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Shinonome Junior High School attached to Hiroshima University:
Hiroshima City, Hiroshima
Exploris Middle School: Raleigh, North Carolina, USA |
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２００１ |
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Our school began the exchange program with Exploris Middle School
in 2000. Motivated by the experience of taking part in the Global
Partnership School Project in 1999, teachers at our school visited
Exploris Middle School as part of the project in April of the
following year. In June of the same year, teachers at Exploris
Middle School visited our school to discuss future interactions
among students using e-mails, art works, and videoletters.
We continued teachers’ mutual visits to schools in 2001, which
further promoted activities based on daily classes of subjects
as well as the Periods for Integrated Study. As our hope to
establish a sister school relation got stronger, we performed
a signing ceremony to agree on a sister school relation in July,
2001, when teachers from Exploris Middle School visited our
school.
In August, 2003, seven students from our school visited Exploris
Middle School for the first time with their teachers. In June,
2004, seven students from Exploris Middle School visited our
school with their teachers. As these instances demonstrate,
students’ mutual visits were added to teachers’ mutual visits
that we had done every year. This academic year, we will have
visitors from Exploris Middle School for the second time in
June, and we will visit their school for the third time in August.
| In addition to these mutual visits and
inter-subject exchange activities, students at both schools
have been conducting collaborative research as a new attempt
since last academic year. They are currently implementing
research activities about the topic of “water,” and they
will give presentations and exchange opinions about the
research at the visit in June. |
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| （1） |
Students’
mutual exchange activities (The academic year of 2003) |
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| 1) |
Objectives of the students’ mutual
exchange activities
・To develop students’ nature and abilities as a
world citizen of the future.
・To promote intercultural and international understanding
through exchange programs.
・To broaden international understanding through
international exchanges, field trips and community
experiences. |
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| 2) |
Contents of the exchanges
With the Global Partnership School Project, we
have been planning and implementing activities to
promote international exchange since the academic
year of 1999. What is most important is that we
continued exchanges with Exploris Middle School
in North Carolina, USA, with which we signed to
become sister schools at our school in June in the
academic year of 2001, and that this continuous
efforts enabled us to let students at our school
visit their school in the academic year of 2003
as we have desired for a long time.
Students who visited Exploris Middle School were
selected through public applications, which were
followed by essay writing (about what they want
to do for the exchanges), an interview in Japanese,
and an interview in English. As school’s representatives,
we selected four 8th-grade students, and three 9th-grade
students (three male and four female students).
These students then participated in training workshops
(to get ready as school representatives, to practice
English conversation, and so on) and prepared for
the trips (to prepare speeches to give at Exploris,
to create souvenirs from the school) during and
around the summer vacation.
Seven students and three teachers visited Exploris
Middle School from August 23 to 31 and had exchanges.
Every student joined a certain grade by attending
classes as well as giving lectures to introduce
the Japanese culture. They also had a homestay and
experienced the life style of American families.
After coming back to Japan, they held a report meeting
at school on September 19, and reported to all the
students at school that they had a meaningful visit.
They continued exchanges by letters and e-mails.
As students at Exploris Middle School wrote to us
to tell us about their experiences, students at
our school wrote a response letter with words of
encouragement, with those who are enrolled in elective
English classes taking a leading part.
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| ▲Meeting their
host families |
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▲Attending classes
at Exploris M.S. |
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▲With her host
family (1) |
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| 3) |
Outcomes and issues for the future
Having realized our students’ visit to Exploris
Middle School, our school strengthened the exchanges
with the school, and we believe that this is a valuable
outcome. Furthermore, we will have students and
teachers visiting our school from Exploris Middle
School at the end of June next academic year, and
the preparation is going smoothly. We now have an
executive committee organized by parents, which
helps promote the cooperation for various matters
such as the visiting students’ homestay. We are
also planning the second visit of our students to
Exploris Middle School in summer of the next academic
year. We would like to continue students’ mutual
visits on a regular basis. We would also like to
discuss collaborative research among teachers at
every visit to each other. Succeeding to the will
of the late Dr. Spence, who played a pivotal role
in the Global Partnership School Project and devoted
himself to encourage the exchanges between our school
and Exploris Middle School, we would like to aim
to develop exchanges in the next academic year and
after. |
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| (2) |
Students’
mutual exchange activities (The academic year of 2004) |
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| 1) |
Objectives of the students’ mutual
exchange activities
| ・ |
To develop students’ nature
and abilities as a world citizen of the future. |
| ・ |
To promote intercultural
and international understanding through exchange
programs. |
| ・ |
To broaden international
understanding through international exchanges,
field trips and community experiences. |
| ・ |
To deepen the research activities
through international collaborative research
and international exchange education. |
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| 2) |
Contents of the exchanges |
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This is the first academic year
of the official mutual school visits, with the Exploris
Middle School students’ first visit to our school
and our students’ second visit to their school.
Calling the week of June “Exploris Week,” when students
and teachers from Exploris Middle School visit our
school, our school began preparing for their visit
in April during the periods of elective classes
and the Periods for Integrated Study, and we made
every effort so that the visitors can understand
the city of Hiroshima and the Japanese culture better.
Seven students and three teachers from Exploris
Middle School were involved in a wide range of exchanges,
such as joining classes at our school, trying elementary
school meals, and attending a tea party organized
by the PTA. At a farewell party, students performed
taiko drums, kendo (Japanese fencing), hagoita (a
Japanese battledore), Japanese songs, a play in
English, the school song in sign language, and so
on, and everyone was impressed by their performance.
In August, we had our second visit to Exploris Middle
School (three teachers, four 8th-grade female students,
and three 9th-grade female students). On this visit,
we set up a meeting to discuss future directions
of the collaborative research between the group
in the Periods for Integrated Study and Exploris
Middle School. In addition, we had a chance to see
what Exploris Middle School was working on regarding
the Hiroshima Peace Declaration. Our students also
introduced our school and a picture-story show of
Momotaro (Peach Boy) in English, while teachers
offered classes of kendo (Japanese fencing) as well
as a Japanese tea party. These activities were appreciated
by the students and the parents at Exploris Middle
School. Our students also had a homestay as last
year, which let them experience a life style of
American families. After coming back to Japan, we
had a report meeting about the visit on October
20, which was during the Culture Month, and reported
to all the students at our school that it was a
significant visit.
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▲An exchange
class
(Introducing school life to each other) |
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▲Cultural exchange
(Tea ceremony) |
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▲Saying good-bye |
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| 3) |
Outcomes and issues for the future
This academic year, making Exploris Middle School
students’ and teacher’s visit happen, we believe
that our exchange which we began in August of the
last academic year was enhanced, and it is a significant
outcome. Furthermore, we had our students’ second
visit at the end of August, which promoted further
mutual exchanges smoothly. Especially on this visit,
we confirmed the future direction of our collaborative
research on the topic of “water,” and we were able
to step forward on the “research” exchanges. This
is an important outcome. Now that we have an executive
committee organized by parents, many parents could
also experience exchanges by planning activities
such as a tea party. How we can spend the Periods
for Integrated Study and the Periods of Discretion
effectively and process the preparation will be
our topic for the next academic year. Making the
best use of this academic year’s outcomes, we would
like to aim to promote further exchanges. |
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