9:25 AM - 9:50 AM
[O05-02] Learning with social participation that connects the experience of the disaster area to the real world
★Invited Papers
Keywords:Evacuation shelter, Real world, Self-help, Mutual assistance,Public assistance, Elementary school social studies, Natural disaster
A new unit on natural disasters has been introduced into the fourth grade under the new Course of Study. This is one of the six units out of the 17 units in all grades of elementary school that clearly state that students should be able to “think about, choose, and judge what they can do”. In the social studies textbooks used at the Elementary School Attached to Department of Education, Chiba University (hereinafter Fuzoku), “ikasu” is added to the learning process of “grasping,” “investigating,” and “summarizing” in these six units, and a scene in which students consider and propose what they can do is positioned. In this unit, the students will experience making decisions from various perspectives by playing an “evacuation center simulation game.” However, although there are pictures of the disaster in the textbooks, there are no experiences or lessons from the disaster victims.
When students think about what they can do in a natural disaster, and make choices and judgments, they need to go beyond “self-help” and realize that there are people with various attributes and ways of thinking in society, and the learning process needs to consider “mutual-help” solutions that are inclusive of these people. Moreover, it is essential to develop a unit in which the learning is not just a game, but a way to work toward and participate in the real world.
In studying the disaster prevention plan of Chiba City, the students learned that the plan was developed based on the lessons from the Kumamoto Earthquake, when many of the city's employees were dispatched. Therefore, we set up an opportunity for the students to learn from the people of Mifune Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, about the damage caused by the Kumamoto Earthquake and their experiences in the evacuation centers. The students learned that living in an evacuation shelter can cause earthquake-related deaths, how difficult it is to live in an evacuation shelter, and that cooperation with local people is essential. They learned that evacuation centers are hard for everyone living there, and then we took time to think about who “everyone” is. The students began to think about how difficult it is for people in various positions to live there.
The schools attached to national universities can be temporary evacuation centers, but not long-term ones. In the Kumamoto earthquake, many evacuees gathered at universities as evacuation centers, but because of “continuous learning,” there were cases where classrooms and gymnasiums that had been temporarily opened were closed. In the process of sharing these facts about evacuation centers at the time of the earthquake with local people and students, the students heard people's wishes that Chiba University and the Fuzoku be used as evacuation centers, and came to think that they would like to make the Fuzoku an evacuation center where learning and evacuation could be compatible. Therefore, referring to the “A Guide for Evacuation Shelters” created by Mifune, they created the “A Guide for Evacuation Shelters at Fuzoku” while considering how to make Fuzoku an evacuation shelter where learning and evacuation can be compatible from various perspectives. Finally, they presented their completed guidelines to the people in Mifune, the local inhabitants, staffs in charge of disaster prevention at Chiba University, and so on.
Through this practice, the students were able to see local people, with whom they had no previous experience of interacting, as people who would think about issues with them. In addition, as they learned about the experiences and lessons of the Kumamoto Earthquake, they were able to use their imagination to think about what they would do if it were them and cultivated the ability to think and propose “what would be a better evacuation shelter” using what they learned, in other words, creativity. These two thinking skills, “imagination” and “creativity,” are essential in the real world in times of natural disasters.
When students think about what they can do in a natural disaster, and make choices and judgments, they need to go beyond “self-help” and realize that there are people with various attributes and ways of thinking in society, and the learning process needs to consider “mutual-help” solutions that are inclusive of these people. Moreover, it is essential to develop a unit in which the learning is not just a game, but a way to work toward and participate in the real world.
In studying the disaster prevention plan of Chiba City, the students learned that the plan was developed based on the lessons from the Kumamoto Earthquake, when many of the city's employees were dispatched. Therefore, we set up an opportunity for the students to learn from the people of Mifune Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, about the damage caused by the Kumamoto Earthquake and their experiences in the evacuation centers. The students learned that living in an evacuation shelter can cause earthquake-related deaths, how difficult it is to live in an evacuation shelter, and that cooperation with local people is essential. They learned that evacuation centers are hard for everyone living there, and then we took time to think about who “everyone” is. The students began to think about how difficult it is for people in various positions to live there.
The schools attached to national universities can be temporary evacuation centers, but not long-term ones. In the Kumamoto earthquake, many evacuees gathered at universities as evacuation centers, but because of “continuous learning,” there were cases where classrooms and gymnasiums that had been temporarily opened were closed. In the process of sharing these facts about evacuation centers at the time of the earthquake with local people and students, the students heard people's wishes that Chiba University and the Fuzoku be used as evacuation centers, and came to think that they would like to make the Fuzoku an evacuation center where learning and evacuation could be compatible. Therefore, referring to the “A Guide for Evacuation Shelters” created by Mifune, they created the “A Guide for Evacuation Shelters at Fuzoku” while considering how to make Fuzoku an evacuation shelter where learning and evacuation can be compatible from various perspectives. Finally, they presented their completed guidelines to the people in Mifune, the local inhabitants, staffs in charge of disaster prevention at Chiba University, and so on.
Through this practice, the students were able to see local people, with whom they had no previous experience of interacting, as people who would think about issues with them. In addition, as they learned about the experiences and lessons of the Kumamoto Earthquake, they were able to use their imagination to think about what they would do if it were them and cultivated the ability to think and propose “what would be a better evacuation shelter” using what they learned, in other words, creativity. These two thinking skills, “imagination” and “creativity,” are essential in the real world in times of natural disasters.