The aspects of lesson practice, from the points of view of interpretative study, indicate the both the advantages and the disadvantages of the lesson study. When I analyze the whole teaching process through narrative analysis, I depend on interpretative lesson research. As I have been working for building a research structure for the lesson study, I discussed the aspect of lesson practice from the points of view of interpretative study, by the method of "HATSUGENHYO (discussion diagram)". This report analyzed a lesson case including the group activities by this method. The case analyzed is a lesson practice of social studies for 4^<th> grade, by Y teacher of K elementary school of A prefecture. The research I decided to analyze is a very typical case for analyzing the dialogs of students' interaction, especially during lesson time. As a result, the differences and similarities between the features of students' dialogs in the group activities and as a whole class are clear. (Usually, the class is divided into small groups in Japan.) In conclusion, this report has great impact for analyzing the student's dialogs by the method of "HATSUGENHYO"

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Manipulative activity is important for students to acquire mathematical concept. If students experience mathematical activities with concrete materials according to the suitable sequence of learning, they can expand their mathematical concepts continuously and properly from naive concept formed in daily life. In the lower level of elementary school, the order of learning of length is direct comparing, indirect comparing, measuring by arbitrary unit, and measuring by standard unit. Through those steps students can expand their concept of length as well as skills of measurement. However, some students of second grade of elementary school make some mistakes that they measure the length as 1cm, 2cm, 3cm from the edge of the measure with counting aloud and then they get the wrong answer which is one centimeter more than the correct answer. This study aims to clarify the cause of the wrong answer related to the manipulative activity and conceptual understanding and find out a suggestion for teaching. Most of textbooks, only the two types of arbitrary unit are adopted; those are the single material to be allocated repeatedly to the target length and the printed material such as ruled line. But the other (third) type of arbitrary is not adopted in many cases, that is the manipulation of lining up the plural materials of the equal size and figure, whereas this forgettable type is important to bridge two other types and keep students to hold the proper concept that the equality of the interval is essential for measurement of length by transforming a continuous quantity into a discrete number. Then the researcher applies the method focusing on the concept of continuous quantity. The result of the research lesson shows that the recovering the conceptually correct understanding the length as the continuous quantity can be provided by the constructive activity that the students draw line of given length. The students can learn more efficiently to expand their concepts through the manipulation for constructive activity as well as measurement.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristic of the inventive idea of the teachers in nursery school through a case study in a practice process of the second year of the music experience promotion program devised by the writer. I asked the teachers in nursery school to practice in 2008 after having taken guidance for this activity program by Merrion with Rubin who accomplished a precedent study. 63 children in a nursery school participated in this practice program continuously. As a result, the inventive idea and active posture of the teachers in 2008 were considerably different from those of teachers' idea in 2007. In the practice of the second year, as for the intervention of the teachers for 4 year old child, a question for the creation of the role playing and a story, a complimentary role of the role playing were discriminative. As for the intervention of the teachers for 5 year old child, the presentation of a story and a song for the creation of the vehicle and the music, supplement, support were discriminative. The children who experienced four phases of activity in one year became 4 year old child, 5 year old child in 2008 listened to music and thought. The children could shift to the understanding of the music elements to produce from the process and the symbolization of the phenomenon by themselves. The expression of the child is promoted again by the inventive idea of the teachers, and, by interaction with a child and the teachers, the understanding feeling in the imagination advances. I found out the educational effect that 4 year old child presented creation of the role playing and the symbolization of the scene and 5 year old child showed the agreement with role playing and the music experience.

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In general, piano skills are acquired through piano lessons, in which a teacher instructs a student. In order to improve one's piano skills, practicing for many hours is an absolute necessity. However, for children, this regimen is difficult, and there are many instances of children who grow to hate the piano and quit. As a piano teacher, the researcher has also experienced such hardships in her childhood. Helping children to overcome the difficulties associated with acquiring piano skills, as well as to cultivate a desire in children to play the piano, is the focus the researcher addresses in the current study. As a methodology participatory observation, based on Ogawa's "observation learning theory," was conducted for nine years within the children's family. Through this observation, the process of children's natural and spontaneous piano playing as a form of "play," as well as the development of strong musical communicative skills were observed. The musical growth and development was analyzed using J. Lave and E. Wenger's "Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP)," theory. The mutual relationship of musical expression in this case study was analyzed from Iwata's "Nori," perspective. The researcher would like to verify how to facilitate the growth of the target child's (B) motivational development by use of this theory.

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When a baby is helped to eat baby food, it reacts to the food in the mouth. The baby is, however, more interested in the style of culture at the table, which includes things and actions at the table and tries to grasp things on the table. These actions will be gradually expanded but will not directly relate to eating. This interest and action of a baby will, through the responding mutual negotiation between the baby and the caregiver, lead to the baby's act of eating by himself. At the same time, the baby will become aware of spoon, which used to be just a toy for the baby, as a tool used for eating. In other words, the baby recognized a spoon as an INDEX of eating. When the baby accepts the idea of eating with a spoon and starts to eat using it, the caregiver acknowledged that the baby is capable to eat food by himself. When a baby starts to eat after a certain cultural style, the caregiver acknowledges that a baby has acquired a self-directed eating. It will be possible to say that a baby's action of eating after a certain cultural style and its acquisition of a self-direction eating are inseparable. This process will not be completed without a caregiver's wish and support based upon her understanding of a baby. In that sense, the caregiver's support and the acquisition of a baby's self-directed eating are mutually regulative. To give an education means to give a child a chance to acquire the culture of the society he belongs to. Therefore, to support baby in feeding is a very important act of education.

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This study re-designed the Workshop method of teaching for use in arts education in school settings, and demonstrated how it can be used to alter the classroom teaching paradigm for the typical junior-high-school music teacher. Although the Workshop method has recently been widely accepted in educational settings, it has been reduced to a simple methodology, which is experience-based participant learning within groups. We investigated ways to redefine this teaching method by participant observation of a college course in United States and action research at a junior high school in Japan. Our goal was to define an educational model that enables students to attain higher academic achievements in arts education, within the context of shared experience through collaborative learning. Based on these case studies, this paper shows that the Workshop method can be an educational model that draws upon 'connoisseurship and criticism', which can be used to rethink education of expression in a school setting.

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As a worldwide movement, the reform for the standard-based teacher education is proceeding. In America, Lee S. Shulman's theories on teachers' knowledge and learning process have been used for structuring standards for teachers. This study reviewed Shulman's works and showed his comprehensive idea. The three important points came out. Firstly, teachers' knowledge and learning process are very closely connected. So we should define knowledge base for teachers in connection with their learning process. Secondary, we should transform different knowledge needed for teachers to the special form to be used in teaching and share them. Thirdly, however, we must accomplish it not by selecting special knowledge under the certain criteria but by opening and publishing them to the broader world.

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The purpose of this paper is to make clear the theoretical framework of inclusive educational practices in England from the point of learning, teaching and the community of teachers and staffs which can make inclusive schools. Research subject was the inclusive school theory of Mel Ainscow, Tony Booth and others who are theoretical leaders at Center for Studies on Inclusive Education and have a big influence on inclusive educational practices in England. The examination made clear that responding is a key concept according to the definition of inclusion as "the process by which a school attempts to respond to all pupils" by Ainscow. In respect of the learning theory concerning the practice of an inclusive education, collaborative relationship among pupils is important as supporting resources of learning. For that the collaborative learning and active learning which are teaching methods for responding to others are used. In respect of the teaching theory of teachers, to secure responding to students including child who has special educational needs and to examining usual practice of the teachers who do inclusive practice by themselves are important. It was shown that the community of teachers and staffs which support inclusive educational practices of each teachers and advance the inclusion as the entire school was important.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify the meaning of "real life" and discussing it in L. Kohlberg's Just Community. This study, therefore, explores his theory of ego development in order to reinterpret the conception of morality in his whole theory and, from the viewpoint of ego development, examines classes in Just Community. Following are concluded. First, the conception of morality presented in Kohlberg's theory could be given a general interpretation in terms of ego development which he had supposed to be a basis of his cognitive-developmental approach from the first. The ideas in his theory that moral development, together with changes in other social cognitions, is included in ego development as components of social development and that moral functioning is affected by the other domains of the ego are revealed. Second, it is demonstrated that an emphasis Kohlberg placed on ego development caused him to change his view of moral development as the aim of education. This provides the basis for interpreting his theory of moral education from the perspective of ego development. And third, it is clarified that classes in Just Community focus upon the "real life" in a larger society and are expected to take an important part in improving students' conducts through discussions about their school lives. Primarily, classes are aimed at connecting what students learn through discussions in Just Community to the "real life" in a larger society. Classes could be interpreted to enable students to reorganize their selves by integrating their social cognitions of their school and those of a larger society.

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the conflict concerning the adoption of the Dalton Laboratory Plan in Seijo Elementary School, as a part of a historical review of improvement of the educational methods. In general, it has been reported that the Dalton Plan was adopted as an educational method because of highly conforming to pupil's self-study that had been practiced in the school. However, recent research of the Dalton Plan showed that the opinions of people applying this self-study were entirely different from those applying the Dalton Plan. Considering the views mentioned above, the author feels that the people who recommended the Dalton Plan had different opinions about it. Therefore, the author discusses that those differences were the reason for not only the understanding of the Dalton Plan but also the contrast of educational purposes. First, the author describes the background of Seijo's self-study method considering the substance of Masatarou Sawayanagi's self-study theory, then, he shows different opinions of the Dalton Plan comparing two remarks from Syoutarou Okuno and Yonekichi Akai, and finally, the author will discuss the conflict concerning the adoption of the Dalton Laboratory Plan in Seijo Elementary School.

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the principle concerning the understanding of the theory of history education by Kaoru Okubo at the elementary school affiliated to Hiroshima higher normal school. Kumajiro Sato was the head of the elementary school affiliated to Hiroshima higher normal school. For each subject, he suggested a method based on the theory of the mental science of triggering initiatives on the part of the children called "principle of the initiative". As head history teacher, Okubo wrote articles on "School Education" (Gakkokyoiku). In addition, he wrote several books, including "The Essence of Teaching History of Nation and A Fact" with Sato. In this paper, I clarify the formation of the principle of understanding the theory of history education and its was practice at this school from the perspective of pedagogics. As a result, firstly, Okubo claimed to have interpreted the meaning of the phenomenon known as "understanding". This refers to understanding the value and significance an object by mentioning the internal aspects connected with the life and mind of the object. He shows that it is understanding of the history to get knowledge by action of the re-experience that our "life" itself experienced and the speculation that reflected on itself. Secondly, he criticized history and suggested that one can choose the direction of one's own life; he also believed that children had the ability to pave the right path. He intended to develop value awareness by constructing a model measuring the awareness of a child. Finally, it is self-cultivation caused by emotional excitement resulting from intellectual understanding, and it awakens in an individual the will to achieve something by himself or herself, till the very end. Through careful understanding, he regarded "cultivation of emotion" and "action of the will" as "self-cultivation".

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