exams, an increase in elective subjects in high schools, and an increase in university enrolment due to the difficulty finding employment after the collapse of the bubble economy. The issues shifted towards the underachievement of children because of a reduced curriculum in 1998, and declining competition in entrance exams with the decrease in the younger population (Sato, 2009).

In 2002 “relaxed education”—or, more accurately, time for creative and exploratory activity (yutori kyouiku ), compassion as solidarity of the heart, integrated studies, and a 5-day school week—was introduced. Honda (2004) defined “learning relevance” as how learners find meaning and significance in learning, categorising learning relevance into two aspects: present relevance and future relevance. Present relevance indicates a genuine interest in learning, and future relevance means the usefulness of learning in the future. The traditional curriculum reflects future relevance, which ensures basic knowledge1 and skills and outcome-based assessment, and students perceive that learning basic subjects is not interesting now but will be useful in the future. In contrast, the new curriculum reflects present relevance, which means the students perceive inquiry-based learning as interesting. The assessment is conducted in process-based procedures.

In 2004 Japan’s sinking rankings on international tests (PISA 2003 and TIMSS 2003) shocked the nation. In response, in 2006 the Japanese Diet submitted a plan to revise the Fundamental Law of Education, which had not been revised since the Allied occupation in 1947. Later, in 2008, the New Course of Study was introduced (Gordon & LeTendre, 2010).

According to Sato (2009), quality of academic ability in the Japanese context implies that mastering “basic knowledge and skills” maintains a certain level. However, in the areas of “knowledge utilisation”, “inquiry of knowledge”, and “expression”, these skills are still insufficient. Sato characterises the New Course of Study issued in 2008 as involving the competency of utilising knowledge; balancing “acquiring knowledge and skills” with “thinking, judgement, expression”; stressing “language activities”; “moral education”; “traditional (Japanese) culture; increasing the ratio of STEM2 in the curriculum; and increasing the number and content of classes.

As the curriculum shifts from teacher-centred to student-centred, from mastering knowledge to knowledge utilisation, the pedagogical styles of teachers need to change accordingly. Yamada (2004) analysed the change in teachers’ pedagogical styles according to the ages of the teachers, comparing the teaching styles of between 5 and 6 years previously and the present. Yamada concluded that new pedagogy styles would lead to higher levels of achievement, and that traditional pedagogical styles would lead to minimising the difference in achievement between low achievers and high achievers. To overcome the decline in academic achievement and to maintain the competencies of zest for life, a balance between new and traditional pedagogies is required.

The place of global competencies in Japan

Disputes over academic achievement versus character and skills (zest for life) emerged right after World War 2, when underachievement issues were often the centre of attention. Character was thought to be difficult to assess (Higuchi, 2016) compared with traditional academic achievement. Character (or global competencies) is defined as having “wider abilities”, including not only knowledge but motivation, attitude, mindset, and capacities (Ishimori, 2015).

Around the year 2000 fostering global human resources became an issue. Not only returnee students (those who had spent several years abroad) but also Japanese students who were born and raised in Japan were required to have global competencies. Nukaga (2013) points out that there are two competencies for educational achievement in Japanese families living in the United States on business: Japanese-style competencies and global competencies. Parents want their children to utilise the opportunities presented by living in an English-speaking country, but at the same time they want their children to be able to participate in Japanese society after they return to Japan.

Traditional Japanese-style competencies encompass the basic academic abilities to pass the entrance exams in Japan, and global competencies encompass English-language ability, broad perspectives, socialising, adaptability, and self-expression, and it is the parents’ mission to have their children acquire both sets of competencies. Traditional academic achievement in a limited sense can be assessed quantitatively, but character or global competencies is considered to be difficult to assess quantitatively. Taguma (2016), an OECD3 senior analyst, introduced the OECD project Education 2030, based on OECD key competencies connected with PISA, and has influenced curriculum redesign around the world. Taguma elucidated the challenges that OECD countries have in common: practising education so that students learn both knowledge and competencies at the same time, and assessment of education for both knowledge and competencies.

Fadel, Bialik, and Trilling (2015) stress that the 21st-century curriculum must incorporate and balance the various goals of education, such as modern knowledge and traditional subjects; knowledge, skills, character, and meta-learning; outcome and process; and global and local perspectives. Formative assessment is expected to play a significant role in assessing global competencies. Valuing the process of learning, and conducting inquiry and assessment during the teaching process, it is believed, will lead to improving the curriculum and the learning process.

The OECD (2016) recently proposed a new approach to assessing young people’s understanding of global issues and their attitudes toward cultural diversity and tolerance in the PISA 2018 Global Competence assessment. In the cognitive assessment, knowledge of global issues, intercultural knowledge, and analytical and critical thinking skills will be assessed. In addition to cognitive assessments, the student questionnaire will be conducted to have self-reported knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values relating to global and intercultural issues.

Fostering global competencies from K-12 to university

In the suburbs of Tokyo there is a complex of private schools called the Tamagawa Academy (K–12) and Tamagawa University, which were founded in 1929. Founder Kuniyoshi Obara promoted zenjin (whole person) education as “an educator of the modern age,” and he realised his philosophy through his innovative educational programmes. Tamagawa has a long history of fostering global-minded students for the 21st century. The school was designated a Super Global High School (SGH), Super Science High School (SSH), and an International Baccalaureate (IB) school. According to Tamagawa (2017), Tamagawa Academy began exploring IB Programmes in 2007 and in March 2009 became an accredited IB World School. The school is authorised to offer the IB Middle Years Programme and the IB Diploma Programme. In Japan there are 15 schools accredited as IB World Schools, part of the 4,677 schools in 140 countries in 2016.

In contrast to other SGH schools, the Tamagawa Academy offers students the opportunity to learn through an inquiry-based approach from 7th grade or even earlier. Other schools offer students opportunities to learn through inquiry-based learning from 10th grade. Compared with public high schools, which sometimes assign students group-oriented inquiry-based learning, Tamagawa Academy assigns students an individual task or project.

As a private school, Tamagawa can offer a more flexible and higher-level curriculum than public schools. Other than private schools, national high schools and kokusai (international) public high schools offer a special curriculum to foster global competencies.

Fostering global competencies in both Japanese-born and returnee students

Among national university-affiliated secondary schools, Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School is unique in terms of accepting 40% of returnee Japanese students who have spent some years abroad. This school was also designated as SGH and SSH, and accredited as an IB school in 2010, and a UNESCO School in 2011.

Some subjects are conducted in English, and Japanese-born students are stimulated by English-language fluency and the different learning styles of the returnee students who spent several years abroad. The SGH programme aims to foster “global Japanese citizens”. However, SGH schools have non-Japanese students or culturally and linguistically diverse students. The SGH project was introduced in 2015, and unconventional styles of pedagogy—such as active learning and inquiry, project-based learning, formative assessment incorporating rubrics, and performance assessment—are included.

In Japan, teachers at high schools are overwhelmed by the high demands of the complexities of students’ needs, student truancy, bullying and long working hours. In the circumstances, teachers cannot afford to try new teaching practices, and do not have the confidence to promote student agency (OECD, 2014).

Introduction of inquiry-based and project-based learning in Japan

The inquiry-based and project-based learning SGH project includes a transformational pedagogy. However, teachers need professional development in teaching and assessing this unconventional project work. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) (2016) has indicated the significance of deep learning, dialogical learning and self-directed learning as key components of active learning in high school education. Self-directed learning is defined as students “being interested in learning, in relation to career development, patiently stick[ing] to their learning, and reflect[ing] on their learning activities with their future perspective” (pp. 1–2). Deep learning through utilising knowledge and inquiry, dialogical learning through collaboration with peers, and dialogue with teachers or community were also emphasised.

Inquiry and project-based learning not only promote both traditional competencies and new 21st-century skills, but also require the trans­formation of assessment process and strategies. The SGH project promotes inquiry- and project-based learning and enables teachers to accommodate iconoclastic methods of assessment in Japan.

Other than the Super Global project, another project-based learning approach in junior high and high schools in connection with universities and international organisations was launched in April 2011, right after the Tohoku Earthquake hit the Tohoku region in March of the same year. The OECD Tohoku Schools project started with “the goal of demonstrating the attractiveness of the Tohoku region and show the progress of the recovery process during a major event in 2014 in Paris,” and it was expected that “through collaborative, project-based pedagogy students will acquire advanced leadership skills and their engagement to promote recovery in the region will be strengthened” (Halász, 2014, p. 2). The Tohoku Earthquake was a real-life catastrophe and disaster, the biggest “problem” to be solved, and it changed curriculum to include disaster-prevention education in the Tohoku region.

A case study of the Super Global project for Japanese students: Global competencies and Super Global projects

MEXT has selected 112 high schools as SGHs from 2014 and 2015—56 schools each year. Education in the 21st century requires knowledge, skills and character (Fadel et al., 2015). Reflecting the demands of 21st-century education, MEXT includes knowledge (of social issues), skills (communication ability and problem-solving skills), and character (awareness and moral character) in promoting the SGH programme.

Each high school has its own unique characteristics and features. Many schools reflect their “regional characteristics and features of the school.” The Tohoku district and Kobe suffered from earthquakes, and the schools explore themes related to disaster and risk prevention, and nuclear power plants, based on the theme of Education for Sustainable Development. Tagajo High School in Miyagi prefecture in Tohoku district has a unique course on “Disaster Science”. This course offers disaster-prevention education.

High school–university connection

MEXT encourages high schools to collaborate with universities. University professors invite high-school students to attend special lectures at university, and professors and graduate students visit high schools to scaffold project-based learning and give advice on research, presentation, and performance. SGH high school students have opportunities to present their research at local universities as a way of making a high school–university connection. University professors and graduate students give feedback on students’ research and presentation. Through presentations, students used rubrics for self-assessment and experienced peer feedback. The link is not limited to students: high school teachers have conferences with university professors to receive advice on designing rubrics or methods of doing research.

Shift in university and college entrance examinations

The government of Japan plans to revise the university entrance system, together with revising the course of study, which might accelerate the shift to competencies-based education (Kimura & Tatsuno, 2017). MEXT (2015) has stated that high school and university reform, including university entrance examination, will be implemented in response to the rapid changes in this globalised world. Excerpts from On Integrated Reforms in High School and University Education and University Entrance Examination Aimed at Realizing a High School and University Articulation System Appropriate for a New Era (2015) are as follows:

In regard to individual screening, we aim to make clear the specific items in regard to selection methods for each university on the basis of an administration policy that respects that university’s individual characteristics. This will allow for a multifaceted selection methodology based on the three key scholastic skills, in order to allow for the selection of people with outstanding skills in a specialized area and to foster access for students from a multitude of backgrounds. (p. 3)

There are three kinds of university entrance examinations in Japan: a general examination , based on an achievement test and submission of a transcript; examination for selected candidates , based on an interview and an essay; and Admission Office entrance examination. According to MEXT (2015), private universities, which account for 80% of universities in Japan, conducted 40.3% of examinations for selected candidates, 10.3% of Admission Office examinations, and 48.9% of general examinations. National universities, which account for 20% of all universities, conducted 12.3% examinations for selected candidates, 2.6% Admission Office examinations, and 84.4% general examinations.

The Admission Office examination is described by MEXT as comprising not just an achievement test, but also meticulous screening of school records, and attentive interviews to measure prospective students’ abilities, aptitude, and motivation, and purpose for learning. MEXT emphasises assessment in various aspects of the student, in terms of fostering globalised human resources and “innovative” human resources, instead of too much emphasis on an achievement test.

The ratio of Admission Office examinations in national universities is much lower than that in private universities. The Japan Association of National Universities (2015) indicated in an Action Plan for Future Vision of National Universities that national universities recognise the urgent need for the reform of entrance examinations to accept high-school graduates who have a higher level of academic abilities and various competencies. The reform of the entrance examination will increase the number of enrolments for the selected candidates, Admission Office examination, and International Baccalaureate examination by up to 30 percent.

Incorporating culturally and linguistically diverse students in an SGH programme

There seems to be another dichotomy between fostering global Japanese citizens and accommodating culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students at school. Among Japanese public high schools there are some kokusai (international) schools, which are different from schools for foreign residents in Japan and/or have IB programmes. The kokusai schools are for Japanese students and a certain number of CLD students who pass the entrance exams, or Japanese-language learners with Japanese nationality.

CLD students at the kokusai high school are required to foster several skills and areas of knowledge: Japanese language; content knowledge; English language (for CLD students whose native language is not English); and knowledge and skills for global human resources. Even if the CLD students can pass the competitive entrance exam, they are still involved in the process of learning Japanese as a second language. In the SGH programme, students are required to work on project studies that include academic writing, research, and group presentation.

Incorporating assessment for learning into assessment practices: students’ views

A group of six female (16–17-year-old) students in Narita Kokusai high school conducting field work in Malaysia during their summer vacation were asked to have a focus-group interview (Vaughn, Shay, & Sinagug, 1996) on assessment for learning and performance-based assessment in July 2016. The students were informed of the questions beforehand, and the student leader of the group moderated the focus-group interview. Themes for the interview were their perspectives on performance-based assessment (rubrics), rubric criteria, and peer feedback.

The students had an opportunity to use a rubric in February 2015 on their group presentation of their research at school. During the focus group interview the students discussed how to assess their peers and how to get feedback from their peers.

The students confessed that they had no standard to assess others in terms of numbers or ratings, and had difficulty understanding wording such as “somewhat good”.

Student F: I cannot tell the details of “somewhat good” or “somewhat bad.

Student E: I will choose “somewhat good” in something, not just “good”.

Student B: In a lot of questionnaires, if I don’t think it’s perfect, I put “rather”.

All members: Yes, yes, we do.

Student D: Just as F, I feel I will be confused if I assess other students. It’s difficult. I don’t have my yardstick yet. Difficult to analyse.

Student B: Very unclear. This rubric is much better, but I did a rubric which said, “I understand very well,” and so on, 4, 3, 2, 1, and I didn’t understand.

Student C: What do you mean by “good points about visual aids”? I can’t tell which is good or bad.

Student E: Without examples, we won’t be able to choose.

Students valued feedback from other students, but they said they could not understand why they received each rating without details.

Student B: I really felt it was beneficial for me to be assessed by peers. If I assess by myself, I can’t see what was wrong with me. But, I am not sure why I got each rating.

Student F: I don’t know why the student who assessed my performance chose the rating.

Student B: Yeah, I want the reasons or details why he/she chose the rating.

One of the SGH school students related to the author several good points on feedback for the poster presentations. Students welcomed more, and more prompt, feedback to improve their product and performance. Students stated their perceptions as follows.

The feedback from observers or teachers usually comes back very late. If you do assess or give feedback, we hope suggestions or assessment will be returned on the same day.

The amount of feedback from peers is more than that from a teacher. The more feedback we get, the more assessment for improvement we get.

As they continued to discuss the issue, they thought more about improving their performance and the quality of their research. Students welcomed feedback from their peers more than their teacher in terms of quantity, because the number of teachers was usually much smaller than the number of students. Students need prompt feedback—either from teachers or from their peers—and they emphasised the importance of reflecting on the feedback or assessment. Students who experienced a poster session valued poster sessions in terms of getting direct feedback right away, both for their performance and for the content of the research.

At the end of the group interview the students revealed a cultural aspect that might be unique to the Japanese context: the degree of closeness between assessors and the assessed might affect peer assessment using a rubric. Students disclosed their feelings as follows:

It is easier to assess each other within friends.

It is difficult to give lower-grade feedback depending on how close the friends are.

It is more difficult to give lower grades to mere acquaintances than closer friends.

At present teachers in Japan seem to be fully occupied with teaching project-based learning and would not have kizuki (awareness) of assessing project-based learning. Most of the teachers understand formative assessment merely on a theoretical level, and it would require more time for the teachers to reflect on the process of assessment during the project. It would depend on each teacher focusing on independent professional development in learning and teaching assessment using rubrics.

The focus-group discussion revealed that students could not have confidence in using rubrics well enough to assess others without sufficient instruction on assessment literacy. According to the definition of the Ministry of Education (2017, p. 1) in New Zealand,

assessment literacy is the possession of knowledge about the basic principles of sound assessment practice, including its terminology, the development and use of assessment methodologies and techniques, and familiarity with standards of quality in assessment.

Teachers and students in Japan are required to be familiar with standards of quality in assessment in the process of assessing project-based learning using rubrics.

Implications of the introduction of inquiry-based and project-based learning

Arimoto, Clark, Yamamoto, and Shinkawa (2015) describe formative assessment as an

assessment process that serves teachers and students so that sound instructional decisions are made and next steps for effective learning may be planned and implemented collectively. (p. 42)

Arimoto et al. go on to describe “scaffolding” as follows: “the practice of scaffolding supports a socially interactive and cognitively flexible approach to thinking, learning, and problem-solving” (p. 42). Arimoto et al. also define formative classroom assessment as interactive assessment which

creates visible evidence of learning and provides immediate yet reliable feedback to school staff, learners, and parents about the standards that have been achieved and the next steps for improvement. (p. 43)

Fadel et al. (2009) indicate that

designing and sequencing engaging learning projects so that they meet learning standards and increasingly deepen understanding and build 21st century skills as a student progresses through school will be a challenge for many education systems. (p. 135)

Aligned with assessment of learning by individual teachers, Arimoto et al. (2015) define a professional learning community as “a forum where teachers discuss and communicate with other teachers (communicating about how they communicate).” Discussions centre on the collective creativity of teachers and how to improve the quality of instruction, and describe common assets of both formative assessment and Lesson Study in Japan: “Just as formative assessment places the student at the center of the process, so does the Japanese conception of Lesson Study” (p. 51).

If the classroom becomes an arena for interaction between teachers and students—both for teaching and for assessing—the open class for other teachers would become a set of Lesson Studies for interaction between other teachers and the classroom with a teacher and students.

Three steps forward

Japanese society values kankei (inter-relationships) and access to networks of trusted people. This culture has brought to the level of collective consciousness, and systematically used, certain things that cannot be grasped by the individual subject’s consciousness. These are tacit understandings that individualistic cultures found in European nations and North America leave in the realm of subconsciousness (thus unmanageable) (Arimoto & Ishimori, 2013). For example, Japanese culture tends to respect simplicity, silence, and subtlety. Historically we have 24 seasons; each season is divided into six, reflecting the subtle differences in temperature or humidity. Keene suggests that four characteristics are of particular importance in understanding Japanese aesthetic values: suggestion, irregularity, simplicity, and perishability (impermanence). These characteristics give one the feeling that there is room for growth. The Japanese have long been partial not only to incompleteness, but also to another variety of irregularity, asymmetry, and in this respect they differ from other peoples of Asia.

It has been suggested that indigenous Japanese forms of expression—such as visual images or metaphors, expressed in the language of ordinary people rather than abstract concepts from social science literature—seem to be at the heart of Japanese culture. The points of departure for Japanese teachers and schools are totally different from those of their Western counterparts regarding what to assess and what to value, due to the personal and social processes related to the collective consciousness, as expressed in the Japanese language. Socio-emotional competencies, or “soft skills”, are needed to establish positive relationships and handle challenging situations effectively (OECD, 2012, p. 126).

Against this background, we propose the working hypothesis that kizuki culture (constructing a new understanding of the targeted issue, new mindful awareness) exists as a more multidimensional and multi-level concept than the Western terms “alignment” or “congruence” imply. The related cultural code words kizuna and kankei , among others, expressed in the language of ordinary people, were extracted to clarify kizuki in school-based settings (Arimoto, 2017).

According to the OECD (2005), the culture of evaluation by formative assessment is considered a top priority agenda of schools in Western countries such as the UK and Denmark (p. 15). On the other hand, we Japanese are not certain as to whether formative assessment exists or not. However, we are beginning to understand the school based professional learning community (SBPLC) by looking behind the scenes of lesson study in collaborative action research with the Chikuzan elementary school. Chikuzan has practised team teaching for more than 50 years, since 1964, and has achieved top scores among elementary schools and junior high schools. It has an education board in the rural village Higashi-Naruse, in Akita prefecture, in the Tohoku region. The findings of the action research are as follows.

Assessment for learning is practised through classroom assessment, and daily contact and views are exchanged in the staff room and through joint in-schools teacher training.

Assessment for learning is practised subconsciously and inherently, not only in the classroom process but also in the school process, supported by both deep and trivial levels in school-based settings.

“Mutuality” exists by producing “sincerity” in the members of the SBPLC (Arimoto & Hamada, 2016).

There exists the possibility of extracting a “culture of evaluation” and visualising it in the form of an interconnect loop and complex layers from other schools across Japan.

The place of assessment for learning in Japanese education

Fostering 21st-century skills and global competencies is targeted to raise global human resources in Japan by the year 2020, the year the Tokyo Olympics will be held. The Course of Study will be revised in the same year. Through the SGH programme, the linkage between universities and high schools will be expected to strengthen, the curriculum and university examination will be transformed, and assessment for learning will be expected to be explored as enhancement of teaching and learning.

To raise the future global human resources of mainstream students, together with those of returnee students and CLD students, professional teacher development will be required in teaching, facilitating, scaffolding, and assessing students. In spite of such a division involving apparently incompatible or opposite principles, Japan can integrate such a duality through official policy documents from the top down (tatemae ), surface appearance (fronting), public appearance (public statements), and daily cultural practices (hone , one’s true feelings, as opposed to tatemae , or public display) using the common jargon of daily practice. Capable teachers subconsciously do combine curriculum, pedagogical and subject-matter knowledge to recognise and respond to students’ learning needs. We describe this by using the metaphor of three steps forward, two steps back, to illuminate assessment for learning classroom practices in Japan.

Japanese people are lagging behind in terms of understanding assessment of key competencies/essential skills, assessment for diversity/special needs, and taking a step forward by connecting the early childhood, primary, secondary, vocational, and tertiary sectors. For example, the SGH programme for fostering global human resources uses future-oriented concepts to structure assessment for learning and students’ learning in project-based learning, and in university entrance examinations and the curriculum of high schools. In Japan we have been pressed to assess higher order learning, as defined by Bloom’s taxonomy for the cognitive domain (Arimoto & Ishimori, 2013). However, we have been procrastinating over using the assessment tasks that allow students to demonstrate their achievement of those learning outcomes. An authentic task or assessment is one in which students are allowed adequate time to plan, to complete the work, to self-assess, to revise, and to consult with others.

Students can use the criteria against which their work will be assessed in developing, revising, and judging the quality of their own work. Such an authentic task or assessment could cover climate change, global warming in general, especially the issues of hazards and biodiversity, which should be treated as a top priority in Japanese perspectives. We are now tackling systems thinking (Arimoto & Xu, 2016a, 2016b), but we need to develop rich assessment tasks with extensive links to tertiary education and diverse other organisations. In this way, we take two steps back to nurture the assessment literacy of students, teachers, and parents.

Teaching and assessing project-based learning, in the sense of a fixed versus a growing mindset, would be two steps back in both Japanese educational systems and cultural aspects.

However, we are three steps forward by putting into words the sociocultural contexts of assessment, in terms of professional learning and development in assessment; for example, hansei (reflection, a method used in Japanese schools for self-improvement, often collaborative self-improvement), kodomo ni yorisou (building rapport with the children), kodomo o mitoru (understanding children), among others. Parents and community members are willing to be co-regulated, with children providing the evidence by reading loudly a picture book to unborn babies among pregnant women groups. The Japanese word kosodate (child-rearing practices) means total commitment to the child by the mother, with passive, dependent love between mother and child part of traditional maternal society.

Childrearing practices reflect the cultures from which they arise in a kind of reciprocal relationship. Modern Japanese culture is derived from traditional agricultural society, in which people had to cooperate with one another in order to get by, so the main principles of child-rearing focused on creating individuals who knew how to get along with others in the group. Cooperation was emphasised rather than individualism, and because people were protected within the group, self-assertion was considered a form of disobedience. Compassion is often thought of as akin to pity, but whereas pity may be condescending, compassion springs from a sense of the equality and interconnectedness of life. Compassion is rooted in a respect for the inherent dignity of life—our own and others’—and a desire to see that dignity triumph. Buddhist compassion could be succinctly described as the desire to relieve suffering and to give joy (Arimoto, 2017).

This contrasts markedly with Western culture, especially American culture, which is based on a kind of pioneer spirit in which self-reliance and original thinking are required, resulting in child-rearing practices that place much more emphasis on independence, creativity, and self-assertion.

We are sure there is a synergistic effect arising from know-how gained by foreign-classroom assessment combined with the know-how of Japanese classroom assessment. Although we face a double-bind (itabasami) because of the dichotomy between Western abstract concepts of assessment and Japanese domestic and indigenous practices, “assessment matters” of this journal helped us to stop ourselves to think globally, take a deep breath, and remember why you chose this global task, so we could draw deeply on its rich cultural heritage before taking the plunge into the future.

Notes

1Programme for International Student Assessment, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study.

2Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

3Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

References

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Authors

Yasuko Shimojima, Tokyo Gakugei University, Japan

Email: simojima@u-gakugei.ac.jp

Masahiro Arimoto, Tohoku University, Japan

Email: masaari@m.tohoku.ac.jp