The Global and Multicultural Society Research Institute (GMS Research Institute) is a nonprofit research institute based in Tokyo, Japan. The Institute, combining researchers in education, social work, and international cooperation, as well as practitioners, works toward realizing a more equal and diverse society nationally and internationally . The Institute attempts to link research with practice, analyze and disseminate information, and to address issues which have implications not just for Japan, but for a wider international community. 

2022. April 1st. The Global and Multicultural Society Research Institute (GMS Research Institute) started as an independent nonprofit research institute to advance the mission described above.  Proceeding this there was an informal alliance of educators/researchers/policymakers interested in holistic education (Tokkatsu).  

For information on Tokkatsu please click here and here.

Linking Tokkatsu with Lesson Study

    Lesson study, a bottom-up and collaborative method of teacher learning, has gained international recognition in the past decade or so. The Japanese model of jyugyo kenkyu (lesson study), helps teachers identify what kinds of competencies they want to build in students together, and to improve their lessons by observing lessons together. There is much information on lesson study elsewhere, so it will not be elaborated here, but lesson study shares with tokkatsu, a holistic view of the child, and how children learn. 

   The Insitute's members and collaborators who are part of the tokkatsu project, have supported efforts to educate the total child, using a holistic framework, of which the model of Japanese schooling is one which uses the framework to shape schooling from preschool to high school, nationwide (as part of the curriculum). 

   Tsuneyoshi, Nambu, Kusanagi and others in the Institute have been involved in this process. 

Bunkyo Gakuin (where Tsuneyoshi is a faulty at the University), has hosted the 2023 and 2024 Knowledge Co-Creation Program on the holistic model of Japanese schooling for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) of the Japanese government.  Information on the 2024 and 2023 programs can be obtained from the link below. 

Following is a flyer from the 2023 program symposium on Oct. 7th, 2023 Japan time.

https://bit.ly/3q2aHbu

Arranging Learning Programs for the Tokkatsu Model and the Japanese Style Holistic Framework 

The Insitute designed parts of the Japanese educational learning program for UAE educators. See translation of the Newsletter (in Japanese) below. 

Members of the Institute, Tsuneyoshi, Nambu, Kusanagi, helped arrange Tokkatsu events for the 2022 (in Malaysia) and 2024 (Kazakhstan) annual meetings of the World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS).  During both meetings, a symposium illustrating the Tokkatsu model (chair, Tsuneyoshi), workshops by teachers (from the national research association for Tokkatsu in Japan, Nihon Tokubetsu Katsudo Gakkai, 2022) and researchers (Prof. Kusanagi=Insitute collaborator, Prof. Kyomen from Tsukuba University), and a Tokkatsu booth (operated by PADECO, which works for JICA Egypt), were set up. 

The Tokkatsu events took place on September 21st at the World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS) meeting in Malaysia. There was a Tokkatsu booth, keynote address, a symposium with panelists from Japan, Indonesia and Egypt, and a workshop by teachers from the national association of Tokkatsu educators (Nihon Tokubetsu Katsudo Gakkai). 

A brainstorming meeting on linking lesson study and Tokkatsu took place at  Bunkyo Gakuin University online, and was attended by members in Malaysia, Indonesia, U.S. and Japan.

Brainstorming Meeting

The Japanese Model of Schooling at a New Stage: Toward an Integrated Model of Tokkatsu and Lesson Study

Following the Lesson Study model, the Tokkatsu model has been adopted in countries such as Indonesia and Egypt, since around the 2000s. However, in both the models, the scope in the international society has been narrower than in the original form. Lesson study, which has spread internationally, has tended to focus on subject-based learning (e.g., math), the "cognitive" areas, while the Tokkatsu model has often been identified with non-cognitive learning outside of subject areas. The Japanese educational framework is characterized by its attempt to integrate both subject and non-subject learning, cognitive and non-cognitive areas, and collaborative learning by teachers and students. Today, holistic education, covering both cognitive and noncognitive areas, is a goal in many countries. The theme of this meeting is to consider how the two models, Lesson Study and Tokkatsu, could be integrated, to better  contribute to advance international efforts toward an integrated holistic framework (holistic education). This brainstorming meeting will consider new developments of Japanese educational models overseas, looking at the example of Indonesia, which started with Lesson Study and then adopted the Tokkatsu model, and the opposite example of Egypt, which started with Tokkatsu and then moved on to Lesson Study.

Online: March 2^nd, 2023（Thurs.）10:30 AM―11:45AM (Japan time)

March 2^nd (Thursday) Indonesian time March 2^nd, 8:30 AM-9:45AM, Malaysian time March 2^nd, 　　9:30AM-10:45AM, US time March 1^st, 17:3018:45

Please register and send an e-mail to office@gmsresearch.org     

for the link. 

https://forms.office.com/r/v7vNqpSznt

SCHEDULE

Introduction of the Issue　Ryoko Tsuneyoshi (Vice President and Specially-Appointed Professor, Bunkyo Gakuin University, Professor Emerita, the University of Tokyo)　　　　　10:30-10:35(Japan time)

Toward an Integrated Model of Holistic Education: Linking Tokkatsu and Lesson Study

10:35-11:05 (with summaries in Japanese if necessary) (Japan time)

Professor Tatang Suratno

The Model of Japanese Schooling Meets Indonesia: Lesson Study and Tokkatsu

11:05-11:35 (Japan time)

Professor Hiroshi Sugita (Kokugakuin University, Former Ministry of Education school inspector (shigakukan), has assisted the transfer of the Tokkatsu model from the start), Nobuhiro Setoguchi (PADECO, Senior Consultant, helps JICA Egypt with the transfer of the Japanese model of schooling Tokkatsu to Egypt)

The Japanese Model of Schooling Meets Egypt: Lesson Study and Tokkatsu

11:35—11:45 (Japan time) 　Discussion about how a more holistic educational model can be attained through the integration of the collaborative learning of teachers, and the collaborative learning of children, LS and Tokkatsu.

Online presentation will end here.