The Japanese Society of Child Science was founded to provide researchers, Educators, and parents with arena for free exchanges of ideas, opinions and researches on children and their problems. The 6th annual meeting of the society was carried out with main theme as “Children, Environments, and Brain Science”. Symposia on children caring design, informatics of child care and games were held along with the plenary lectures on child caring design (Kobayashi), the era of evading children(Honda), and myths in developmental psychology(Suzuki) were made.
How do children acquire language and develop? To what extent has this process been clarified through research in neuroscience? To start off the symposium, Koizumi Hideaki (Hitachi, Ltd.) gave a keynote speech on how social and cultural environments and the relationships between parents and children affect language development. Later, Associate Professor Jiang Yung of East China Normal University spoke about cultural conditions related to kindergarten teachers in Shanghai, and Associate Professor Zhang Minghon, also of East China Normal University, gave a presentation on “The Design and implementation of early reading education at Chinese kindergartens.”
At the Japan-China-Korea International Symposium in the afternoon, participants heard a report on analysis results regarding an international comparative survey conducted by the Global COE International Subcommittee on Inequality targeting the effects of literacy acquisition on cultural and social factors. This report helped to clarify the effects of economic inequality and styles of discipline on literacy acquisition and fundamental academic strengths. While the results for Korea and Japan were extremely similar, in China, the effects of economic inequality became highly apparent during the later stages of early childhood. The effects resulting from styles of discipline in China were also completely different from the effects in Japan and Korea, and this led to active discussions that involved even participation from the floor. To summarize, this symposium pointed out the importance of supporting parents in child rearing, and succeeded in identifying directions for offering advice to governments on related policies.
Open lecture: “French Family Policies and the Work/Family Life Balance Issue” was held at Ochanomizu University on June 15, 2009.
Dr. Jeanne Fagnagni, Research Director at the CNRS lectured about family policies in France. In the second part of the lecture, family policies were discussed from the gender/disparity point of view. Professor Machiko Kamio participated in this discussion as a discusser.
There were many participants, and they engaged in an active discussion from various standpoints.
J. Douglas Willms is a Professor and Director of the Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). He holds the Canada Research Chair in Human Development and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the International Academy of Education. Dr. Willms played a lead role in developing the questionnaires for Canada’s National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) and the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
The aim of this workshop is to familiarize participants with analytic techniques appropriate for analyses of hierarchically structured data, such as data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Participants will bring their own computers, and analyze a common dataset using the HLM software to acquire hands-on knowledge and skills.
Lecturer: Professor Douglas Willms
（Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy, University of New Brunswick）
Date: Thursday, June 11th, 2009 9:30~16:30
Venue: Ochanomizu University, Main Building Room 135
Fee: Free
Participants are requested to bring their own computers
Registration: Necessary
Applicants are requested to send an email to jimu-gcoe@cc.ocha.ac.jp by May 28th
Applications are closed.
Language: Presentation will be made in English. For discussion, Japanese-English interpretation will be provided
Sponsor: Ochanomizu University Global COE Program International Inequality Research Group
Contact: Ochanomizu University Global COE Program Secretariat
TEL&FAX: 03-5978-5247
EVENT REPORT
The Global COE Program of Ochanomizu University held an international seminar:
"An Introductory Workshop on Hierarchical Linear Models" on 11. Jun. 2009.
In this workshop, Dr. Willms familiarized participants with analytic techniques appropriate for analyses of hierarchically structured data. Dr. Willms also highlighted the importance of organized data management and cleaning process prior to HLM analyses. In order to acquire hands-on knowledge and skills, each participant analyzed a common dataset, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 Japan, using the HLM software on their own PC. 
J. Douglas Willms is a Professor and Director of the Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). He holds the Canada Research Chair in Human Development and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the International Academy of Education. Dr. Willms played a lead role in developing the questionnaires for Canada’s National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) and the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
In this seminar, Dr. Willms will be presenting the findings from the Early Years Evaluation (EYE), an instrument for the direct assessment of children’s developmental skills at ages 3 to 6, and Tell Them From Me, an evaluation system for the continuous monitoring of school climate and student engagement and wellness, which were both designed by Dr. Willms and his colleagues. Discussion will be held on how student and school assessments may improve school policy and practice.
Presenter: Professor Douglas Willms
（Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy, University of New Brunswick）
Date: Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 13:30~16:30
Venue: Ochanomizu University, Main Building Room 135
Main Building Room 128
Fee: Free
Registration: Not necessary
Language: Presentation will be made in English. For discussion, Japanese- English interpretation will be provided
Sponsor: Ochanomizu University Global COE Program International Inequality Research Group
Contact: Ochanomizu University Global COE Program Secretariat
TEL&FAX: 03-5978-5247
EVENT REPORT
The Global COE Program of Ochanomizu University held an international seminar:“New Approaches to Educational Assessment: Student and School Assessments that Improve School Policy and Practice”on 9. Jun. 2009.
Dr. Willms highlighted the importance of measuring inequity and introduced a comprehensive evaluation framework which considers the different developmental stages from early childhood to adolescence. Then, using the Early Years Evaluation (EYE), an instrument for the direct assessment of children’s developmental skills at ages 3 to 6, and Tell Them From Me, an evaluation system for the continuous monitoring of school climate and student engagement and wellness, Dr. Willms demonstrated how educational data could provide useful information for parents, schools and educational policy.
There were many questions from the 40 participants (of which 25 were from outside of the university), regarding the difference between Canadian and Japanese culture on data collection, protection of use of data on individual abilities, measurement of family background in international achievement data, etc.
The Global COE Program of Ochanomizu University held an international seminar on inequalities and disparities in early childhood education in Vietnam. First, Dr. Le Thi Thanh Thuy, associate professor of Hanoi University of Education, made a presentation on elimination of disparities and inequalities in early childhood education through innovation of teaching and learning arts. Next, Dr. Dang Hong Phuong, lecturer of Hanoi University of Education presented the current situation and challenges of physical education for preschool education in Vietnam. And after that, participants made an active discussion on these issues.（1. June. 2009）
The speaker, Dr. Nichara Ruangdaraganon, is a developmental pediatrician at Mahidol University , Bangkok, Thailand. She has long been involved in the research on the developments of language among children with autism and dyslexia, as well as typically developing children in Thailand.
In the talk, Dr. Nichara described the features of language developments in these children. The result of her survey on the development of language among typically developing children in Thailand was also presented.（30.Apr. 2009)
In this seminar, we focused on the concepts and practices that are in place at two schools known to be frontier schools of citizenship education in Japan. Two major concerns in particular were taken into account: the significance of citizenship education in the postwar period in Japan, and the reintroduction of politics into public education.(25. Apr. 2009)
On 12 April 2009, the Global COE Program held an open seminar on Children’s Quality of Life (QOL) as the third seminar of the Disciplinary Linkage Project.
As the keynote speaker, Dr. Junichi Furusho (Aoyama Gakuin University) presented a comprehensive report on the quality of life of Japanese children. In addition, basic research on QOL of children (infancy through adolescence), an introduction of international comparative studies, and a report on the relationship between QOL and media usage were also presented. After the presentation, the audience engaged in a very active and meaningful discussion.
A lecture on violence and gender was held under the support of the Global COE Program at Ochanomizu University. While James Gilligan’s lecture was titled "Sex, Gender and Violence", Carol Gilligan talked about "Strengthening Healthy Resistance and Courage in Children: A Gender-Based Strategy for Preventing Youth Violence." Mr. & Mrs. Gilligans’ powerful speeches moved a large audience. (17 Mar. 2009)