REPORT #4
NEE ANNUAL MEETINGS: SEPTEMBER 2007
Date: September 15 (Sat), 2007
Place: Economics Department, Nihon University, Tokyo
After a brief opening remark by Prof. Fumio Ohtake (Osaka Univ.), a
keynote speech was given by Prof. Takamitsu Sawa (Doshisha Univ.), who
emphasized that what should be taught and learned in economics is the
mechanism of the market economy and the way of economic thinking, and
that economic education in Japan is in trouble at every level from the
elementary school to college and beyond.
Then, in the first afternoon session, Prof. Inose (Hirosaki Univ.) gave
an experimental class by using a manual of “Public Goods Game”
(originally developed Nihon Univ. Prof. Nakagawa), where participants
were divided into 10 groups ("households") to decide whether they would
bear the cost of earthquake proof repairs for their condominium. The
result was that about half of the households would be willing to pay,
and some discussion took place as to how to interpret this result.
Comments were made by Mr. Katsuya Takahashi (Toritsu Haijima High) and
Mr. Shigehiro Tanaka (Kitaku Kamiya Middle School), who appreciated
this kind of game material, while pointing out some potential problems
about the material in term of teachers' understanding and students'
interest.
In the second afternoon session, a symposirum on "How to Support
Economic Educaiton at School" was held, chaired by Prof. Hisashi
Kurihara (Shinshu Univ.), with three panelists, Mr. Shin Akamine (Tokyo
Stock Exchange), Ms. Ryoko Okazaki (Bank of Japan, PR Dept.) and Ms.
Shinko Onizuka (Japan FP Association), who explained about their
activities and materials to support various school programs in economic
education. Active discussions were made among participants including
Mr. Tadatoshi Asano (Yamamura Gakuen College) and Mr. Akira Arai, who
emphasized the important of the role of schools and teachers in
choosing available materials provided from outside.
In concluding remarks, Mr. Saegusa (Meguro Chuo Middle School) pointed
out some difficulties on the school side, such as securing enough
opportunities and time allocation for teacher training, and the
importance of various activities organized by the Economic Education
Network to help overcome those difficulties. That was also the
conclusion of Prof. Shinohara (Doshisha Univ.) , who expressed his
thanks to all the participants for useful discussions.
Reference:
For a Japanese summary and some pictures, see:
http://blog.so-net.ne.jp/miyao-blog/2007-09-16