Greetings for cooperation with people nationwide
The national role and social mission of HUE RISE expected in modern times
- Expectations for nationwide human resource development in the current situation where the birthrate is declining, and schools are becoming smaller -
1. Historical development of HUE RISE and expectations required in the present day
In April 2018, Hokkaido University of Education Research Institute for Remote and Small school Education (HUE RISE) expanded its scale nationwide as a new center and has strengthened its close relationship with school sites. The early remote education research facility of Hokkaido University of Education was established as the "Education Research Institute" in 1949, which was also a period of turmoil after the war, and was renamed the "Remote Education Research Institute" in 1954. Since then, we have accumulated research for more than 70 years and have expanded our activities through several organizational restructurings. And in order to play a national role, it was decided to strengthen the on-campus organization as HUE RISE in 2018.One of the reasons why this organizational strengthening is required is that schools are becoming smaller due to the declining birthrate nationwide, and it is not possible to respond by consolidating schools. It means that revitalization of remote and small school education and promotion of new ways have become important issues. The standard size of classes in Japan has been 12 to 18 classes, but there are increasing areas where it is difficult to make it a standard size. And the way of school education in depopulated areas affects not only the problem of education but also the decline of the area, and it has come to be linked to the problems of regional collapse and regional revitalization. Under these circumstances, HUE RISE is required to further develop remote education and research, further network it nationwide, and widely disseminates educational and research results.
For this reason, we have strengthened the management system and secretariat system within the university. Also, we have created an organization to network all over the country.
2. Creating a network between universities and schools nationwide and the role of HUE RISE
(1) Necessity of training and dissemination activities nationwide and social mission
There was a demand for the nationwide dissemination of remote education and research results. Since the 2010s, HUE RISE has gradually expanded not only training in Hokkaido but also training and dissemination activities nationwide. Various training requests, visit inspection / survey requests, and on-site lecture requests are increasing from universities and prefectural boards of education nationwide. An increasing number of universities are considering implementing a mini version of remote school education training at each university by introducing the method of remote school experience training conducted by Hokkaido University of Education. In view of these growing needs, HUE RISE has been responding to the needs with the social mission of taking on a nationwide role.(2) Creating a national network at the Japan Association of Universities of Education(JAUE) and the role of HUE RISE
HUE RISE established the "Remote and Small School Education Department" in 2019 within?the Japan Association of Universities of Education, which is organized by the faculty of?Education of National Universities, to play the role of a hub for universities nationwide.?The number of members in the department is about 110 faculty members and is gradually increasing. Remote education was originally a field of little interest, but it is gradually increasing the interest of researchers. The JAUE holds a national research meeting every year, but from 2019, we have set up a "Remote and Small School Education Subcommittee" to promote exchanges in remote education and research.
(3) Creating a national network between national, public and private universities and the role of HUE RISE
Teachers from private universities also asked us to create a network organization similar to that of the JAUE, and in 2020 we established the "National University Remote and Small School Education Study Group" and we have also expanded our network to non-members of the JAUE. This has made it possible for researchers who are interested in remote and small school education and researchers who want to conduct research on small-group education and small school education to exchange information at national, public, and private universities. HUE RISE collects information and materials related to remote education nationwide and distributes it nationwide again. In 2021, we established “Co-researcher system” for HUE RISE. In the future, we plan to hold continuous seminars and nationwide project research surveys related to remote education such as ICT utilization education, small group education, multi-grade education, individual optimization education, community exploration education, and community-based school management. Teachers nationwide who are interested in remote and small school education were scattered all over the country, but with HUE RISE forming a nationwide network organization and playing a role as a hub for information exchange and research activities, nationwide teachers are becoming more involved with each other. We would like to continue to build networks and exchange information with each other in order to develop the activities of each researcher in research and information exchange.3. Cooperation agreement between Hokkaido University of Education and "National Federation of Remote Education and Research" to connect schools nationwide
(1) Cooperation between schools and universities nationwide and cooperation agreement with "National Federation of Remote Education and Research"
HUE RISE has been promoting practical research exchanges at various schools in collaboration with the "Hokkaido Federation of Remote and Multi-grade Teaching Education Research" and the "National Federation of Remote Education".At the research conference on remote education in each jurisdiction of Hokkaido, faculty members and students also participated to learn practical methods in the field and exchange information with each other to explore new ideas and methods for remote education. Many faculty members are dispatched to the research conference of the "National Federation of Remote Education" every year to deepen research exchanges. We have been promoting research exchanges in this way, but on April 16, 2021, the "National Federation of Remote Education" and Hokkaido University of Education signed a partnership agreement to strengthen new nationwide collaboration activities. This is an organization of Hokkaido University of Education and school sites, and aims to promote a network of schools and universities nationwide by concluding a partnership agreement with the "National Federation of Remote Education". In other words, as the number of researchers promoting remote education and research at universities nationwide is gradually increasing, by collaborating with school sites nationwide, we will also promote cooperation between universities and schools in each region.
(2) Training activities and dissemination of information to universities and schools?Nationwide
With the nationwide declining birthrate, small-scale school guidance, small-group guidance, individualized learning education, and ICT education becoming major issues, universities and schools must work together to deal with each of these issues. HUE RISE of Hokkaido University of Education believes that it has a mission to play the role of the core training activities that connect universities and schools nationwide. In the future, "National Federation of Remote Education" and HUE RISE will collaborate to promote the publication of on-demand training courses and research projects by faculty members nationwide, including co-researchers, using a remote system. In other words, it is necessary to create a training system that can be broadcast from anywhere and learned from anywhere. By doing so, I would like to disseminate research results to schools and universities nationwide and promote the development of human resources such as young teachers.4. Human resource development and exchange of teachers who are responsible for remote education based on the experience of remote and small schools
(1) Experience in remote and small schools and training of young teachers
Training and retention of teachers in remote areas and small schools has become a national issue.
Many teachers in remote areas want to live in the city without getting used to living in remote? for the first time. In remote and small schools, unique teaching methods such as multi-grade teaching and small-group class management are being developed, and it is necessary to become accustomed to these teaching methods to a certain extent. In order to effectively promote instruction in such remote and small schools, it is important to have such an experience as a student. In particular, the experience of students is highly adaptable to some extent and has the foundation for rapid changes in consciousness. It is generally said that teachers who have experience in remote and small schools during their student days at the teacher training stage and teachers who have no experience have different images of remote and small schools and motivation for practical development. In other words, students who have experienced remote and small schools in educational training during the student period or who have learned the contents of remote areas education in lectures have less resistance to remote and small schools and are enthusiastic about remote areas education methods. It means that there is a strong tendency to work on development.Also, if you experience a remote and small school as a student, you can experience the joy of interacting closely with a small number of children, and by understanding the goodness of educational activities that can only be done by a small number of children, there is a tendency to increase the motivation for teaching.
Therefore, the experience of remote schools and small schools has a role of training human resources in remote schools, broadens the viewpoint of educational ideas and teaching methods, and leads to improvement of motivation and qualifications of teaching profession including urban areas.
(2) Nationwide exchange and human resource development of remote school experience training
Hokkaido University of Education has been engaged in remote school training from early on. In addition, the number of universities that are gradually incorporating remote school experience training is increasing at other universities. It is expected that the number of teachers who will be the leaders of remote areas and small schools will be increased by experiencing remote areas and small schools at universities nationwide while exchanging the practical experience of these universities with each other. Hokkaido University of Education, in collaboration with the "National Federation of Remote Education," aims to increase the number of young teachers who have experienced remote areas and small schools nationwide in a society where the birthrate is declining nationwide and schools are becoming smaller.?5. Publication of research results of HUE RISE and dissemination nationwide
(1) Continued publication and nationwide dissemination of the academic journal "Remote Education Research" and the practical "Guide to Remote Education"
HUE RISE has published an academic bulletin called "Remote Education and Research" every year since the end of the war, and by 2020, it has published 75 issues. From 2020, we have expanded the posting rights of "JAUE Remote and Small School Education Department" members so that they can post from all over the country.Already in issue 75, many researchers from other universities have posted. This "Remote Education and Research" is also published in CiNii Articles and academic repositories and can be downloaded and viewed from anywhere in the country.
In addition, we regularly publish a revised version of "Guide for Remote school, Multi-grade classes, Small-group Education-New Developments in Learning Guidance" (2020 edition), which is also useful for young teachers and students at school. This is also published on the HUE RISE homepage. Teachers and students working in remote areas and small schools nationwide using this "guide" have also expressed their gratitude for understanding the basic methods of remote area education.
(2) Academic project survey, publication of reports and dissemination of results
In remote areas and small schools, they are developing many remote interactive education, independent learning activities, and personalized learning by utilizing ICT. Therefore, HUE RISE was entrusted with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "Integrated Reform Promotion Project for Teacher Training, Recruitment, and Training" in 2020, and conducted a nationwide ICT utilization survey. The research results were summarized in "A fact-finding survey for the possibility of utilizing ICT in schools and the core curriculum of the teaching profession" (March 2021) and distributed nationwide. The content of this report was welcomed by the Board of Education and school officials, saying that it corresponds to the GIGA school concept that started nationwide from 2021. Remote interactive education using ICT will be an important tool for overcoming the challenges of remote education in the future, and the HUE RISE plans to further promote research and development in this field. In addition, in order to disseminate practical results to foreign countries, the English versions of "Brief Introduction to Multi-grade Teaching in Japan" and "Practical Introduction to Multi-grade Teaching in Japan" are available as HUE-RISE-Resource Series No1 and No2. It is also posted on our website so that they can be utilized in developing countries. In addition, "HUE RISE News" is published about 15 times a year to introduce trends in remote education and HUE RISE activities.By disseminating these research results and disseminating information, we are promoting the provision of information to remote educational researchers nationwide.
6. The international role of the HUE RISE in developing countries in promoting SDGs
Expectations for Japan's international role are rising, and as part of this, the role of SDGs that contribute to the education and culture of developing countries is also an important issue. Among them, the role of disseminating the results of Japan's advanced remote education, research and practice to contribute to developing countries is drawing attention.The level of research and practice in remote education in Japan is high even from an international perspective, and in developing countries, the desire to learn from research in remote education in Japan is increasing every year. Through JICA, remote education and training teams of university teachers, educational administration staff, and school officials from Central and South America and Southeast Asia visit the HUE RISE every year and take training lectures. In addition, faculty members from Hokkaido University of Education are invited to Southeast Asia and provide on-the-spot guidance in collaboration with the Ministry of Education of the country concerned. There are also reports from the country that this has raised the standard of local education in remote schools.
In Japan, only Hokkaido University of Education has a specialized Research Institute for Remote and Small school Education, so inevitably foreign remote education and training teams will gather at this University. In this way, the role played by the HUE RISE is increasing internationally.
7. Creating a national remote education network and mission as a node of the HUE RISE
In this way, the HUE RISE will play a central role in the whole country as the only specialized research facility for education and research in remote and small schools in response to the nationwide declining birthrate and small-scale schools. It is a mission. The HUE RISE is also playing a role as a node in the whole country as a remote education practice center in collaboration with remote education and research and school sites. Researchers and practitioners from all over the country are collaborating to develop young human resources who will be responsible for remote education.The results of these researches and practices are returned to the whole country in research bulletins and reports, raising the level of research and education nationwide. It is the mission of the HUE RISE to show such a national hub role in research and education. The HUE RISE will continue to build a nationwide network and exchange information, and will play a leading role in research, education, and human resource development.
For that purpose, the network and support of the faculty members of Hokkaido University of Education and the faculty members of universities and schools nationwide are indispensable. At the heart of this, the HUE RISE will continue to play the role of a node throughout the country. We look forward to your continued support and cooperation in addressing the challenges of Japan's educational issues.
