Curriculum links
Asia and Australia's Engagement with Asia is one of the cross-curriculum priorities. Use the link to explore some of the following questions.
Some key questions might be:
- What do my students learn about Japanese history or geography outside of my classroom?
- What (if any) Japanese texts are used by other teachers in teaching literacy or English? What images do they present of Japan? Are students getting a wide range of perspectives?
- What do my students learn of the traditional and contemporary arts of Japan? Of music, film, visual arts etc?
- Are there topics or approaches (e.g., to literacy) that could be shared?
- How are other teachers teaching about Intercultural Understandings?
- What’s the best way to generate change?
Implementing change
Start small. Teachers are dealing with a lot of change. The introduction of a great new picture story book for primary students, or a film set in Japan for secondary students might be a good starting point. You could give the history teacher a set of useful resources or provide the art teacher with a great website.
Find out what your colleagues’ interests are. Many teachers have been to Japan and/or have a specific cultural interest such as Japanese film, bonsai, food or martial arts.
Building confidence in teaching about Japan
Many teachers have had little experience in their own education of learning about Japan or other countries in Asia. Many lack confidence that they know enough about Japanese society or history and feel they may make mistakes. Sometimes the subject matter feels very foreign or ‘political’. How can you help with this?
- Ensure that the school has a range of high quality resources about Japan.
- Consider developing a sister school partnership so that relationships can build.
- Nothing beats personal experience. Study tours and/or visits to Japan have been a real catalyst for changing attitudes and curriculum in many schools.
Teaching resources
Some regularly updated websites include the Asia Education Foundation: Japan Resources and Education about Asia. The US-based National Consortium for Teaching about Asia supports primary and secondary teachers in teaching about East Asia.
The Japan Foundation hosts resources across a range of learning areas.
About Japan: A Teacher’s Resource is organized around the themes of culture, environment, history, Japanese language, and social issues and consists of lesson plans, articles and videos.
The Japan Society (UK) has lesson plans across a variety of learning areas.
English
There are strong connections between the teaching of English and of Japanese language in primary schools, along with the obvious differences. Both areas value critical literacy as a set of skills. Both put increasing emphasis on metalinguistic awareness.
- Texts and Contexts: Teaching Japan through Children's Literature
- Teach with Movies: Princess Mononoke
- Anime - An Annotated Filmography for Use in the Classroom
- Voices of Modern Japanese Literature
- Teach Japan: Stories and Literature
- Activities using movies The aim of these activities is for students to immerse themselves in Japanese language and culture through watching movies.
- Years 7 and 8: Suggested texts
- Years 9 and 10: Suggested texts
- Growing up Asian in Australia
- Peril is an online site devoted to work by Asian Australian writers.
History
- Big Idea: Shogunate Japan: Geography and Power contains links to useful sites.
- A Case Study of Medieval Japan through Art: Samurai Life in Medieval Japan - Lesson
- Life Under the Shoguns
- Feudal Japan
- Lesson Plan #_3_The Tokugawa Shogunate Era
- Kamakura: The Home of the Samurai
- Shogunate Japan: Early peoples and the geography of Japan
- Humanities - History: Japan Under the Shoguns Explore the resources that one Australian school uses to teach about Feudal Japan. Find recommendations about useful books and digital resources.
- Teaching Japan in World History explores Japanese responses to global developments as the Silk Roads, the Mongol empire, transoceanic global trade, modernity, world war, and ecological and humanitarian interdependence.
- Welcome To Japan is a set of lessons that explore how Japan has influenced and been influenced by Asia and the world culturally, socially, and politically.
Geography
- Asia for Educators: Geography has great practical ideas that span Geography, the Arts, History and Literature.
- Importance of Geography in Medieval Japan
- The History of Anime & Japan
Economics and Business
- Australia’s Trade through Time is an interactive website that organises significant events and agreements into decades. Australia’s Trade through Time Teacher Guide provides support for use of the website.
- Asian export case studies
- Australia's wheat exports to Asia
The Arts
- Teaching Modern and Contemporary Asian Art Find classroom activities and information about artists from China, Japan and other Asian countries.
- Manga Tutorials
- Asian Art Museum This site has great support materials for teachers.
- Japanese Woodblock Print includes teacher notes and tips for exploring this artform.
- Ukiyo-e Woodblock Prints
- Japanese Woodblock Printing: Learning and Engagement Resource Pack
What can I do with this information?
Spread the word. You don’t have to work in isolation and you don’t have to do all the work. Teachers appreciate high-quality resources that are linked to the curriculum. Share these resources with other teachers in your school. Talk to your school librarian. Look at ways to integrate the learning, being mindful that every teacher feels that they have too much to fit into their existing curriculum.