東京学芸大学 交換留学生

Exchange Student, Tokyo Gakugei University

学習成果に関する報告書（REPORT

氏 名
Name Pearl Divina Asuncion

自 署

Signature

学 生 番 号
Student No. Y12- P507

留 学 期 間 October 2012 – February 2013

Period in TGU

本国在籍大学 国･地域名 Nationality 大学名 Name of the University

Home University Filipino Philippine Normal University

指導教員名および
確認印

Signature & personal 印

stamp by your advisor
at TGU

指導教員所見欄

Comments by

your academic advisor

 ＊この用紙は表紙です。レポート 2 種を添付して提出してください。

*Please submit 2 kind of your report with this cover page.

ISEP SEMINAR

INDIVIDUAL STUDY

Theme:

Descriptive Research on the Early Childhood Education

of

Japan and Philippines

Submitted by:

Pearl Divina V. Asuncion

Y12 – P507

To:

ARISAWA SHINO
 ISEP SEMINAR

INDIVIDUAL STUDY

Theme:

Descriptive Research on the Early Childhood Education

of

Japan and Philippines

Submitted by:

Pearl Divina V. Asuncion

Y12 – P507

To:

SHIBUYA HIDEAKI
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Abstract

II. Incentive and Aims

III. Scope and Limitation

IV. Research Questions

General
Specific

V. Methodology
a. Research design or tradition:
b. Instruments and Procedure
i. Qualitative
ii. Data Collection
iii. Role of the Researcher

Vi. Some Examples and Findings

VII. References
 ABSTRACT

There are only a few ties that I am able to watch or read news nd on those
few instances, I often find myself shaking my head on the fact that the news
majority of it contained bad news such as increased crime rates, people getting sick
due to improper waste management, places getting soaked in mud and water after
the typhoon because even if there are actual water drainages it couldn’t help at all
since it is clogged with the garbage that are on the streets, or mountains eroding
because of illegal logging and the list goes on. I know the government is doing their
best to address these problems by implementing laws but I believe that it wouldn’t
be enough because people just got used in doing so that it already has become a
habit and the fact that no one cares to tell them off thus making the implemented
law not effective. One of the best examples of this is the improper disposal of
waste. Even if there are already trash bins which are labeled as biodegradable and
non-biodegradable, the people will just put it wherever they wish they want. There
were even seminars on how to do segregate it but people doesn’t care simply
because they got too used not doing it because they’ve been doing it since young
and it’s really hard to unlearn something unless something big would push harder in
order to achieve it.

That’s why I think that if it’s difficult to bring change to these national issues
by educating the adults who are supposed to understand the laws implemented and
should have serve as role models to the younger generation, I think it would be
best to start from the very beginning - the children. Our national, Dr. Jose Rizal
once said that the children are the hope of our nation and I also firmly hold onto
this belief.

I believe that molding the children to become good and productive individuals is
the key to a nation’s success. That is why the researcher is interested at looking
into the kindergarten education in Japan – a nation known to be a home of
successful people- to be able to look at the similarities and differences between the
two nation’s systems of early childhood education and look for things that can be
adopted to help in the further development of the curriculum in both parties.
 INCENTIVE AND AIMS

AIMS

The aim of this study is to:

- point out the observable similarities and differences of Early

Childhood Education in Japan and Philippines (focusing on
laboratory kindergarten)

INCENTIVES:

This study will be beneficial on both parties because….

- Serve as future reference to be able to generate a better and

efficient curriculum and teaching techniques

- Give ideas to aspiring Early Childhood Educators on what kind of

preschool education Japan and Philippines has.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The scope of this study will focus on the observable similarities and
differences of Tokyo Gakugei University’s Kindergarten Laboratory School,
Koganei Youchien and Philippine Normal University’s Kindergarten Laboratory
School, Center for Teaching and Learning focusing mainly on the:

a. Curriculum
b. Classroom Routines
c. Teaching Methods and Techniques
d. Language Instruction
e. Parental Participation; and
f. Learning Environment

The time frame for this study will be limited to a two month time
frame of observation and participation of the researcher in Koganei Youchien.
 RESEARCH QUESTION/S

1. What is the overall question of your study?

What are the similarities and differences between the Early Childhood
Education in Japan and Philippines?

Specific:

a. Pre-school Curriculum
What kind of curriculum does this school use?
What are the mission, vision, and goals?

b. Classroom Routine
Are there any specified classroom routine being implemented?
Who are in-charge of making these routines
Do teachers have to prepare a lesson plan? How often do they make
it?
Do pupils take written examination? How do teachers evaluate pupil’s
performance?

c. Teaching Methods and Techniques

What kind of activities do pupils have monthly? Yearly?

d. Language Instruction
What kind of activities do you offer to help in the development of the
pupil’s language ability skills? (exercises? Books?)

e. Parent Participation
What are the importance and effect to children’s performance?
How do teachers invite parents over to participate?

f. Learning Environment
What facilities or learning materials do you think that contribute a lot
to the pupil’s optimal development?
 METHODOLOGY

 Research design or tradition:

Descriptive Research is the research design used in this study because it

aims to describe and gather information about the present existing condition
of the Early Childhood Education in Japan and in the Philippines. Descriptive
Research is defined as involving the collection of data in order to test
hypotheses or to answer question concerning the current status of the
subject of the study. It describes and reports the way things are. (Gay,
1976) There are different kinds of descriptive research method but this study
falls under the correlational study which is designed to determine the extent
to which different variables are related to each other in the population of
interest. This kind of study can determine how much Variation is caused by
one variable in relation with the variation caused by another variable.

 Instruments and Procedures:

a. Qualitative:

An interview with the kindergarten’s principal and the school teacher’s and
the office staff is needed and the set f questions are as follows:

What are the similarities and differences between the Early Childhood
Education in Japan and Philippines?

- Pre-school Curriculum
What kind of curriculum does this school use?
What are the mission, vision, and goals？

- Classroom Routine
Are there any specified classroom routine being implemented?
Who are in-charge of making these routines?
Do teachers have to prepare a lesson plan? How often do they make
it?
Do pupils take written examination? How do teachers evaluate pupil’s
performance?

- Teaching Methods and Techniques

What kind of activities do pupils have monthly? Yearly?

- Language Instruction
 What kind of activities do you offer to help in the development of the
pupil’s language ability skills? (exercises? Books?)

- Parent Participation
What are the importance and effect to children’s performance?
How do teachers invite parents over to participate?

- Learning Environment
What facilities or learning materials do you think that contribute a lot
to the pupil’s optimal development

b. Data collection:

1. Observation for at Koganei Youchien

Day 1 – December 10, 3 years old

Day 2 _ December 11, 4 years old
Day 3 December 13, 5 years old
Day 4 – December 14, free observation

2. Writing Narratives on observation

3. Reading reference materials

4. Interview – Teachers, Office staff, and/or Principal

5. Participation to activities

 Role of the Researcher:

The researcher conducts observation of the children to get a better

understanding and direct exposure to activities given to them that
contributes to their optimum development as an individual. It is also the
researcher’s role to organize the gathered data into a table to be able to
easily distinguish the similarities and differences of the two observed
kindergartens.
 SOME EXAMPLES AND FINDINGS
The aim of this study is to point out the observable similarities and differences
of Early Childhood Education in Japan and Philippines (focusing on laboratory
kindergarten)
A. PRESCHOOL CURRICULUM
KOGANEI YOUCHIEN
2. Preschool A. Creative Play model
Curriculum – a curriculum model that
focuses on the optimal
development of the whole child
in an environment that fosters
active exploration through
play, nurturing relationships
with teachers, and a benchmark of a Filipino five-year-
partnership between program
and teachers. (Catron et.al,
2008; p.26)
B. MISSION:
The kindergarten will help
students to foster
independence and creativity
and display their ability brightly
and naturally.
Students who are touched
Students who think
Students who take action.
GOAL:
1. Kindergarten Education
2. Teaching Practice
3. Research on Education
and Teachers’ Training
4. Contribution to Society
PNU CENTER FOR TEACHING AND
LEARNING
A. Developmentally Appropriate
Curriculum
– curriculum that is age-
appropriate, individually
appropriate and socio-culturally
appropriate (NAEYC 2009)
– considers the developmental
old, recommends use of
strategies that address the needs
of the learners and uses the
mother tongue as medium of
instruction.
B. MISSION:
To promote and facilitate the
development of professional
teachers who are nation builders,
upright, competent, evolutionary
and dedicated by creating
meaningful teaching-learning
environment and providing actual
pedagogical, research and
community experiences to enable
prospective teachers to translate
theory into practice.
GOAL:
1. INSTRUCTION: Quality and Value-
Orientedness
 Provide quality on-campus
immersion for prospective
teachers through meaningful
and value-oriented curriculum.
 Provide quality basic education
aimed at holistic development
 of children and youth.

2. RESEARCH: Knowledge
Generation

 Initiate relevant researches on

teacher education, child study
and other related areas.
 Serve as venue for
experiments, try-outs, and
other studies conducted by
other individuals and groups.

3. EXTENSION: Responsiveness,
Relevance and Access

 Extend assistance to existing

community projects.
 Initiate community-based
activities and programs

4. PRODUCTION: Innovation

 Enhance and harness the

creative abilities of faculty and
student teachers in the
development of teaching-
learning materials.
 Develop innovative teaching
strategies for more effective
instruction

Reference: http://pnu-
ctl.wikispaces.com/home

Note that Koganei Youchien’s concern is more of the development of the

children’s principle, interest and attitude rather than concentrating on
developing the child’s macro skills like the Philippine’s Curriculum states. I believe
the Department of Education focused on developing these skills so that the issue
of high school students not being able to read and write would be
addressed as early as kindergarten as the new curriculum has only been
implemented. Preschool was not a pre-requisite in order to enter primary school
until 2011.
B. CLASSROOM ROUTINES

KOGANEI YOUCHIEN PNU CENTER FOR

TEACHING AND LEARNING
i. Are there any None. When children *see picture below
specified classroom arrive in school they are
routines being free to do what they want
implemented? to do – play outside, stay
inside the room, play
kitchen, play with blocks
or tops, do art activity,
read, dance. They do all of
these the whole morning
and then eat lunch with
their teachers.
10-30 minutes before the
dismissal, depending on
the age level, the teacher-
in-charge gathers his or
her pupils to either tell a
story, sing a song, or play
a game. Note that this is
not done on a daily basis.
ii. Who are in-charge The teachers The teachers
of making these
routines?

iii. Do teachers have to Yes. Once a week.
prepare a lesson There are two teachers
plan? How often do per age level and once a
they make it? week the teachers take
time to plan on what
activities they’ll do for the
following week.
iv. Do pupils take No. As stated earlier, the
written teachers are not after the
examination? How development of the macro
do teachers skills but more of the
evaluate pupil’s child’s principles in life,
performance? attitude, and interest.
Instead of giving them a
written examination, the
teacher gives the child a
challenge depending on
what skills he already
possesses. Teachers note
the children’s behavior in
class records it and
summarizes it at the end
of the day.
Yes. Only the new
teachers are required to
write a detailed lesson
plan. For the old teachers,
an outline of activities will
suffice for it.
Yes. The written exam is
taken four times a year
and it is a 50 item test of
English, Science, and
Math. The examination is
teacher-made and the
item questions were
developed according to
the lessons they tackled
or a certain period. These
tests are scored
numerically and it
evaluates the cognitive
skills of a child.
 Example of a Kindergarten Class Schedule in the Philippines

(Managing Preschool Program, Pabalan 2010 p.157)

Although during the interview, Yamada sensei mentioned that there are no
particular routines being followed, the picture above shows the 5 year olds’ to-do
list for the day. This white board is only seen in the 5 year olds’ classroom as they
are being prepared for primary school activities.
 5 year old Filipino kindergarten pupils taking their first quarterly examination in Science
supervised by third year college Early Childhood majors who are in their field study.

C. TEACHING METHODS and TECHNIQUES

KOGANEI YOUCHIEN PNU CENTER FOR

What kind of activities do
pupils have monthly?
Yearly?
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Yearly Every month, there are
- Entrance ceremony programs conducted in
- Kodomo kai which the activities are
- Undo kai based on the theme of the
- First Calligraphy of the month. The theme is
Year decided by the
- Closing Ceremony and Department of Education.
Tea Party July – Nutrition month.
Children do activities that
are related to keeping
one’s self healthy.
August – Buwan ng Wika.
Wherein the children were
exposed to Filipino culture
and language through
stories, poems, and songs
that were taught to them.
September – Science
month wherein children
learn more of their
environment. Activities
 such as paper cutting into
the shape of animals were
usually done during this
month.
October – United Nations.
Wherein children were
exposed to the
whereabouts of the
existence of other
countries.
December – Christmas.
Christmas party is held.
And playing games, that
will match the yuletide
season were done during
these season.
Others were decided
throughout the year.
Monthly
- Sometimes they
celebrate festivals
such as Tanabata,
Hina Matsuri and so
on. As long as it
doesn’t have to do
with messing up one’s
belief as it was
written in the
Japanese Constitution
about the ‘freedom of
expression’
 Christmas is a
yearly event but
teachers do not
really teach about
it. They just do
some art activities
about it and same
goes to Halloween.
They just make art
crafts with
pumpkins as a way
to celebrate it.
 Teaching method varies from one teacher to another and methods and
techniques in teaching also depend on the pupils’ needs. That’s why I settled with
just the activities as activities given to children helps in indirectly educating them.
These activities can touch a variety of subject areas such as teaching them about
culture, traditions, or just basic knowledge about games along with being able to
develop leadership skills, developing the sense of sportsmanship, teaching the
concept of teamwork and the value friendship.

Kodomokai is celebrated twice a year and it is like a

Culmination of what the 5 year olds did for the past
Months

Undoukai (Sports Festival)

 PHILIPPINES

Kinder 1 Pupils wearing their chef outfits during the

Nutrition month.

5 year olds gather at the multipurpose hall to celebrate Buwan ng Wika wherein they sing traditional
Filipino songs and recite poems in their mother tongue
D. LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION
KOGANEI YOUCHIEN
What kind of activities do Teachers do not really
you offer to help in the teach language because
development of the pupil’s they integrate it with play.
language ability skills? The teachers put labels
(exercises? Books?) (see picture below) on the
materials the children are
using so they will be
familiar with the words.
5 year olds though,
because the teachers are
preparing them for
primary school life, are
given the task to deliver a
speech to see how far
they already achieved in
their language
development.
When it comes to
communication skills
though, Yamada sensei,
one of the teachers of the
5 year olds emphasized
that ‘Playing with other
children is important to
improve their
communication skills’
PNU CENTER FOR
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Children were taught
about the letters of the
alphabet along with the
concept of numbers during
the big group discussion.
They are introduced first
to the letters and give
them words that start with
the letter they are
studying for the day. The
children are given activity
books to accomplish so
that they would be able to
practice, reading and
writing the letters.
Children were also always
read a story during the
story telling time to
develop their listening and
comprehension skills
along with building more
vocabulary and learning
good morals as stories
either from a story book
or teacher-made were
read to teach about the
Filipino culture and
traditions.
 Blocks that has a label ‘obakeyashiki’ written in hiragana
E. PARENT’S PARTICIPATION
KOGANEI YOUCHIEN
It is scheduled and
parents often join the
teachers and the pupils
and act as staffs and
doing activities together
with the children. This
helps children to trust
How do teachers invite adults.
parents over to
participate? Individual talks, if needed,
are done in the morning
when the parents come to
bring their child in the
kindergarten.
Yamada sensei
emphasizes the need to
‘gain trust and peace of
mind of the children’s
parent’
PNU CENTER FOR
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Teachers invite parents by
sending them letters or
invitation and usually, this
happens if there is a
program and/or the
quarterly giving of report
cards. The teacher and
the parents talk about the
child and discuss what’s
best for the child or if
there’s something that the
teacher wants the parents
to know and asked their
permission or opinion
about it.
 Both share the same concept that parent’s involvement in the early childhood
program is important. It is said that ‘it helps the needs of the children, families, and
the program itself. Given the chance to interact with adults further develops social
skills within children and at the same time giving them the chance to learn how to
respect persons who are older than them.
As Yamada sensei pointed it out, it is really important to gain the trust of the
parents so that if there will be problems, it will be easily discussed upon. Teachers
can also help if the parents are having problems with their children by giving them
advice if needed.

Activities done with Parents

F. LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Trawick-Smith (1992) said that classroom environment can affect

children’s play and learning. Children are happier, are more socially and
competent, works longer, uses more language skills, and engage in more
cooperative play in environments that are appropriately designed. Let’s take
a look of the pictures below.

The preschool classroom is subdivided into specific centers such as the

eating area, the art area, the reading area, the manipulative area, children’s
comfort room, the lockers and shelves and so on.

The classroom
Blocks are manipulative objects that vary from the age levels. This is 5 year olds’
block made out of wood while 3 year olds’ were made out of rubber
 Instruments played by children

OUTDOOR FACILITIES

Place where children dig soil using the right tools

5 year old Filipino children were not allowed to use these tools as they were still
young and adults think that children might just hurt themselves
 Shoe rack

Playground made of wood

A wooden board where children were allowed to use hammer to bore the nail into
the wood.

Children especially the 3 year olds were allowed to play with the dried leaves here
with their teachers.
 RESOURCES:

a. Internet

- Koganei Youchien website www.u-gakugei.ac.jp/~kinder/

- PNU CTL Homepage http://pnu-ctl.wikispaces.com/home
- http://www.learninghaven.com/reference/preschool-education.html
- http://www.journaland.com/Art/323039/185/Importance-Of-
Preschool-Education.html
- http://www.educationcorner.com/importance-of-early-childhood-
education.html

b. Book

- Early Childhood Curriculum; A Creative –Play Model 4th Edition, Carol

Catron et.al 2008
- Managing Preschool Program, Pabalan 2010

c. Others

K-12 Philippine Kindergarten Curriculum

Course Study for Kindergarten – Ministry of Education in Japan.