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EducatioN on Japan
Teachers learn how children's books teach economics
March 29, 2006
In addition to lessons about Japanese culture, several Kentucky elementary school teachers were shown how children's books about Japan can be used to introduce their students to fundamental concepts of economics. This idea was introduced to them during a professional development program entitled “YEN: Elementary Economics Education on Japan ” sponsored by the University of Kentucky College of Education and the UK Asia Center. The program, which was held in the conference rooms of the Toyota Manufacturing Plant in Georgetown , received major funding from a grant awarded by the Japan Foundation's Center for Global Partnership (CGP).
Twenty teachers from grades 2 – 5 in the central Kentucky area participated in the all-day program. The morning was spent studying Kentucky and Japan 's developing economic partnership and the shared cultural impact each has had on the other.
David Carpenter, Toyota 's community education and outreach coordinator, took teachers on a tour of the auto manufacturer's plant and talked about Toyota 's impact on the state economy. Carpenter talked specifically about Toyota 's position as a primary catalyst in the development of Kentucky and Japan 's mutually beneficial business relationship.
During lunch, Kumiko Fukahara, a representative from the Japan America Society of Kentucky, outlined a day in the life of a typical Japanese elementary school student. Along with an overview of Japanese culture, the presentation also focused on ways economic education is weaved into that country's primary school curriculum.
In the afternoon, teachers received first hand experience in the use of children's books to introduce elementary students to economic concepts. This section of the program, led by Fayette County teachers Janice Duncan and Teresa Moore, demonstrated how concepts such as markets, imports/exports, and money management can be taught within the text of a children's story. Among the books cited as examples were:
Kenji and the Magic Geese by Ryerson Johnson
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr
Wombat and Emu Journey to Japan by Sorrel Wilby.
Teachers finished their day engaged in crafts such as kite-making and map exercises to be used as classroom activities to introduce their students to other aspects of Japanese culture.
by Josh Shepherd, College of Education |
