This paper discusses a principle for the interpretation of teaching materials for school music lessons on the basis of "a Philosophy in a New Key" by S. K. Langer and the theory of music learning. It is the task of music teachers to interpret teaching materials from the viewpoint of musical abilities which children are expected to cultivate. Music is a symbol which is created to share a subjective reality, or feeling. Therefore, teaching materials for music lessons can also be a symbol. According to Langer, 'symbol-function' involves four terms; the subject, the object, the symbol and the concept. Meaning is a function of these four terms. It is then assumed that these four terms are available for the interpretation of teaching materials. Such being the case, a method can be developed for designing teaching plans.

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This paper reports the results of a local study conducted on the state of student experiments in chemistry classes in secondary schools for boys during the Taisho era (1912-1926) to identify how central government policy was deployed and implemented by local governments and individual schools. The following results were obtained: (1) There were great differences among local governments in how they reacted to central government orders and policies. Such differences can be attributed to the financial status of each local government and school and to the differences in the levels of enthusiasm among local administrators and heads of schools. (2) Laboratory expansion at schools was supported by subsidies from the national coffers, funds from the local governments, tuition fees, and funds from parents' associations. (3) Student experiments during the Taisho era were far from satisfactory due to the lack of qualified teaching staff, limited facilities, and an incomplete educational system. Nevertheless, it is notable that, in this period, secondary schools for boys in Japan began to provide opportunities for students to conduct chemistry experiments.

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The purpose of this research to identify the characteristics of "Karadahogushi," which is a relatively novel field in physical education. Essentially, "Karadahogushi" is a series of specific movements and exercises which loosen up both the mind and body. Until now, Physical Education has placed emphasis on "functional characteristics", whereas this research places its emphasis on those areas which can not be explained by the "functional characteristics" alone. The two major areas of focus are "the characteristics of somatic exercise" and "the types of, and how to perform, exercise." Simply put, "Karadahogushi" thrives on three basic fundamentals: setting a goal; having an exercise which leads to that goal; and having fun doing the exercise. Hence, "a fun exercise" which loosens up the mind as well as the body is fundamental to "Karadahogushi."

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The aim of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of teachers' instructional prompts when students are doing yukata sewing. This was done by analyzing 28 students' descriptions of their interpretations of prompts and what they learned in each of 12 lessons. A lot of students understood the teacher's intention and interpreted the prompt individually, and in detail. They acquired not only practical sewing skills and knowledge of the materials used, but also abilities which are necessary for daily life, for instance, the procedure for sewing and how to avoid dangerous situations. In repeating dull work as well as in doing difficult independent work, a lot of students reported awareness of their internal transformation and showed insights into the relationship between what they learnt about sewing, and themselves.

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The aim of this research is to obtain the basic data in order to construct a 'development model' curriculum for developing physical education teachers who are able to both correspond to changes in instructional forms and educational contents but also foresee changes in advance. For this purpose a questionnaire was used to investigate the knowledge and skills necessary for teaching P. E. lessons, and those which should be learnt at university. 210 high school physical education teachers were given the questionnaire. As a result, it was clear that they have the awareness that what teachers think is important in daily lessons should be learnt in the program at university. This included matters such as developing the class environment (atmosphere), motivating students, planning a teaching program for a year, and so on. Furthermore, priorities for the curriculum are proposed on the basis of the results which came from the analysis of differences in teaching experience.

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