KJC Korea
Journal Central

The purpose of this study is to present the practice of criticism of the moral instructional activity based on the inter-subjectivity of criterion. This study surveys major literature related to instruction criticism to extract the key issues of it and presents alternative viewpoints on those issues. Based on that, it presents the practice of criticism of the moral instructional activity. According to this study, the fundamental problem of criticism of the instructional activity is to clarify the question of what the criteria that do not fall into relativism while escaping from the error of objectivity. The inter-subjectivity of the criteria represents an alternative perspective on elucidating the question. In the instruction criticism, it is necessary to strictly distinguish between viewing based on the objectivity of the criteria and viewing based on the inter-subjectivity of the criteria, and making it clear which one is suitable for instruction as an artistic activity. When the artistic nature of instruction is respected and based on the idea that the criterion of good instruction will gradually be revealed through that respect, there is a possibility that criticism of the instructional activity will be conducted in a way that is faithful to the original meaning of the pursuit of good instruction.

The training topics could be categorized under “status quo,” “priority management,” “gradual improvement,” and “exceeding achievement” areas. The researchers extracted key concepts such as practice, research, evidence, balance, and literacy from “research-based balanced literacy approach” and actuality, level of development, and initiative from “start with children.” Results of the interviews on the importance, comprehension, and application of the training topics revealed that both teacher leaders and teachers undergoing training agreed on the importance of each training topic. However, the comprehension and application of certain topics were low in both groups. This phenomenon demonstrates that teacher leaders’ level of comprehension and application of topics influences the training of teachers. On the basis of this analysis, the researchers proposed ways to improve the training program. First, ensuring the systematization of training topics and balance of programs is necessary to enable teachers to test their learning experiences and teaching methods and mold them to suit children’s requirement through practical reading and writing. Second, the capacity of teacher leaders should be strengthened to develop practical knowledge that can allow them to handle challenges flexibly and identify topics that are difficult to comprehend and apply within the context of the field. Third, a learning community of teacher leaders should be formed to cultivate collective, continuous, and practical research capabilities for continuous knowledge exchange beyond local education centers.

The purpose of this study is to examine the elementary school students’ understanding of acute and obtuse triangles using the jigsaw manipulative materials in the form of right triangles. To do that, the results of 15 fourth graders’ constructions of acute and obtuse triangles with the right triangle manipulative materials were quantitatively analyzed, and the types of justifications for the definition and properties of the triangles were qualitatively analyzed. The results of the study showed that students constructed a variety of acute and obtuse triangles using the right triangle manipulative materials, and there were differences in the construction results depending on the type of triangle, with some students constructing more acute triangles more easily than obtuse triangles. Students’ justifications for constructing the acute and obtuse triangles were either empirical justifications based on manipulation and intuition, or analytical justifications based on mathematical properties. It is also noteworthy that the types and characteristics of the justifications differed based on the students’ understanding of triangles. Based on this study, it can be said that the right triangle manipulative materials are useful for the elementary school students’ construction and justification of acute and obtuse triangles, yet it is necessary to conduct follow-up research on teaching and learning that would consider the characteristics of the students’ geometrical construction and justification.

This study aims to develop a blended PBL model for elementary school social studies classes and explore its applicability. For this purpose, a collaborative action research was conducted between two professors specializing in curriculum and instruction, and elementary school teachers who were field experts. The blended PBL model developed in this study consisted of seven stages: 1) topic introduction, 2) topic exploration, 3) problem discovery, 4) exploration of problem solutions, 5) problem-solving, 6) presentation of results, 7) action and reflection, where each stage combined offline and online activities. To explore the applicability of this model, a five-period lesson plan on the elementary school students' media usage problems was designed and applied to a fourth-grade social studies class. Participant observation records, lesson video recordings, student activity products, and teacher reflection notes were collected and analyzed. During the lessons, various synchronous and asynchronous interactions between teachers and students, and students and students, across the offline and online learning spaces were identified. Based on the results of the data analysis, we discussed the possibility of changes in the roles of teachers and students, expansion of the scope and continuity of communication, the learning time and space, and diversification of the ways of expressing learning outcomes.

The history of reading and writing in Japan began around the 5th century, when Kanji were introduced from China. The habit of reading and writing hardly spread among the busy people. Around the 10th century in the Heian period, Hiragana and Katakana, which were based on Kanji characters, began to be used, but it seems that only a minority of the people used them. On the other hand, in Japan, where imperial examinations were not adopted, opportunities for learning Chinese writing were limited, and under a strong class system, eve aristocrats who were illiterate were able to succeed in life. After the Sengok u period ended and the Edo shogunate was established in the 17th century, the adoption of documented control made it an essential requirement for local leaders to master the Chinese characters. On the other hand, letters spread among the people in areas where commercial activities were flourishing. Over the next century or so, the cultural level of the local leaders rose as they learned to read books using the characters they had learned and engaged in various cultural activities. At the end of the Edo period in the 19th century, it spread to the people around them, including women. The place for that learning is Tenarai-juku. However, the level of their literacy was quite low, and outside of the cities, most people were only able to write their own names, less than half of the population could read and write letters. and in some mountain villages literacy was close to zero. In many cases, women were not given opportunities to learn letters. In the latter half of the 19th century, when the Meiji period began, school education began to show results, but literacy levels differed greatly depending on the region. Literacy was lower industrial areas than in commercial areas, partly because children were used as laborers, and the gender difference that has existed since the Edo period remained. In the latter half of the 20th century, after the war, there were almost no people who could not read or write even a single character. On the other hand, in order to read and write Japanese, it is essential to remember over 2,000 kanji characters and two types of characters, but even most prime ministers are questioned about their ability to read and write of Chinese characters. In addition, there is a large gap in the ability to understand what is read and written, and this is a problem that plagues modern Japan as an academic ability problem. Furthermore, the ability to read and understand information is also rapidly being sought, and the problem of reading and writing is also a modern problem.

This study aims to investigate the applicability of a machine learning–based image classification model for determining the academic concentration of elementary school students. To this end, a model employing supervised learning was developed and implemented using the results of the Rey–Osterrieth complex figure test, which measures students’ cognitive abilities via an image test. Five classification models were developed based on the type of test result image. After five random instances of learning, test data were applied and analyzed. The F1-score measurement results of the model were extremely high. Future enhancements are anticipated to allow the use of the model for determining elementary school students’ learning concentration.