‘Where Can I Take My Japanese?’ AFMLTA National Conference 2011 Nathan Lane Languages Domain Coordinator St Columba’s College, Melbourne lanen@columba.vic.edu.au http://lanesensei.blogspot.com

Outline of Session What is contemporary learning for the 21st century? About the project: contemporary learning in action in the Japanese classroom

What does ‘Contemporary Learning’ mean to you? Handout Discussion with the person sitting next to you

What is contemporary learning for the 21st century? ‘Continuous learning with clear purpose and connection to the real world is critical to developing the capabilities, dispositions and literacies required to live full lives in diverse communities and deal with issues and change in the twenty-first century’. (Contemporary Learning [LIOW] and The Treasure Within) ‘Learning Centred Schools: Teaching and Learning Framework and Strategy for 2008 to 2012’. Available online: http://web.ceomelb.catholic.edu.au/uploads/L earnCentreSchools/LCS_framework.pdf

Contemporary Learning Schema (Developed by the Catholic Education Office Melbourne)

Skills for our 21st Century Learners Problem solving and decision making Creative and critical thinkers Collaboration, communication and negotiation Intellectual curiosity Self starters, self regulating, self evaluating Flexible learners

About the ‘Models of Contemporary Learning’ project This unit developed in conjunction with the Catholic Education Office Melbourne Funding from the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Project (NALSSP) Models are available online from Scootle website Models cover a range of curriculum areas (primary/secondary) and have been created by teachers across Australia

About the Unit A ‘Model of Contemporary Learning’ in that it: Is inquiry based Links with the community Develops ICT skills Provides a real/authentic context for learning and developing Japanese skills How do you make these links in your languages classroom? Record on the ‘Discussion Sheet’ and discuss with the person sitting next to you.

The ‘Story’ of the Model 5 minute video

What is inquiry learning? The Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) website defines Inquiry Learning as, ‘a student centred or active learning approach that takes as its starting point the natural process of inquiry, building on this to develop information processing and problem-solving skills. The focus is on 'how we know' rather than 'what we know', with students actively involved in the construction of their own knowledge.’

Planning the Inquiry Unit The Integrated Inquiry planning model developed by Kath Murdoch was used in developing the units. The stages in this model include: Tuning in Finding out Sorting out Going further Reflection Action

Stage of Inquiry: Tuning In Purpose: To engage students in the topic To gauge student interest and attitudes To find out what students believe (understandings and misconceptions) To provide opportunities for students to share what they already know and believe To introduce/clarify language To identify gaps in their knowledge and misconceptions To assist with teacher planning of the unit

MCL Unit: Tuning In Interview students: Why did you choose Japanese? Do you view learning a second language as useful? Why? How do you think you could use your Japanese skills once you finish high school? Think, pair, share: what ways Japanese can be used after high school (eg. careers, in art, animation). Translate key words into Japanese.

Stage of Inquiry: Finding Out Purpose: To take students beyond what they already know To challenge students’ ideas, beliefs and values To enable the student to use skills (e.g. thinking, communication, cooperation, research skills) and knowledge to collect new information

MCL Unit: Finding Out Research using the Internet to find ways Japanese can be used. Questions for students during Internet research: Are there any common themes emerging through the research (most likely students will identify jobs where Japanese can be used). Group work task: search using the ‘Mycareer’ website/newspapers and put together a poster of current vacancies where the applicant needs to have knowledge of Japanese. Homework task: ‘Is Japan All Around Us?’ Discussion of interview protocols (cultural understanding…design and create ‘meishi’-Japanese business card, to hand out during interview).

City Experience (3 stages) Discussion prior to city experience: Where would you find elements of Japan in Melbourne? Where do we need to go to find elements of Japan in the city? Refer to interactive map of Melbourne from http://www.visitmelbourne.com/melbournemap/index_jp.htm Stage 1: On the surface, how much is Japan and the Japanese language visible in Melbourne city? Students work in groups and are allocated a part of the city to explore (eg. Collins Street). Students are to walk around their assigned area and photograph evidence of Japan/Japanese language (eg. photographs of Japanese restaurants etc.) Stage 2: City treasure hunt. Read directions to Japanese places around Melbourne and collect information. Stage 3: How is Japanese used in the workplace? Visit a workplace where Japanese is used. Students to interview an employee in Japanese and find out how Japanese is used in the workplace. Record interview and upload onto Wiki as Podcast. Students also telephone/Internet conference with interstate companies such as The Japan Foundation in Sydney. Companies where visits cannot be made are emailed the questions and students read the responses.

Stage of Inquiry: Sorting Out Purpose To sort out, organise, represent and present information from the finding out stage of the unit To provide opportunities for the students to use their preferred ways of learning to demonstrate their learning (knowledge, skills, values)

MCL Unit: Sorting Out Return to class. Students to share photographs of part 1 of the excursion (upload onto Wiki page). Class discussion: How did you find Japanese being used during the walk around your assigned area How is Japan/Japanese represented in Melbourne city? (eg. mostly restaurants or language schools). How did the treasure hunt increase your knowledge of the presence of Japan in the city? Listening task: listen to each other’s interview Podcasts (stage 3 of the excursion). Organise notes from interview on a data chart (using simple Japanese sentences). Class discussion: What did we learn about the way Japanese is used in the places visited?

Stage of Inquiry: Going Further Purpose: To extend/broaden the unit if appropriate To allow students to investigate areas of personal interest To use their preferred learning style To present another perspective on or dimension to the topic

MCL Unit: Going Further Guest speaker (Asia Literacy Ambassadors Project): Amanda Ralph Students work in groups investigating the way Japanese can be used outside of school and they develop a presentation (their choice of format) in Japanese…multiple investigations.

Types of presentations for ‘Going Further’ stage of the Inquiry Create job website in Japanese Create a poster/PowerPoint/PhotoStory Write a job application Create an anime or other form of artistic presentation Digital portfolio Students create a job application in Japanese to apply to work at the workplace they visited (letter and resume). Students participate in a mock job interview. Create a website/digital presentation advertising a Japanese sporting or cultural club in Melbourne Examples of presentations Website: http://cwandjl10japanese.danielriddell.com.au/ Animation Poster

Stage of Inquiry: Reflection Purpose: To provide opportunities for the students to think about their learning-how they learnt what they learnt and why To identify changes in skills, knowledge and values To draw conclusions and make connections between ideas

MCL Project: Reflection Interview students: How has your thinking of where you can take your Japanese changed from the start of the unit? Where can you take your Japanese in the future?

Stage of Inquiry: Action Purpose: To identify what the students have learnt and the implications for personal actions To enable students to make choices and apply their ideas To relate their learning to real life situations

MCL Project: Action Create Japanese promotion posters for younger students. Expo of student work in the Hall. Audience: Year 9 Japanese class (to encourage them to continue with their Japanese studies). At the conclusion of the unit, the students completed an evaluation

The ‘Petals’ on the Model

How Japanese skills were developed? Speaking/listening: Industry visit interviews Reading: Reading interview questions during interview and reading emailed responses from businesses Writing: Appropriate grammatical structures and vocabulary were introduced for students to use in the major assessment task for the unit

Conclusion Real inquiry – choosing the topic (and questions, issues or problems), gathering information, analyzing information and presenting findings Depthing down the learning. That is, developing higher order thinking skills. Increasing student involvement and ownership of their learning Catering for mixed abilities and individual differences. This was achieved by offering a range of assessment of learning tasks (the major assessment task for the unit) loosely based on Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. Offer opportunities for students to use Japanese in an authentic context Offer opportunities for reflection on progress throughout the process Students understand Japanese can be used outside of class in business and leisure. Thus they see a real purpose for learning Japanese.