This article is based on the content of the lecture given at the “IGS Education Forum for Local Governments, Summer 2022” held on July 28, 2022.

Lecturer: Mr. Koichi Murata, Senior Superintendent of the Compulsory Education Guidance Division, Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education

The ideal way to use data as seen from the empirical research project on individually optimized learning

In April 2019, the “Individualized Optimal Learning” section was established within the Hiroshima Prefectural Board of Education, and four people, including myself, were assigned to the section. The superintendent of education gave us the mission of “researching what Hiroshima Prefecture considers to be individualized optimal learning for one year”. We started from a position where we didn't know what to do, but through things like making observations and talking to experts, we began to see that the goal was to realize independent learning for all children and students, and that one way to do this would be to provide children with options and opportunities for self-determination. However, we also saw that in reality, 10% of elementary school students and 20% of junior high school students were in a situation where it was difficult for them to learn independently.

After considering why it is difficult for children to learn independently, we came up with the following hypothesis

・Because there are few options for learning, there is no learning that suits them, or they are unable to do it.
・As a result, they have few experiences of feeling the joy of learning or the joy of being able to do something, and their sense of self-affirmation has declined, so they no longer want to learn independently.
If this is the case, if we can provide children with a diverse range of options, a positive cycle of learning will be created, self-esteem will improve, and they will be able to learn independently.

We started a demonstration research project at six elementary and junior high schools.

When we had compiled the results of the year-long research into a booklet, we had not at all thought that the initiative would spread throughout the prefecture, so we decided to carry out a demonstration research project at several schools.

The demonstration research project involves things like “free-paced learning”, where children choose the learning method that suits them best from a variety of options, such as textbooks and AI-type tablets, and “unit-based project learning”, where children create their own learning plans, develop their ability to adjust themselves through trial and error, and aim to solve problems by making use of their collaborators. The schools that were chosen to participate in the project were selected from among those that submitted an entry sheet and were interviewed.

We thought that in order to verify the demonstration research project, we would need to have some convincing data. The issue was how the three supervisors, excluding the section chief, could get into the schools and what they could do, but the idea that came up was to make use of external resources. We talked about whether it would be a good idea to use “Ai GROW”, which can visualize qualities and abilities that are said to be difficult to verify.

The question of “Is it really growing?” is resolved with “Ai GROW

When we actually went into the schools and worked with them for a year, we saw that the children really did change, and we thought that this was a good thing. As a result of providing the children with options, they felt the joy of learning and the joy of being able to do things, and their sense of self-affirmation grew, and they began to learn independently. The teachers at each of the demonstration schools were also able to get a response like that. On the other hand, there were often questions like “Will they really improve their academic ability?” and “Will they really improve their qualities and abilities?

“. Ai GROW was very useful in resolving these kinds of doubts. The staff at Ai GROW worked as a team with us to analyze the data we had obtained and verify how the qualities and abilities of the students had improved over the two years of the project, and how the qualities and abilities and academic ability were related. As we analyzed the data by cross-referencing the academic ability tests with the qualities and abilities tests, it became clear that the children's academic ability and qualities and abilities were improving, and we were able to talk to other schools about how they could improve their children's academic ability and qualities and abilities by implementing similar initiatives. Also, since the project was budgeted, when reporting the results of the project to the finance department, etc., the data from Ai GROW, which quantifies the children's growth from multiple perspectives and also ensures objectivity based on the results of mutual evaluation, was very useful. By the prefectural board of education disseminating information about this kind of initiative, we have also started to hear from other cities and towns that they would like to try it, so we can see that it is starting to spread.

Maximizing the benefits of “continuously acquiring data”

This project was set up for two years, not just one, and as the initiatives evolved, I think it was very important to continuously visualize data such as qualities and abilities. The data didn't always go up, but it did go up and down, and we were able to continuously examine the causes of the changes. I think it was great that we were able to constantly think together with the teachers at the demonstration schools about how to improve based on the specific data.

Personally, I had thought that qualities and abilities do not grow together with academic ability, and that academic ability, as measured by regular examinations, grows after qualities and abilities have grown. Therefore, I was very grateful to be able to verify that academic ability grew in the second year after qualities and abilities had grown in the first year throughout the two-year period.

Securing the budget through dialogue and a strong core

One reason why we were able to secure such a large budget and carry out the demonstration research project was that the superintendent of education said that “individualized learning support” was the “number one priority” and that made it easier for us to get things moving. Also, one of the three people, excluding myself, was the project leader, and he was very good at getting things done. I was originally a primary school teacher, so I didn't know much about educational administration, but the leader of the group knew a lot about the paperwork involved in educational administration and the structure of the Board of Education, and was also well-versed in how to explain things to the finance department. When it came to budgeting, we would negotiate with the finance department in advance, and carefully discuss things like “why are we doing this project?” and “what are the benefits of doing this project? I think that the biggest factor in securing the budget was being able to have these kinds of conversations with various people and at the same time, not wavering about what we wanted to do.