Eight persons from EDU-Port Japan Projects implementing organizations and three representatives from the EDU-Port Japan Secretariat participated in the Practical Research Fukui Roundtable 2025 Summer Sessions held by the University of Fukui. The University of Fukui is carrying out the 2024 Research Project “Cultivation of a new international collaborative model for teacher education in partnership with African, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries and research study on the reflective impact of the EDU-Port Japan Project on education in Japan.”
What is the Practical Research Fukui Roundtable?
Held twice a year, the Roundtable is an occasion at which practitioners and practical researchers in the field of education from different regions and occupations come together, interact, and participate in small-group discussions on the topic of their respective practices.
The Roundtable provides a valuable opportunity for educational practitioners to discuss day-to-day issues such as, “How best to proceed with Lesson Study in a limited period of time” or “How best to bring out the potential of every student,” and to reflect on them more deeply though dialogue with others. From 2017 on, participants have included educational practitioners from Africa, with lively discussion and sharing of international practices taking place.
For these Summer Sessions, the first day included forums, poster sessions, and separate interactions in each zone. On the second day, the Roundtable Cross Sessions were held with small-group discussions. A total of 600 participants from preschool educational institutions, schools, universities, and private-sector companies took part in the lively exchanges.
See below for a report on the day’s activities.
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Poster session -
EDU-Port projects implementing organizations exchange opinions
Session Ⅰ：Special Forum on Reforming Graduate Schools for Teacher Development: Prospects for International Collaboration for Educational Reform
At the Special Forum on Reforming Graduate Schools for Teacher Development held on the first day, experts from a variety of fields gave presentations on the potential for international collaboration for educational reform. The speakers included Ms. Akiko Ohno, Director of the International Affairs Division in the Minister’s Secretariat at Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT); Mr. M. Ahmed, Director of Project Management Unit (PMU), Egyptian Japanese Schools (EJS) Project, Egyptian Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MoETE); and Prof. Shoichi Yanagisawa, specially-appointed professor of the United Professional Graduate School of Professional Development of Teachers, University of Fukui.
Ms. Ohno gave a talk entitled “Overseas Expansion of Japanese-Style Education – Current Status and Future Prospects,” in which she described the situation with regard to the spread of Japanese-style education (EDU-Port Japan) now and going forward.
Following the presentations, Professor Kan (Hiroshi) Suzuki of the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo, commented that “In promoting educational reform, it is essential that teachers, parents and the community work together.” This was an opportunity for participants to gain a deeper understanding of the internationalization of education.
Poster Session
In the poster session that followed, of a total of 14 poster presentations, 9* were given by EDU-Port projects implementing organizations. Each presenter gave a detailed report of their activities to date and their outcomes. The presenters included, in addition to school officials, local Boards of Education and private-sector companies, who provided a variety of perspectives on the topic of education. This was also an opportunity for international and practical exchanges and a lively Q&A session taking place with the participants from overseas.
(* Fukui University United Professional Graduate School （2 presentations）, General Incorporated Association Team Gajan, Osaka Prefectural Joto High School of Technology, Kumon Institute of Education Co., Ltd., SuRaLa Net Co., Ltd., NPO world Vision Japan, Nagoya University of Economics Ichimura High School, Yamaha Corporation.)
Exchange of opinions among organizations implementing EDU-Port projects
After the poster session, representatives from the EDU-Port projects implementing organizations participating in-person at the Roundtable gathered together to exchange opinions. The participants were divided into three groups and discussed such topics as the significance of participating in EDU-Port, the difficulties involved in interacting with people overseas, the benefits of collaboration with other organizations, and measures to strengthen cooperation between EDU-Port projects implementing organizations.
Session Ⅱ： Six Approaches to Schools, Education and the Community
Session Ⅱ was divided into 5 themes: (1) Schools, (2) Teacher Development, (3) Community, (4) International and (5) Inquiry-based Research. The session featured presentations and discussions based on actual experiences in various fields. At the beginning of the (4) International session which was attended by members of the EDU-Port Japan Secretariat, two panelists (the Head Teacher of Nalikule College of Education Demonstration School and the Acting Deputy Head Teacher of Chiwamba Community Day Secondary School), reported on the case study of a Lesson Study network in Malawi. Following that, participants were divided into four groups for discussion, and in one group, Mr. Yuji Otake of Yamaha Corporation which was an EDU-Port projects implementing organization, reported on the activities of a project to introduce Japanese-style music education into primary education in Egypt.
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Presentation by a panelist -
Presentation by Mr. Otake of Yamaha Corporation
Session Ⅲ： Roundtable Cross Session: “Discussing the long road to practical implementation and learning about the efforts that support its development”
In the Roundtable Cross Session held on the second day, participants offered their own personal experiences in teaching practice and the dialogue was taken further in small-group discussions. Participants from the EDU-Port projects implementing organizations also took part as speakers, and the initiatives undertaken so far by each body were shared with others. Teachers and others in the audience made comments such as, “For Japanese children to be able to grasp international understanding as something that concerns them personally, I would really like for them to learn about it in detail, in the form of an outreach program, for example,” and “I would also like to know how to go about introducing content to other countries and about what effect that has on learning.”
Putting into words the daily trial and error experienced by educational practitioners, and sharing their experiences with others, made this a valuable opportunity for the speakers themselves to take a new look at their practices; and for the audience, it was an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of various educational perspectives. It was impressive to see how people with different backgrounds and experiences engaged in dialogue, which led to new awareness and empathy toward education.
Comments by participants from the EDU-Port projects implementing organizations included, “Through the time spent discussing the role and significance of education with educational officials and practitioners, we learned a lot and gained inspiration that will connect to our future activities,” and “It was a meaningful time in which I felt the enjoyment and potential of reflection.”
The two-day Practical Research Fukui Roundtable came to a successful conclusion thanks to the enthusiasm and cooperation of the many participants. In addition to being an opportunity for teachers and other educational practitioners from Japan and overseas to learn about EDU-Port Japan, it was also a good opportunity for us to pick up ideas that will lead to enhanced collaboration between the institutions with connections to EDU-Port Japan.
