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Neriage as Japanese Craft Pedagogy: Cultural Scripts of Teaching That Promote Authentic Learning

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to elucidate the neriage-based teaching script shared by Japanese teachers as tacit knowledge and to visualize (where visualization means to bring a focal awareness to) the ethos and understanding that supports this, through analysis of three case-based studies of mathematics lessons from different time periods.The first case-based study/analysis is of a lesson – how many acorns did we pick up? – in which each child tackles the learning task and problem solving individually (1966, City T.). The second case-based study/analysis is a lesson – how would you find the grassy area? – in which children’s ideas are compared (1996, City N.). The third cased-based study/analysis is a lesson – how much did it all cost?- that utilizes the diversity of children’s ideas (2014, City K.). The authors examine critically the aspects of neriage that have changed over time in relation to the global world pedagogical trends and those that have not as Japanese pedagogical perspective, and discusses the teaching script (the visible structure) present in the lessons, and the ethos (the invisible mindset, such as the philosophy, attitude, beliefs etc.) behind it.KeywordsAuthentic learningCollaborative learningCritical thinkingDeep thinkingDialogic teachingJapanJapanese teachersMathematics lessonsNeriageNeriage-based teaching script

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