Curriculum Research and Development Office

Maki Nakagaki Maki Nakagaki Research Manager

Amid such trends as the declining birthrate and aging population, technological innovation, and ongoing globalization, the environment in which Japanese children live and learn today is undergoing dramatic change. What capabilities will children need to live and work in this future? More than simply completing the task at hand, they will need to identify the issue, work with others to resolve it, and create new values in the process.

The Curriculum Research and Development Office engages in the research and development of comprehensive curricula which take an integrated approach to goals, instruction, and assessment regarding the goals of the skills and abilities required in the future, the teaching (learning) methods that will foster these skills, and the assessment of the learning outcomes.

The use and application of information and communications technology (ICT) in learning, together with active learning, which has been studied by the ICT Education Research Office, plays an important role in developing children's ability.

Research Themes

Integrated research and development on learning goals, instruction, and assessment of generic competencies in elementary, lower and upper secondary education

  • ・Goals and standards for generic competencies
  • ・Methods of teaching and learning that foster generic competencies
  • ・Assessment methods and techniques that assess and foster generic competencies

Survey on Learning using ICT

This survey, conducted from Oct. through Nov. 2013, of teachers at public elementary and junior high schools nationwide studies their attitude toward ICT use and actual use in the classroom, including competencies that they expect children to acquire and the modality of future learning.