When examining educational practices that encourage learner participation in collaborative learning, discussing the topic from the perspective of learner’s values is necessary by asking them what aspects of collaborative learning they find valuable. The study conducted an exploratory investigation into learners’ perceived value from collaborative learning as a participation factor in such settings. Specifically, junior high school students were asked about their expectations of collaborative learning situations through open-ended written questions. Subsequently, the study performed open coding on their responses and identified and organized subcategories. The following categories were extracted: “conversational activities,” “opinions,” “group activities,” “relationships with other learners,” “deepening understanding,” “tasks,” and “other.” In particular, learners looked forward to engaging in discussions, attentively listening to peers, gaining new insights and perspectives, and encountering opinions that differed from their own.

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Japan is a country prone to natural disasters, requiring each citizen to understand the reality of such events, raise awareness of disaster prevention and preparedness, and take appropriate actions in the event of a disaster. In particular, disaster prevention and preparedness education for young children demands audiovisual teaching materials suited to their developmental stage. This study focuses on children’s cultural properties closely related to their daily lives and develops puppet shows, panel theaters, and shadow plays depicting (1) the occurrence of an earthquake, (2) evacuation from childcare facilities, and (3) the occurrence of a tsunami. These materials were created as extracurricular activities at a university for preschool teacher training, and their characteristics as audiovisual teaching materials were examined. The findings suggest that incorporating children’s cultural properties allows for realistic expressions and enhances the educational effects of simulated disaster experiences through audiovisual materials in childcare settings.

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In this research, I compare the difficulty of songs taught in preschool and those taught in primary school by their difficulty in terms of musical range, rhythmic complexity, tonality, and number of tones. I only found marginally significant results the first two criteria indicating that preschool curricula include more songs with a high degree of difficulty than primary school curricula. Finally, I incorporate our findings into a discussion concerning which viewpoints are needed to ease children’s transition from preschool to primary school.

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This study explored the factors influencing the learning behavior of participants in the Distance Education Program of the Graduate School of Education for Teachers. These individuals were permitted to study online while continuing to work full-time, rather than temporarily interrupting their teaching practice. To mitigate recall bias and to understand the phenomenon in real time, we used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) for measurements. We established a hierarchical linear model suitable for analyzing the multilevel data generated by EMA. Although the results showed no evidence that managerial duties inhibited learning, the learning frequency decreased. Regarding the learning environment, we found that communication with the instructor strongly influenced learning satisfaction. Furthermore, daily stress inhibited learning fulfillment, while poor interpersonal relationships in the workplace tended to increase it. The results highlight the importance and efficacy of comprehensive support from advisors and others, particularly academic advisors, including guidance on pacing the learning process and consideration of health conditions.

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This paper reviewed academic articles on childcare worker turnover by dividing them into quantitative and qualitative studies and examined research trends and issues in research on childcare worker turnover. The results of the analysis show that, first of all, in both quantitative and qualitative studies, in studies of research conducted on people who had turned over, workplace relationships and working conditions were often cited as factors that caused people to turnover. Second, several qualitative studies have suggested that the circumstances leading to childcare workers turning over from childcare are complex and involve a variety of factors and multilayered aspects. As measures to prevent turnover, it suggested the need for reform of the organization as a whole, such as a system for educating new recruits and building a workplace culture in which collegiality can function. Finally, based on the findings above, we suggest the need for a detailed study on job turnover due to life events such as marriage, accumulate research on factors that contribute to continuity of work, and accumulate research on organizational management in childcare workplaces.

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